A Roma folk ensemble in Bulgaria

Managing Multiethnic Communities: 'Best practice' case studies

1. Case-study No. & Title:
161. ‘Roots of the Future’ Project: setting up of the Roma folk ensemble ‘Romano Yillo’ in the town of Targovishte, Bulgaria (1999–2000)

Keywords:

w	Participation
w	Partnership
w	Interethnic relations
w	Popular culture
w	Education

2. Author information:
2.1 Author’s Name
Apostol Apostolov

2.2 Institutional Affiliation and Contact:
Centre for Russian and East European Studies
The University of Birmingham
52 Pritchatts Road
Birmingham B15 2TT
United Kingdom

Tel.: +44 (0)121 414 4293
Fax: +44 (0)121 414 3423
E-mail: AKA899@bham.ac.uk (contact by e-mail preferred))

2.3 Date recorded
27/12/2000

3. Good Practice Information Sheet
3.1 Local Level Good Practice:

The setting up of a Roma ensemble in the town of Targovishte, Bulgaria was an initiative of the local NGO ‘Nov Pat’ (New Way) and the Regional Government of Targovishte. The ensemble was called ‘Romano Yillo’ and comprised talented Roma young people from the Roma quarter of the town. The good practice is about involving gifted Roma youth in a meaningful activity which they themselves find very appealing. It was intended that this project - called ‘Roots of the Future’ - would strengthen the traditions of Roma folklore and make it accessible to a wider multi-ethnic audience throughout the country. The ensemble features singers, musicians and dancers and has its roots in ‘authentic’ Roma folklore.

3.2 Location:
The town and the region of Targovishte, Bulgaria.

3.3 Minority/Target Groups:
Minority: Roma; Target group: Roma youth living in the town of Targovishte who have talent for artistic performance such as singing, playing and dancing.

3.4 Major Actors Involved:

w	Local Government
w	Local NGO
w	The Municipality of the town of Targovishte
w	the Community Hall of the town of Targovishte

3.5 Budget allocated by local government authorities and/or by other actors:
2000 USD – from the Open Society Foundation (Roma Program), Sofia, Bulgaria

3.6 Timeframe:
The idea of creating a Roma folk ensemble appeared after a series of discussions and consultations between the local NGO ‘Nov Pat’ and the Regional Government of Targovishte during the summer of 1999. After reaching an agreement as to the participation of the two sides in the project, the initiative was designed into a project proposal and ‘Nov Pat’ applied for funding to the Open Society Foundation – Sofia. The project was approved for funding and the initiative was officially launched in November 1999. The ensemble’s team was gathered and rehearsals began immediately. The first public performance of the ensemble was in December 1999. The ensemble is set to formally continue functioning until the end of the year 2000 when additional funding is expected to enable the activities of the ensemble over the year 2001.

3.7 Local level good practice relation to national level ethnic policy
The initiators of the ‘Roots of the Future’ project, the local NGO ‘Nov Pat’ and the Regional Government of Targovishte, are well-informed about the National Government’s Framework Programme for Roma Integration. The ‘Romano Yillo’ ensemble was created in line with this programme and is fully supported by the local executives of the national government (the Regional Government and the Municipality of Targovishte). There has been no opposition to the creation of the ensemble ‘Romano Yillo’ whatsoever.

4.Good Practice Description
As a joint initiative of the local NGO ‘Nov Pat’ and the Regional Government of Targovishte, the ensemble ‘Romano Yillo’ was set up in November 1999. The ensemble is the realisation of the ‘Roots of the Future Project’ for which ‘Nov Pat’ applied for funding to the Open Society Foundation. The primary aim of the project is, through the creation of this ensemble, to strengthen the cultural traditions of the Roma community in Targovishte and to popularise these traditions among the multi-ethnic community of the town of Targovishte, as well as among a wider audience throughout the country. The activities of the ensemble include singing, dancing, and playing of local Roma folklore music for audiences in the town and around the country at organised cultural events. The ensemble consists of 27 Roma dancers and singers: 17 children and 10 adolescents. Additionally, the ensemble has one choreography trainer, 1 violinist and 1 accordion player.

The town of Targovishte has around 45,000 citizens of which approximately 3500 are Roma. The distinct presence of Roma communities in Targovishte, as well as the need for public folklore diversity in the town made ‘Nov Pat’ and the Regional Government of Targovishte come together and try to enrich the cultural repertoire of the town by creating an opportunity for gifted Roma enthusiasts to create their own musical and dance ensemble. The Regional Government provided two halls in which the rehearsals of the ensemble could be held. The Regional Government also provided venues for concerts in Targovishte. At several cultural events, including the celebration of the New Year’s Eve (2000), the Regional Governor invited the ensemble to participate in large concerts organised by the municipality of the town of Targovishte.

At the time of writing, the ‘Roots of the Future’ project is manifested solely in the performing activities of the ensemble. The priorities of the ensemble, however, is in time intended to expand to encompass the following further activities:

w	establishing small groups of young people who would go around the Roma quarter of the town and visit older generations in order to increase the popularity of the events organised by the ensemble. This is necessary because some of the older Roma generations reside in closed community circles that are not always well-informed about cultural activities in their town.
w	gathering and recording on tape and in written form old Roma songs, customs, legends, dances and words from the traditional folklore. The above-mentioned groups of people will be the ensemble’s link to the potential informants.
w	organising the gathered material into a database which may be used by other similar ensembles or interested institutions, such as research institutes, universities, NGOs, etc.
w	establishing an ‘external affairs’ office within the administrative body of the ensemble which would liaise between the ensemble and possible partners such as community halls, radios, televisions, etc.
w	attracting a part-time ethnographer and a part-time folklorist who would be involved in studying the lived culture of the Roma communities in Targovishte and act as advisors to the management of the ensemble in relation to the building of long-term repertoire for Roma and other audiences.

