The Thèm Romanó Cultural Association [Associazione Culturale Thèm Romanó, ‘Romani World’ in Romanes] was founded in 1991 in Lanciano, Abruzzo (Italy), on the initiative of a group of Italian Roma and Sinti who no longer identified with the Catholic and welfare organisations that had worked with them since the 1960s.
The association was founded with the aim of promoting the Romani language and their own culture as indispensable tools for combating the stereotypes and discrimination to which Roma and Sinti were and are exposed in Italy. The Italian branches of the International Romani Union (IRU) and the European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF) are also based in the association.
Activists
Since its foundation, the association has been chaired by the poet, essayist, musician, university lecturer and Roma Santino Spinelli (born 1964), who has supported numerous initiatives and events to publicise the artistic and cultural work of Roma in Italy and in Europe more widely. He wrote the poem ‘Auschwitz’, which is engraved on the edge of the fountain of the memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe murdered under National Socialism, inaugurated in Berlin in 2012.
The Thèm Romanó association has branches in various Italian regions, for example in Reggio Emilia (Province of Emilia-Romagna), where the chairman Vladimiro Torre (1946–2021) has launched important political initiatives.
Commemorative Activities
Thèm Romanó has been organising the international art competition ‘Amico Rom’ since 1994. The association initiated the project to erect the first monument in Italy dedicated to the Samudaripen, the genocide of Sinti and Roma. The stone sculpture, created by Tonino Santeusanio (born 1949), was inaugurated on 5 October 2018 in the Parco delle Memorie [Park of Memories] in Lanciano, in the Province of Chieti. Since 2020, Thèm Romanó has been part of the Unione delle Comunità Romanes in Italia [Union of Romani Communities in Italy, UCRI], whose aims include public recognition of the Samudaripen.
In 2022, the competition Le espressioni artistiche e il Samudaripen [Artistic Expressions and the Samudaripen] was launched to raise public awareness of the issue.
