Michal Mižigár
created: 16. 04. 2024 07:34 modified: 16. 04. 2024 07:34
Michal "Mižu" Mižigár is a descendant of a Romani family from Slovakia, which moved to Czech Republic from the villages of Upper Spiš after World War II. He graduated from the Bussiness Academy in Pisek, and continued his studies at the Charles University in Prague at the Faculty of Arts, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Roma Studies.
Currently, he is studying at the Central European University (formerly in Budapest, Hungary, later in Vienna, Austria) for a master's degree in comparative history. At the time of the interview, he worked in Great Britain in the team of the Roma of Great Abilities project, where he worked with teachers of Roma children from Czech Republic and Slovakia. The interview is abour his life, work and knowledge received so far.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue general Romani Michal Mižigár general audience internal
Petr Torák - Life in Great Britain
created: 10. 04. 2024 07:19 modified: 10. 04. 2024 07:20
Petr Torák comes from the Czech Republic, from where in 1999, after a series of racially motivated attacks, he and his whole family emigrated to Great Britain. He became a member of the local police, dealing also with the topics such as modern slavery. In 2015, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his dedicated work with Roma communities in Peterborough. After leaving the police, he devotes himself fully to community and charity work, and at the same time acts as the honorary consul of the Czech Republic in Peterborough.
In the second part of the three memoirs, Torák shares what he remembers about their arrival in Great Britain, where they applied for the asylum immediately, describes the events that followed as well as their gradual integration into society. He recalls his first work experience until joining the British police, while being an external university student. He describes the activities he carried on and which led to him being awarded the Order of the British Empire.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue general Czech Petr Torák general audience internal
Petr Torák - Community Work
created: 10. 04. 2024 07:16 modified: 10. 04. 2024 07:17
Petr Torák comes from the Czech Republic, from where in 1999, after a series of racially motivated attacks, he and his whole family emigrated to Great Britain. He became a member of the local police, dealing also with the topics such as modern slavery. In 2015, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his dedicated work with Roma communities in Peterborough. After leaving the police, he devotes himself fully to community and charity work, and at the same time acts as the honorary consul of the Czech Republic in Peterborough.
In the last, third part of the series of memoirs, Torák talks about his decision to leave the police and devote himself fully to community work. It discusses various aspects of helping people, the importance of working with children and youth, schools; compares the education system in the Czech Republic and Great Britain. He talks about how he became the honorary consul of the Czech Republic in Peterborough and about his plans and visions for the future.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue general Czech Petr Torák general audience internal
Petr Torák - Life in Czech Republic
created: 09. 04. 2024 07:28 modified: 09. 04. 2024 07:29
Petr Torák comes from the Czech Republic, from where in 1999, after a series of racially motivated attacks, he and his whole family emigrated to Great Britain. He became a member of the local police and also devoted himself to topics such as modern slavery. In 2015 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his dedicated work with Romani communities in Peterborough. After leaving the ranks of the police, he works fulltime in community and charity field and at the same time acts as the honorary consul of the Czech Republic in Peterborough.
In the first part of a trio of memoirs, Torák recalls his family and childhood in the Czech Republic, his school years and the events that preceded his family's emigration to Great Britain.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue general Czech Petr Torák general audience internal
Vladimír Slávik
created: 14. 03. 2024 10:32 modified: 14. 03. 2024 10:41
He comes from Banská Bystrica. He was taught about music by his grandfather, who himself played accordion and loved Romani music. He also is passionate about Romani music, he finds it his favourite. He plays in the bands from Horehronie Region - the Pokoš, the Haviars, the Gabriš.
He studied playing cimbalom in Elementary Music School in Banská Bystrica. He is a member of several folk groups. Currently, he is a student of the Jessenius Medical Faculty in Martin, Comenius University. If compared to Slovak folk music, the Romani folk music is more temperamental, more sensitive to music and harmony.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue general Vladimír Slávik cimbalista general audience internal
Elena Lacková - Let's Get Introduced (The Debate in Handlová)
created: 08. 03. 2024 11:27 modified: 08. 03. 2024 11:28
The video is the archived material of the NGO Jekhetane-Spolu. Its content is the recorded debate of the writer Elena Lacková which took place in the Library in Handlová; this event being a part of the series of events named Let's Get Introduced. The original video is recorded on VHS tape, the digital version was made in 2002 through digitalization of the tape. Some parts of the debate in the original record are edited, hence the utterance of sentences isn't finished properly. The object is provided only for studying purposes and research of Elena Lacková. The author of the video isn't identified.
