The bilingual (German and English), and partially trilingual (including Vlach Romani), exhibition, running from March 2nd to 26th, 2026, at the Central Library of the University of Passau, showcases the written and visual artistic works of the Austrian Romani writer and artist Ceija Stojka, who survived Auschwitz, Ravensbrück, and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. Her moving works, created as a self-taught artist who began writing and painting when she was in her mid-fifties, often depict dreamlike imagery and convey messages of hope and resilience in the face of the terror she had experienced. Writing and art offered her tangible means of confronting the memories and traumas that haunted her throughout her life. The messages in her works aim to underscore the necessity of remaining optimistic in the face of ongoing discrimination and persecution. The accompanying program offers a multimedia, interdisciplinary presentation of the arts that Ceija Stojka and many other artists from the Sinti and Roma communities have explored. At the exhibit opening, the band “Amenza Ketane,” led by Hojda Stojka, Ceija Stojka's son, will perform; Nuna Stojka, Ceija Stojka's daughter-in-law, will read from Ceija Stojka's poems. The subsequent colloquium on March 5th and 6th, 2026, will feature lectures and readings by international scholars and authors on the theme of "Dreams, Hopes, and Utopias in Literature, Writings, Films, and Artworks by Sinti and Roma in Europe." An interactive public workshop on March 4 includes a reading from Ceija Stojka's written works and inspire participants to create their own artworks. The exhibition and accompanying events will provide information about Ceija Stojka's life within the context of Roma and Sinti history and engage the public in a process of creative learning and production.
