Government to fund cultural initiatives for Romani tradition

The National Romani Day was celebrated on Saturday (May 24), with the Ministry of Culture announcing a budget of US$383,000 to support projects devoted to keeping Roma tradition alive.

The call for applications was published during the closing session of the National Diversity Web (Teia Nacional da Diversidade) in Natal, state of Rio Grande do Norte. During the event, Gypsy peoples called for social programs to address their needs in education, health, civil registration, security, human rights, cash transfer, and productive inclusion.

The Diversity Web aims to promote cultural rights, networking, and understanding, and to bring communities, policymakers, educators, social empowerment organizations, and the general public closer together in promoting culture.

Apart from the Kales, other Romani peoples found in Brazil are the Sinti and the Roms. The Sinti came to the country from Germany and France, and started to arrive in larger numbers World Wars I and II. The largest Rom communities in Brazil are the Kalderash, the Machvaya, and the Rudari, from Romania.Born into a Kale people of Spanish and Portuguese origin with a strong presence throughout Brazil, Bárbara Angely Piemonte attended the Diversity Web as a representative of the Romani community to the National Council for Racial Equality (CNPIR). She is working to revive traditional European Gypsy music. “In any settlement you visit in Brazil you will find people listening to sertanejo [a kind of Brazilian country music]. But in European Gypsy tradition there is a completely different style, and we're working hard to save it from dying out,” she said.

In 2011, the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE) estimated that more than 500,000 Gypsy people were living in Brazil. They spread across 291 settlements in 21 states. To care for this population, 40 local governments – 13.7% of the total municipalities who reported being home to Gypsy settlements – claim that they have public policies in place.

The first official record of Romani people coming to the country dates back to 1574, when João Torres and his wife, Angelina, were exiled to Brazil for five years. The National Romani Day was introduced in 2006 and incorporated to the national calendar to recognize the Gypsy contributions in shaping Brazil's historical and cultural identity. In the Gypsy calendar, May 24 is devoted to Saint Sarah, the patron saint of the Romani people.

Translated by Mayra Borges