Luca Vitone, ROMANISTAN, 2019

Romanistan is the Luca Vitone’s journey diary to retrace backwards, from Bologna to Chandigarh, the path of Rom and Sinti from north-western India to Italy. On the traces of a migration that took place between the 8th and 14th centuries, the artist studied Romani culture in detail. Vitone is interested in nomadism and the identity of ethnic minorities through an analysis of cultural productions – art, cartography, music, food – as elements of knowledge between people of different cultures. The story of migration becomes the tool for a broader reflection on the idea of place and journey, community and tradition, the perpetuation of clichés and social stigma. The journey back to the origins of the Roma people is represented with a look “from outside” that avoids the stereotypes with which the Roma are commonly associated, going in search of the intellectual bourgeoisie through encounters with political figures, social activists, academics. For Vitone, the Roma people represent a modern and transnational ideal of a people, perhaps a possible example, even in light of current mass migrations.