Immediately after the ensemble received the financial support from the Open Society Foundation, Sofia, they formed a complete team of musicians and dancers and began rehearsing for the approaching New Year celebrations to which the Regional Governor had invited them to contribute a half-an-hour concert. The concert went extremely well and the ensemble made a very good impression to the citizens of Targovishte. After this first performance, the Regional Government of Targovishte further invested in the development of the ‘Roots of the Future’ project by lending the ensemble audio machinery like cassette/disc players for the rehearsals and tape-recorders for gathering information on Roma Folklore.

Since December 1999 the ensemble has been very active both inside and outside the region of Targovishte. Its busy programme for the year 2000 included:

w	A spring concert of the ensemble in Targovishte, organised for them by the Community Hall of the town.
w	Participation in a national concert in Sofia organised for the International Roma Day.
w	Filming for national television programmes and for a private television station in the town of Vidin
w	Participation in the first Ethnic-Folk Festival in Bulgaria with venues in Targovishte and Sofia

When developing ‘the Roots of the Future’ project, ‘Nov Pat’ and the Regional Government based their initiative on a number of policy principles. First, the partners based their activities on the understanding that the activities of the ensemble should contribute to the development of the civil society on all possible micro levels. The ensemble should stand as a mediator between different ethnic communities involved in the town and the country’s cultural life. And third, by involving young Roma in individual and ‘collective’ meaningful activities, the ensemble would help Roma youth grow up in a culture of ethnic appreciation and prejudice-free professional engagement. The ‘Roots of the Future’ project, if successful in future funding applications, will invest in the professional musical education of its current members as well as of potential ones - young Roma will be trained and encouraged to apply to musical schools and colleges in the country. Training will be provided by inviting already established and educated Roma musicians to the ensemble to hold professional tutorials with young artists from Targovishte.

The project is thus also an implementation of the National Government’s Framework Programme for integration of Roma people in all aspects of the country’s social and cultural life. The Framework Programme that became law in April 1999, states that the development of the Roma culture in Bulgaria as a distinct ethno-culture, as well being part of the wider Bulgarian culture, should be guaranteed and encouraged by the state. In order for this to be achieved the Framework Programme lists several urgent tasks that need to be accomplished:

w	The subject of Roma history and culture to be introduced into text books for secondary education. It should be taught as an integral part of the curriculum on Bulgarian history and culture.
w	local community halls in Roma quarters throughout the country to be restored and their activities resumed.
w	Roma people to be given the opportunity for equal participation in regional and national folk festivals.
w	Roma people to be given state support and protection for the preservation and the development of their folklore. This should be operationalised by supporting Roma festivals and by recording and distributing audio-visual products with Roma folklore. Also, Roma folklore should be made available on the national electronic media on a regular basis.
w	Roma theatres to be restored and encouraged.
w	Roma printed media to be given continuous support.

The ‘Roots of the Future’ project is very much in accordance with the above six tasks which the national government has prioritised in its Framework Programme for Roma integration. With the ‘Romano Yillo’ ensemble, ‘Nov Pat’ and the Regional Rovernment of Targovishte have targeted several of these tasks. Roma folklore is given due attention and systematic efforts are being made to support, encourage and popularise the development of the ensemble’s activities. The Regional Government continues to encourage ‘Romano Yillo’ concerts within the region of Targovishte. Once again the ensemble has been invited to participate in a public concert for the New Year’s celebration on 31 December 2000. The Regional Government administration also arranged for the ensemble to visit other towns in the country with considerable ethnic diversity, such as Shoumen, Popovo, Razgrad and Sliven. These visits will take place in the first half of 2001, assuming that the new funding application to the Open Society Foundation, Sofia, is successful.

The national government’s Framework Programmefor Roma integration has a separate clause that elaborates on the government’s position on the presence of Roma practices in the national media. The government acknowledges that since 1989 the Roma communities in Bulgaria have had unequal access to the national printed and electronic media. This circumstance has underpinned the reduced opportuntities for Roma people to access all layers of the public sphere, including its cultural dimensions. The Framework Programme thus states that the Bulgarian state must support the participation of Roma people in the national television and radio programmes. The participation should include both the broadcasting of Roma programmes and the inclusion of Roma journalists in other programmes.

As noted above, ‘Romano Yillo’ has already been invited to filming sessions for the national television and another local television. It should also be noted that the local ‘Radio Targovishte’, being a government-sponsored institution, regularly plays on air some of the ensemble’s recordings, as well as inviting members of the ensemble to participate in documentary or other programmes for various local and national occasions.

All in all, the creation of the Roma folk ensemble ‘Romano Yillo’ in the Targovishte is an initiative which met with a high level of appreciation from the town’s ethnically diverse audiences. The local NGO ‘Nov Pat’ is strongly determined to look for ways to enable the continuation of the ensemble’s activities and to develop the ‘Roots of the Future’ project into wider cultural and social activities. One such is the provision of professional musical training to current and potential ensemble members and supporting such individuals in terms of the entrance exams to specialised music schools and colleges in Bulgaria. To quote the leader of ‘Nov Pat’ Mr Plamen Dobrev, ‘ the "future" of the Romano Yillo ensemble is not only in the "roots" of the Roma folklore traditions but also in the cultivation of these traditions".