As a country with so much history dating from medieval times to the present day, it will come as no surprise that the Czech Republic has lots of museums, but the Museum of Romani Culture in Brno tells a tale that is often left out of mainstream narratives. While many museums will focus on famous faces and names, as well as the changing national identity of a land that has been part of Austro-Hungary, annexed by the Nazis and then split into two in 1993, this museum focuses on the Romany gypsies who have been living with these changing borders and circumstances for centuries.
The museum offers both a wide array of artefacts and a chance to hear talks about Romany life. In the latter case, lectures titled “who the Roma are” take place on the third Tuesday of every month. Among the collections at the museum are a range of traditional crafts and details of the occupations by which they have made a living. There will also be furnishings, clothes, jewellery, art, posters and leaflets, audio records, video, photographic documentation and various manuscripts and other written material. Add to this documentation on the various kinds of Romany dwellings and visitors will learn a huge amount they didn’t know before about these often misunderstood people. How the Roma are perceived is one of the issues the museum tackles, as it contains information about how mainstream culture has responded to them at various times.
There is no doubt the Roma are a people that have been persecuted and discriminated against at various times in central and eastern Europe, but the museum hopes it can change all that, both by raising awareness in the Czech Republic and also by making visitors from far afield more aware of the realities of Roma life, instead of the stereotypes. So while there are all kinds of great museums that visitors should go to see across the Czech Republic if they want to understand the country and its people better, this one should be very high on the list.
