A new guest in our museum: Ma Bistrass!

The exhibition sends a strong message against discrimination against the marginalized Sinti and Romani communities and raises awareness for the recognition and appreciation of their communities and cultures. Most of the portraits shown here were taken in late summer 2024.

Sinti and Roma continue to be marginalized in our society. That is why Luigi Toscano embarked on this emotional journey through Eastern Europe to meet the last survivors of the genocide and make their fates visible. Many members of the minority have still not received adequate compensation and face resentment and, in some cases, severe discrimination.

Ma Bistrass! is part of the long-term project AGAINST FORGETTING. Since 2014, Luigi Toscano has portrayed nearly six hundred survivors of Nazi persecution for this project. It is particularly important to the artist to depict the various groups of victims. Almost 2 million visitors have seen the exhibition worldwide. In 2021, he became the first photographer to be named a UNESCO Artist for Peace and in October of the same year he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Toscano is searching worldwide for other Sinti and Roma who were persecuted under National Socialism in order to portray them and capture their fates, personalities, and resilience in his photographs.

Ma Bistrass! also aims to raise awareness of antiziganism today. The exhibition seeks to highlight the profound social injustice to which Sinti and Roma people continue to be subjected in order to overcome prejudice and hatred and promote dialogue and remembrance.

The multimedia project Ma Bistrass! consists of the portraits on display, interviews, and further information on the website.

Special thanks go to the people who allowed themselves to be portrayed. Without them, the project would not have been possible. Their strength is incomparable, their trust the greatest honor and recognition.