Giuvlipen (Asociatia Actorilor Romi)

Asociatia Actorilor Romi manages the first and only Roma theatre company in Romania, Giuvlipen. The company produces original theatre plays using an intersectional feminist approach, speaking openly about themes that the Roma and, more specifically, the Roma LGBTQIA+ and female communities are facing. Their project aims to build up a strong response to racist discourse in Romania and to bring forth Roma artists, cultural workers, sociologists, anthropologists, historians, linguists, and other representative voices from the Roma community in order to break down old well-established myths, stereotypes and misconceptions. As a result of the current pandemic, Giuvlipen’s work is extremely compromised: making theatre without the public is nearly impossible, as theatre means direct contact between actors and the public. Although theatres were recently opened in Romania under strict conditions, there are no institutions open for Roma theatre. The organisation aims to produce a weekly or bi-monthly vodcast show in Romanian entitled “I Am the Leading Actress”, which would be a feminist guide for the public and for private institutions, media and the general public, for relating and positioning oneself in a constructive way to the Roma community.