Speak of truth, not just reality...

Exhibition of photos selected from the international Chachipe contest

At the beginning of this summer, the Open Society Institute (OSI) and the OSA Archivum announced an online international photography contest under the Decade of Roma Inclusion. The title of the contest was Chachipe, which means truth or reality in Romanes. This title was chosen because of its multiple meanings and its catchiness. The organizers sought photos that would help combat visual stereotypes associated with Roma as well as sensitively and artistically present the everyday lives of Roma people. Chachipe sought to contribute to the Decade of Roma Inclusion’s overall goals of accelerating the social inclusion of Roma communities and improving the economic and social status of Roma across the region.

The contest’s five-member international jury selected winners in four categories:

Family Photo: Zoltán Bereczki, Romania
Portrait Photo: Gyula Czimbal, Hungary
Photo Essay: Nina Nikolova, Bulgaria
News Photo: Tünde Erika Pálosi, Romania

The winning photographs, along with some 100 other photos selected from the contest submissions, will be on view for a month in an exhibition that opens on October 25 at Galeria Centralis on Arany János utca. Thanks are due to both those who took the photos and their subjects, the authors of the 2,000 submitted works, because everyone who took part in Chachipe helped get the message out to the broader public: Roma integration and action against stereotypes are matters that should concern all of us. These photos in their varied totality give a portrait of Roma that is more nuanced, colorful and complex than usual since they present the linguistically and culturally diverse communities of nine Roma Decade countries. This in itself contributes to breaking down stereotypes. We would hope that the variety of the selection not only speaks about reality, but instead closes in on the truth, which is alway more complex than the simple world of stereotypes. Special thanks to the Chachipe team and to all who in some way contributed to the success of this months-long project: the members of the jury, Zsuzsanna Ardó, Nadir Redžepi, Mircea Toma, Ivan Veselý and Chad Wyatt; the Decade of Roma Inclusion; and the OSA Archivum and OSI staff members, Erzsébet Báder, Ildikó Csikós, Andy Haupert, Gabriella Ivacs, Ilona Nagy, Ágnes Osztolykán, Kinga Réthy and Miklós Tamási.

www.romadecade.org                                          photo.romadecade.org                                          www.osaarchivum.org                                          www.soros.org

Bereczki Krisztián Zoltán: Children of the Hills	Pálosi Tünde Erika: The World of Information	Rácz Géza: My Name is Octavian
Dan Žárský: In the Best Clothes	Dan Žárský: I am Looking	Katya Radovanova: Song
Balogh Zoltán: Sweet Home	Balogh Zoltán: Life on Illatos Str.	Varga Tamás: Saturday Afternoon
Varga Tamás: Saturday Afternoon 2	Varga Tamás: At the Fair	Egyed Ufó Zoltán: Funeral Procession at Bucur Obor
Egyed Ufó Zoltán: Funeral game in the School	Tóth Krisztina: Dialogue	Alina Andrei: Three Friends
Asztalos Áron: We are Hungarians Not Tourists	Dragan Babovic: Bath in the Fountain	Magyar Tibor: Kiss 4 You
Tomozei Daniel Constantin: On Duty	Ivan Grlic: Gypsy Dream	Ivan Grlic: On the Road
Stefan Badulescu: Power for the people	Stefan Badulescu: Mary	Kozsák Rudolf Árpád: I'm Strong!