Elena Lacková was born on March 22, 1921 in Veľký Šariš. She is one of the most important Romani writer. She wrote fot both children and adult readers. She graduated from the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Charles University in Prague (1970). She wrote prose as well as dramatic pieces. She was a lifelong activist and Romani advocate.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical dialogue general Slovak Elena Lacková general audience internal
Dušan Deme
created: 14. 12. 2023 10:45 modified: 14. 12. 2023 10:46
Dušan Deme was born into a musical family in Lučenec. His grandfather brought him to music, since early childhood. He played the piano from the age of 6, later he also studied at an Elementary Art School. He also studied singing. Since the age of 14, he has been making a living from music by performing at various events, later he worked on various ocean liners as a pianist and singer. He is particularly inclined towards Romani music, folk songs, jazz and older Slovak dance music. In the interview, in addition to memories of his family, he also talks about what he thinks about contemporary Romani music, the future of traditional cimbalom bands in Slovakia, his work in the Roland Horváth Orchestra, but also about the Romani language and culture.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue general Slovak Dušan Deme general audience internal
Leonard Farkas
created: 30. 11. 2023 07:25 modified: 30. 11. 2023 07:26
Leonard Farkas comes from Slovakia, from Dunajská Streda, from a Hungarian-speaking family. He has been involved in magic and spells since childhood. He studied at a magic school in Budapest, participated in several international competitions and collaborated with various artists, e.g. violinist Zoltán Mága or the dance group R3D ONE. The interview is recorded in the video, as well as samples from his performance.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue general Hungarian Leonard Farkas general audience
Teri Čikoš – Rainy Day
created: 14. 03. 2022 09:02 modified: 14. 03. 2022 09:06
Teri Čikoš comes from Bratislava based family of musician dedicated to music for generations already. She carries on and continues the tradition successfully. She plays the piano, guitar, she is a student of Music and Dramatic Arts at the Conservatory. In the same time she is a teacher of singing at the Elementary School of Arts. Her single titled Pozri (Look) achieved a place among top ten most played songs on Slovak radio stations. She gives concerts with her own music group, moderates and keeps making a well designed place for herself in the field of pop culture in Slovakia.
The author of music and lyrics is Teri Čikoš. The song was recorded during the live concert at the event of the Roma Spirit on July 16, 2021 in Kežmarok.
category: music
tags: vocal-instrumental modern pop quartet author's craft Slovak Teri Čikoš general audience general
Roman Goroľ - Cold Touch of Lost Morning
created: 14. 12. 2018 13:23 modified: 27. 11. 2020 02:00
Roman Gorol was born on 15th of August, 1969, in Vranov nad Toplou. He is married, has three sons, works as a teaching assistant at the Elementary School in the village Caklov, where he lives. Roman Gorol graduated from the Pedagogical Faculty of the Presov University in Presov, as the bachelor of pedagogy. Roman Gorol loves literature, both poetry and prose. In his young years he began writing short poems about life, emotions, love. His art of word is present in the book of poems titled “Cold Touch of Lost Morning”, published by the State Research Library in Presov, 2016, illustrated by Martin Kaleja Januv. Four poems of the collection were translated in Romani and English languages by Erika Godlova. The video recorded on December 1st, 2016, introduces the author of the book of poems, some of his poems as well as the illustrator Martin Kaleja Januv, whose talent in fine arts is also pictured in the video. Frantisek Godla and Dusan Onody as the Duo Farsa provided the music for the event. (source: Roman Gorol, Cold Touch of Lost Morning, own research).
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical dialogue general Slovak Romani Roman Goroľ František Godla Dušan Onody general audience internal