Roma: Recycle Reuse Reimagine: Co-Production with artists, Roma women and families
Funder
Research England Participatory Research Fund
Value
£6,000
PI and Project Team Members
Rosa Cisneros (PI)
Collaborators
Raluca Maria Polodeanu (Freeland videographer, director of Reel Master Productions)
Yassmin S. (Roma Woman from gassroots community)
Claudia Tranca and Bernie Flatley (Roma Project Charity)
Duration of Project
January - March 2022
Project Overview
In 2020-2021 Cisneros was awarded 1 of the 4 ArtsAdmin Seasons for Change commissions to create collaborative works centred around under-represented communities in the climate movement. Cisneros directed and led Roma:Recycle-Reuse-Reimagine, a project that brought together Roma and non-Roma to work together to co-create a children's book that was shared with services, schools, artists and others whom are not culturally aware and sensitive of the Roma community.
Cisneros was commissioned to co-create the book and lead on the project through co-producing a children’s book and using art and participatory methods to explore climate justice with vulnerable communities. Thanks to several individuals and organisations the book was devised and designed with the support of many grassroots Roma families located in 8 cities across the UK. The book was co-created during the several lockdowns and to support the process, Cisneros worked with a local Roma woman and videographer to create materials that could be reused during the project. Because we knew some of the Roma families involved were illiterate, we created films of an adult reading children’s books in Romanes and Romanian-LINK. Local members helped with creating these resources. The final children’s book was written in English and printed and distributed nationwide to schools and services and was co-authored by 25+ children and families.
Themes explored:
- What is co-creation?
- How can academics, artists and grassroots community members work together in an egalitarian fashion? Why is this important? What impact does this mode of working have on the ground level?
- What lessons did the team learn?
- How did a children’s book engage Roma families to discuss social justice?
Visit Roma:-Recycle-Reuse-Reimagine website.
Project Objectives
At the end of the project we realised we would love to co-create a medium-length film about the project including the families, translate the book into Romanes and Romanian and print copies and give to families and key stakeholders, and finally create a film with the kids reading the book in English, Romanes and Romanian. However, the commission didn’t cover this work but know it would be valuable for the project, reach, impact and Cisneros’ research. Having identified this gap and need, this current call and opportunity supports a phase 2 of the project which will inform my current research at C-DaRE with the EU-Funded project WEAVE, that is focussed on bringing cultural communities into academic and artistic institutions.
This phase 2 would also offer an opportunity for the families to co-create a film with Cisneros and the artists, further supporting the artistic ecology while also develop the families’ co-creative skills. This follow on the RRRR project would support the legacy of the co-creation research while also further develop the work of the network, the WEAVE project, underpin academic paper and inform future bids and a possible case study on Intangible Cultural Heritage.
