Czech Culture Minister to appoint new advisory board for the Museum of Romani Culture

The director of the museum, Jana Horváthová, said she considers this proposal to be more acceptable than changing the legal type of the museum’s organization, but also warned it risks increasing the museum’s costs. The director spoke with news server Romea.cz about the plan on 26 March.

Czech Culture Minister Martin Baxa presented the plan to establish the new advisory board for the Museum of Romani Culture at the 26 March meeting of the Czech Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs. According to him, the newly-established body aims to support the further development of the museum, to strengthen the professional supervision of its functioning, and to create space for systematic dialogue between the Romani community and the wider public.

Baxa described the Museum of Romani Culture as “a key institution for all those who deal with the subject of the Roma and Sinti in the context of the history and the present of our country.” He emphasized the museum’s irreplaceable role, not just as a professional institution, but also its role in society, where it contributes to mutual understanding between the majority population and the Romani minority.

According to Baxa, intensive, ongoing dialogue about the museum is necessary and the new advisory board can significantly contribute to that. “I am convinced that the future board, which will be comprised of 15 important figures from Romani artistic, cultural and social life, representatives of the descendants of Romani and Sinti survivors of the Holocaust in Bohemia and Moravia, representatives of academic, expert and professional organizations, individual experts, and employees of the Culture Ministry, will manage to fulfill this ambition,” the minister said.

Horváthová: A new advisory board is less invasive than transforming the museum’s legal status

The director of the Museum of Romani Culture described the plan to establish the new advisory board as an option which she views as more acceptable compared to the originally proposed transformation of the museum’s legal status from that of a state-sponsored organization into what is termed a public cultural institution (a VKI for short). “This is a better, or rather a less invasive, option than would be transforming the museum into a public cultural institution,” Horváthová told the Romea.cz news server.

“Considering how negative the attitude of at least 75 % of the Czech public towards the Roma is, this fragile museum of this particular nationality simply needs the protection of the state. This has been repeatedly proven in the past. There is no better option for the protection and the transparency of the activities of such an institution,” Horváthová argued, adding that the situation would be different if, for instance, the financing for this institution, which is of nationwide scope, could also come from local or regional authorities.

However, according to the director, such financing has not been and is not coming to the museum from those levels of government. She said that the museum’s proposed transformation into a public cultural institution could have opened up certain opportunities, for instance, when it comes to monetizing assets or products, but such advantages mainly pertain to larger cultural institutions.

“The Act on VKIs applies mainly to large cultural institutions which produce live art. That is not what the Museum of Romani Culture does,” the director explained.

Although it is not yet clear how the advisory board will function specifically, the director said that “it is already apparent that its activities and existence will necessitate certain increased costs.” She expressed confidence that the Culture Ministry, which is the museum’s establisher, will not leave the museum without support in this matter.

Horváthová said she also considers the fact that the museum’s legal status has been preserved to be an important moment. “I welcome the fact that a solution has been found to avoid changing the museum’s legal status (which would be a time-intensive, financially-intensive, energy-intensive process) and to simultaneously involve other, especially Romani, cultural figures in the museum’s activities,” she added.

Czech Govt Roma Commissioner: The new board will involve Romani civil society and Romani descendants of Holocaust survivors

Lucie Fuková, the Czech Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs, also expressed support for the idea of ​​the new advisory board. “Thanks to this new advisory board, Romani civil society, prominent Romani figures, and Romani and Sinti descendants of Holocaust survivors will be involved in the functioning of the museum,” she told the Romea.cz news server.

The new advisory board will, among other things, discuss the museum’s annual reports, concepts for its development, and strategic plans. It will also have the opportunity to establish permanent working groups on the activities of the memorials to the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti in Hodonín and Lety.

The activities of the new board will be organized by the Museum of Romani Culture. It will meet at least twice a year in closed session.