The artist, author, and Holocaust survivor Ceija Stojka (1933–2013) is now considered one of the most important voices in contemporary Roma art. With the exhibition Ceija Stojka. Wir konnten nichts tun, the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg honors her artistic and political life’s work.
The title of the exhibition is taken from one of her paintings and refers to her experience as a child in a concentration camp. There, she witnessed the systematic persecution and extermination of her family – and of the Sinti and Roma people – by the Nazis. Decades later, she began processing what she had lived through, creating powerful paintings, poems, and texts. Her art became an expression of resistance, remembrance, and liberation.
A self-taught artist, Ceija Stojka began creating an impressive body of work in the 1990s – one that is unique in its visual language and emotional depth. The exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg presents key works from the Kai Dikhas Collection – a space dedicated to contemporary art by Sinti and Roma artists. The name “Kai Dikhas” translates to “a place to see.”
Culture of Remembrance and the Holocaust Commemoration of the Sinti and Roma
Ceija Stojka survived several concentration camps, including Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen – the latter located only a few kilometers from Wolfsburg. This place appears repeatedly in her poems and paintings. For many years, the Sinti and Roma were barely visible in public Holocaust remembrance. Their marginalization continued after 1945 – politically, socially, and artistically. Ceija Stojka was one of the first to break this silence publicly and demand recognition for the Sinti and Roma victim groups of the Holocaust.
Today, August 2nd is recognized as the European Holocaust Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma. During the night of August 2–3, 1944, more than 4,000 Roma and Sinti were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg opens on this symbolic date to create a space for remembrance, for listening – and for seeing.
Exhibition Opening with Family Members and Experts
The exhibition was opened on Friday, August 1, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. After a welcome speech by the museum’s director, Andreas Beitin, and an introduction by Katrin Unger (Deputy Director of the Bergen-Belsen Memorial), a panel discussion took place with Gabriela and Santino Stojka – the artist’s daughter-in-law and grandson. Both shared personal memories, insights into Ceija Stojka’s political engagement, and the significance of her art in a time of rising antigypsyism.
Moderator: Andrea Wierich (Kompetenzstelle gegen Antiziganismus der Stiftung niedersächsische Gedenkstätten)
Curator: Moritz Pankok (Artistic Director of the Kai Dikhas Foundation)
The exhibition is a cooperation between the Kai Dikhas Foundation and the Kompetenzstelle gegen Antiziganismus der Stiftung niedersächsische Gedenkstätten statt.
Link to the event :
https://www.kunstmuseum.de/ausstellung/ceija-stojka-wir-konnten-nichts-tun/
