Presentation of the Center for the Roma and Sinti in Prague, a future specialized workplace of the Museum of Romani Culture
Prague, 8. 9. 2020

The Museum of Romani Culture is presenting its future specialized workplace in Prague, the Center for the Roma and Sinti.
This first center of its kind in the capital will begin operations in a reconstructed villa in the Dejvice neighborhood of Prague and will become a unique space for education and exhibitions, serving as an information center and as a location for community and social gatherings.
“Our aim is to present to the public the material and the spiritual culture of the Roma and Sinti, past and present, and also to educate people about the Holocaust and much more,” said the director of the Museum of Romani Culture, Jana Horváthová. “Brno is for many tourists and visitors to the Czech Republic a less accessible destination than the capital, and for that reason we are very glad that we can bring our museum – which is unique in the European context – to Prague in this way and thereby expand awareness of our art, culture and history,” the director said.
The entire project is being financed in full (CZK 44 625 000) from Norway Grants 2014–2021, from the “Human Rights, Roma Inclusion and Domestic and Gender-Conditioned Violence” chapter. The facilitator of the subsidy is the Czech Finance Ministry. The international partner of the project is The European Wergeland Centre, an educational institution in Oslo, Norway.
Since 2019, the Museum of Romani Culture has been the administrator of a First Republic-era villa in the Dejvice neighborhood of Prague, where the new center will be based. The exemplary single-family home was designed for a textile entrepreneur of Jewish origin, Leo František Perutz, by the architects Arnošt Mühlstein and Victor Fürth. The villa located at Velvarská Street 1 was built in 1937 according to a neo-romanticist concept featuring elements of functionalism. The villa has not been permanently occupied recently but has frequently served as a film set, for example, for the film “Ženy v pokušení” (“Women in Temptation”).
The project for the adaptation and reconstruction of the villa was designed by Rujbr Architects. Their design approaches the assignment with respect for the villa’s architectural, construction /technical and historical merit. The building is in a good state of repair despite its age. Its external appearance will remain almost unaltered. A fundamental new element will be the addition of a multifunctional hall with room for seating and a café. The attic space will be used as a gallery. An important installation will be an elevator to provide barrier-free access to the building.
According to the project schedule, construction work will begin in the autumn of 2020 (the exact date depends on when the essential building permits are issued) and should take two years, i.e., until the autumn of 2022. At the same time, an educational program will be developed, along with an events schedule for the new center. It will be opened to the public with a complete program and educational activities on 1 March 2023.
“The Center for Roma and Sinti will be open to the public in the same year as the future Lety u Písku Memorial, and we are therefore logically considering these new facilities as parts of one whole that is connected both in terms of locale and subject matter,” said the director. “The initial project is planned for 48 months and will end on 29 February 2024 with another five years of sustainability, which is very important to us. We do not consider this center to be just a project, but a future permanent branch of the museum. The Center for Roma and Sinti will make what the capital has to offer even more attractive to visitors and will confirm Prague’s role as an exceptional city for culture.”