In Hungary, Roma Get Art Show, Not a Hug

from The New York Times



A show of contemporary Romany art just closed on Sunday here at the National Gallery, Hungary’s grandest museum. The exhibition was the latest nod to Europe’s most despised, and this country’s largest, minority. It came and went uneventfully, which itself was an event, considering the rise this autumn of the Hungarian Guard, a right-wing extremist group, which has made much news dressing up in paramilitary outfits recalling the Nazi era, ranting about “safeguarding national culture and traditions” and marching on a village against what it said was Romany crime there.

Nobody is quite sure how extensive the group is or whether it is just good at grabbing headlines.

But the Roma were perfectly sure what “safeguarding national culture” meant.