Gallery8 – is the Roma Contemporary Art Space: of the European Roma Cultural Foundation – ERCF.
The European Roma Cultural Foundation (ERCF) is an independent non-profit foundation registered on the 2nd of August, 2010, in Budapest, Hungary. ERCF, the operational and fundraising body, exists to strengthen and widely promote the role of Roma arts and culture in the enlarging Europe (and beyond) as a way to fight against negative stereotypes and hostile attitudes towards Roma communities. For a future world of artistic and cultural diversity where Roma arts, culture, history and language are equally valued and respected, and the power of artistic creation and education, especially that of young people, is essential for changing negative stereotypes towards people of Roma origin in the enlarging Europe and beyond.
Gallery8 is strategically located at Mátyás tér, the center of Budapest's 8th district, the area of the city, which is mostly populated by Roma inhabitants. Gallery8 aims to serve the Roma community: to enable and support the production, presentation and interpretation of Roma artworks. It is an intercultural space, where the experimentation, creation, collaboration, and discussion between Roma and non-Roma takes place and results in new works and solutions for a future in peaceful coexistence.
Gallery8 puts emphasis on investing in the capacities of young Roma artists, presenters, managers and entrepreneurs to help them to succeed, to learn, to be accepted positively by broad audiences, to become more knowledgeable and actively engaged in networking and collaboration in Europe and beyond. Gallery 8 aims to motivate the development of innovative projects and experimental cross-disciplinary work of young Roma. It is the space of new ideas, discourses, and trends in Roma contemporary art.