It is easy to fight for the rights of people who shout out loud in protest. It is much more difficult to notice those who do not manifest openly. The Stigma Project tells the story of the 60 -member family of Romanian Roma, living in an encampment on the outskirts of the city of Wroclaw in Poland. But this is not another chapter of a colourful Gypsy legend, to which the Roma community is often wrongly classified. Limiting the photo sessions to the location of the Dog Field – the district of Wroclaw occupied by the Roma slums – I deprived the recipient of the opportunity to observe the Roma people during what is commonly considered to be their everyday life – begging and theft. Surrounded by family, separated from the rest of society, they turn out to be completely different people, unfitting the conventional ideas. There are no typical camps with campfires, songs and spells – instead, there are good people with unusual interior and dramatic life stories, hurt by many whom they met on their way. They struggle not only with severe everyday life, but also with the city authorities and neighbours. They have a reputation of being beggars, thieves and crooks, among the local inhabitants, which causes frequent acts of aggression against them. All the actions of municipal authorities, with a view to solve the Roma problem, are leading to attempts to intimidate and evict them.
This story of the Roma, is primarily a story about family, relationships and emotions of people, who despite all, seem happy and peaceful . It is also an attempt to analyse the condition of the modern family, on the border between tradition and modernity. This group of nomads , dependent on the constant search for a better world , unconsciously surrenders to the influence of mass culture , struggling with the same concerns as any modern man.
Adam Lach was born in 1983 in Poznan. Graduated with honors from the Academy of Photography WSF AFA in Wroclaw. Co-founder of Napo Images and vice president of Napo Foundation. From 2006 to 2013 contributor of Newsweek Poland. His works were published by, among others, “The New York Times”, “Le Monde”, “L’espresso”, “Die Zeit”, “International Herald Tribune”, “Solid Ground”, “Newsweek”, “Le’Magazine”, “Svenska Dagebladet”, “Polityka” ,”Przekroj” and “Wprost”. Winner of numerous photo contests (in 2014 IPA 1st Prize Winner for Book Stigma in Self Published Proffesional category, Picture of the Year, Award of Excellence in Issue Reporting Picture Story for Stigma project). His photo essays were shown on prestigious international exhibitions, including Polka Galerie at HSBC in Paris, the Prague Biennale, World Photojournalism Festival in Beijing. In years 2010-2012 he taught two subjects (“Press Photography” and “Reportage and New Media”) at the Institute of Journalism at the University of Warsaw.
Opening on Oct. 28, 2015, 6.00 PM
(after a discussion panel Image of Roma in Polish photography. From Farewell to Tabor to Stigma - Adam Mazur conversation with Andrzej Polakowski, Tomasz Tomaszewski, Piotr Wojcik and Adam Lach. Implemented within the framework of the project "Meetings with the World - the World of the Gypsies, Roma problems")
Curators: Filip Ćwik, Anna Zalewska-Andruszkiewicz
Free entry
The exhibition is open every day until 16 November, from10.00 AM-6.00PM
The exhibition is part of the 9th Festival of World Cultures "Window onto the World "
