Author Archives: Robert Czibi

I was born in Tiszafüred, Hungary. I have lived in London since 2010 and contributed to the capital’s art scene from the outset. I started painting in the early 90s, while studying and working at the Open Studio Art Foundation of Városliget in Budapest. In the following years I participated in various art project and workshops in Hungary. In 2004 I travelled to Greece and worked briefly in Athens and Crete before returning to Central Europe for my first solo exhibition at the Goethe Institute in Budapest. As a Roma painter I come with a 'different approach': my background to some extent influences my take on life, culture, which, I hope, is reflected in my work. FEEL FREE TO ASK Commissions undertaken. All works for sale. Contact: czibirobert@gmail.com facebook.com/robertczibivisualarts twitter: @arablo Instagram: @czibiart Recent activities: 15 Aug-1 Oct. AQUARELLAND solo exhibition at Bon Matin Cafe, London, Finsbury Park. 7 June-16 June 2017: Sense of belonging: Mozaics from a new Portrait of London at Waterstones Gallery, Gower street. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/festival-of-culture/events/a-sense-of-belonging-mosaics-from-a-new-portrait-of-london 7 May -3rd July 2017: ROOTS a multi artist exhibition at Park Theatre,London. https://www.parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/exhibition-roots 26 May 2016: Exhibition Vagabond of Bloomsbury part of UCL's Festival of Culture https://www.ucl.ac.uk/festival-of-culture/events/vagabonds-of-bloomsbury .An evening of exhibition an discussion of migration from an intimate, personal perspective of mine. April 23-24, 2016. New York City at NYU. At the Romani/Gypsy Music and Culture Conference ( https://sites.google.com/site/romanigypsyartsandletters/home ) I was deliver a presentation on my Roma identity and my works on the same theme was exhibited during the event. You can have a look at my video installation here: http://youtu.be/kHRsUFl_m38 26 Oct-6 Dec 2015. Solo Exhibition at Sable d'Or Patisserie, London, Muswell Hill. http://hu.euronews.com/2015/11/02/egy-het-alatt-rendezett-kiallitast-londonban-czibi-robert-festomuvesz/ june 2015: London, Park Theatre exhibition "A Spotlight on Hungarian Artists featuring Robert Czibi and the Expecto Patronum.This work is joyful in its celebration of our local artists and represents how our community comes from far and wide. This shines a spotlight on Hungarians." May 2015: UCL Festival of the Arts, I was curator/participator of the exhibition entitled "East European-ize: London through East European Eyes" https://www.ucl.ac.uk/festival-of-the-arts/festival-of-the-arts-news-publication/2015/language-trails-a-journey-through-londons-east-european-heritage April 2015 : Coffee Art Project 2015 in Brick Lane London- collective exhibition - August 2014 : " 130 Views" open Exhibition by Oh! Gallery. It's the celebration of Oxford House 130th anniversary with emerging and established artists.http://oxfordhouse.org.uk/ai1ec_event/130-views-open-exhibition/?instance_id=42192 - Jan 2014 : Escape to happiness present by Guerilla Galleries , collective exhibition - April 2013 : Coffee Art Project in Brick Lane London- collective exhibition I was taking part in Coffee Art Project 2013 by the Allegra Foundation in aid of Project Waterfall, raising money to supply clean water to the Mbulu District in Tanzania. I donated my painting which was seen by over 15,000 people during the festival. - May 2013: Summer exhibition of the Red Hand Gallery, London – collective exhibition. Curated by Samuel Miller award winning Artist and the creative force behind the Red Hand Gallery - July 2013: Blink summer exhibition in Crouch End pop in gallery, London– collective exhibition. Crouch End's quirky 1 day arts & design gallery brings 20+ original artists & designers to the summer themed exhibition organized by Sue Irwin-Hunt independent Professional Training & Coaching Professional Previous activities - 2010. Collaborative Art Festival organised by the Open Studio Art Foundation of Városliget, Budapest, and Karma Productions Events Organiser Ltd. I organised art workshops involving the wider community; collective exhibition. - 2010. Collaboration and Community of Gypsy Artists, Fonyód, Hungary, under the auspices of FROKK (Roma Education and Cultural Centre of Budapest). I participated in the one-week workshop and contributed two of five paintings to a collection compiled by FROKK. - 2010. Artus Contemporary Arts Studio, Budapest. Collective exhibition at the Autumn Salon. - 2010. Subjective Values Foundation, Budapest, in collaboration with Media 19 Studio, London. I took part in a workshop titled We Are Here, which is part of an art and social project, with a poster titled India or Egypt, reflecting on beliefs and misconceptions about the origins of Romany people.

