Prague's Khamoro Festival returns with art, film, and music highlighting Roma culture

The Khamoro Festival of Roma Culture takes place in various venues in Prague from May 28 to June 3, offering film screenings, exhibitions, theater performances, and the unmistakable atmosphere of concerts featuring colorful Roma music, Vojtěch Lavička said on behalf of the organizing non-governmental organization Slovo 21.

The event, which has the motto "Khamoro [the sun] Shines for Everyone," will include a closing parade in central Wenceslas Square. This year's festival will open on the afternoon of May 28 at the Rock Cafe with a theatrical production of the Djelem by the Roma amateur theatre Trajo (life).

The play tells an authentic story that summarizes the experiences of several women who emigrated from the west Bohemian town of Rokycany to the UK. In the evening, a Khamoro party will take place at Gauč na Výstavišti.

On May 30, the Hybernska Campus will host the premiere of Ladislav Goral, a documentary about one of the greatest Roma protagonists of cultural and political life in the Czech Republic. On the same day, Lucerna Music Bar will welcome the Dutch group The Rosenberg Trio & Family, which combines classical jazz and traditional Romani music.

On May 31, the New Town Hall will host the opening of an exhibition by Mersud Selman, a prominent artist originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, called Don't Spit in My Face. The exhibition is a collection of works influenced by his hidden identity as a homosexual.

On June 1, Wenceslas Square will be the scene of two major events of the Khamoro Festival. In the morning, academic painter Zoran Tairović will create a large-scale painting right in front of the audience and passers-by. The Serbian-born multimedia artist will also be a guest speaker at Khamoro's international professional conference on art. In the afternoon, the center of Prague will be the venue for a dance battle led by one of the most successful Czech street dance performers and lecturers, Roman "Kalo" Kejík.

Khamoro will mark Children's Day in Portheimka Park on June 2, which will include concerts of traditional Roma music. The festival will end on June 3 in the Archa Theater with a gala concert with the participation of foreign musicians such as Le Rom from Hungary, Puerto Flamenco from Spain, and Mahala Rai Banda from Romania.

According to the organizers, Khamoro is the largest festival of professional Roma musicians in the world. Prague has been hosting it since 1999, and the first parade was organized in 2001. In recent years, roughly 10,000 people attended the event.