Project description: The Historical Society of Šumadija organised the historical documentary exhibition Between Empathy and Prejudice: Roma in the Press of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1929–1944) with educational materials at the Historical Archives of Šumadija in Kragujevac. The exhibition was curated by historians Dr Kristina Jorgić Stepanović and Slavko Stepanović. Through 21 exhibition panels, it presented key themes related to the Roma community as reflected in newspaper articles published during the interwar period. The exhibition opened with a panel dedicated to the long-forgotten first Roma newspaper in Serbia. As part of the broader process of Roma emancipation in the early twentieth century, the first newspaper in the Romani language, Romano lil (Gypsy Newspaper), was launched in Belgrade.
The exhibition highlighted the dominant patterns of representation of the Roma population in the press during a turbulent historical period, covering both the peacetime years of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the period of the collaborationist administration in Serbia during the Second World War. One of the project’s primary objectives was to raise awareness of the historically discriminatory position of Roma in public life and how this may have contributed to their tragic fate during the war.
Particular attention was given to two exhibition panels focusing on the position of Roma women in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the social issues affecting Roma communities. The panels addressing the persecution of Roma in occupied Serbia presented not only key historical facts but also previously unexplored questions concerning the ideological attitudes of Serbian collaborationist authorities towards the Roma population.
Throughout the exhibition, numerous educational lectures were organised. The exhibition then toured to the Museum of the Rudnik–Takovo Region, where it remained on display for two months. A catalogue was also produced to accompany the exhibition, serving as a lasting resource for future generations of historians as well as the wider public.
Grant amount: 900,000.00 RSD