Closer

Get closer to a moment in Roma culture

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This exhibition showcases fragments of Roma culture through artwork by Robert
Czibi, a Hungarian Roma artist living in London.

The Roma’s intimate relationship with nature counterbalances their dispossession of
the material world, which does not belong to them, but which can be overcome by
constructing a parallel universe through myth and storytelling. The fortune-teller
represents the topos of the oracle among the Roma: a person of magical power who
is connected with the supra-natural, thus attaining superior knowledge, which may
serve as a guiding principle in individuals’ lives.

The Roma are bonded through a culture of sharing possessions: little does it matter
whether the shared possessions are bones or gold, a new caravan or a house,
horses or a television set. What belongs to one belongs to all. Through this culture of
sharing a sense of belonging is transmitted throughout the generations.

Everyday practices and adherence to unwritten rules provide the beat, the
fundamental rhythm of Roma life, to which the adoption of new customs, fashion,
and languages bring variation in an ever-changing and reinvented cultural

The vagabond is a symbol of groundedness and perpetual motion, of an insistence
on safeguarding customs and beliefs, while adapting to new environments.
In the representation of their own culture, many would argue, the Roma have
embraced perceptions which exist about them in public imagination.

The exhibition raises the question: in the case of a group which shows as great a diversity, yet as great a continuity of tradition, as the Roma, what do the Roma themselves have to say about features of Roma-ness in the 21st century?

Oracle

“We are all wanderers on this earth, our hearts are full of wonder, our soul deep with dreams.” (Roma saying)

Bonded

“Gipsy gold not chink and glitter, it gleams in the sun and neighs in the dark”
(Roma saying)

Custom

“May your clothes rip and wear out, but you live on in good health and fulfilment.” (Roma greeting)

Vagabond

” Our caravan is our family and the world is our family.”(Roma saying)

Interview with Robert Czibi

This film portrait is the outcome of my collaboration in 2014 with students at University College London. The students studied Roma and other migrant’s reflections on their shifting attitudes and sens of self after they migrated to London. The film summarises my reflections on the processes of identity which I regards as key to what it means to be a Roma in the 21st century.

My Way to the Metropolis

My way of searching for my personal identity and the continuous practice of reflection on it, leaves a trace on my artworks. In Hungary I developed an observer’s position towards my own community I was an observer with an insider’s understanding of motivation, cultural practices and beliefs among the Roma. Relocating to London the quintessential 21st century metropolis in Europe, allowed me to develop a de-politicised outsider’s perspective on the building blocks of Roma-ness.

Exhibition at NYU

I am proud to announce that my next exhibition will be held at NYU in New York City on April 23-24, 2016.

At the Romani Music and Culture Conference ( https://sites.google.com/site/romanigypsyartsandletters/home ) I’ll deliver a presentation on my Roma identity and my works on the same theme will be exhibited during the event. You can have a look at my video installation here: http://youtu.be/kHRsUFl_m38

The conference is free and open to the public. If you are in New York just pop in.

address:

New York University Department of Music

Room 320

24 Waverly Place

New York, NY 10003

It would be wonderful to see you there.