Festival of Social Action platforms young Roma activists
Young Roma activists co-curate a transformative Festival of Social Action at Scotland's first Roma Culture Centre, showcasing powerful stories and fostering community connections to inspire change. Including a screening of the film ‘(We Are Roma): This is our Home’ which explored the experiences, struggles, and aspirations of Roma youth in Glasgow through the lens of Lena Popikova, a young Roma woman and aspiring filmmaker who grew up in the city.
By Roisin McCann
Organisers hope the Festival of Social Action, put together in part by young Roma activists, helps to inspire others and incite change.
The Festival of Social Action, hosted by Romano Lav as part of the wider Social Action Inquiry Scotland initiative, took place at the newly opened Roma Culture Centre on Friday.
The event, which was co-curated by young Roma activists from Romano Lav’s ‘Community Catalyst’ group, aimed to bring communities together and encourage social change by sharing stories and platforming lived experiences.
Toni Bruce, project coordinator at Romano Lav, said: “The event is about investigating the power that a story has to change things. Sometimes one story can say more than all the research that can be done.
“When people come together who want to change things there can be brilliant outcomes. We wanted to create a space where people could come together and make connections between stories and wider issues.”
Friday’s half-day event involved a series of film screenings, panel discussions with representatives from groups including Living Rent, and a workshop held by the cultural organising collective, Cat’s Cradle.
One of the films screened at the event titled ‘(We Are Roma): This is our Home’ explored the experiences, struggles, and aspirations of Roma youth in Glasgow through the lens of Lena Popikova, a young Roma woman and aspiring filmmaker who grew up in the city.
Meha Dedhia, the film's director, explained: “This film is about youth having resilience and power. We hope people, especially young people, take inspiration from this film. There are many young people today who don’t know the history of the Roma community because it isn’t taught in schools.
“We want this film to reach as many people as possible so they can get to know the history of this community, what they’ve been through, and the resilience they have.”
The Social Action Inquiry Scotland was first established in 2017. The initiative has since partnered with communities across Scotland to share stories about social action and explore both what helps and hinders social change.
The Roma Culture Centre opened on Nithsdale Road earlier this month. The Centre is Scotland’s first formal Roma community and cultural space and plans to host a range of temporary and permanent exhibitions depicting Roma art and culture.
