an anthropology of settling and gathering
MAP HAPPENING
Map (Happening) Roma Culture | 2008
Professor Karen Bermann | Rome
The Roma are the gypsies of Europe who have been nomadic or have set up temporary encampments for generations. They have always faced harsh racism, some of the worst occurring in Italy.
The Roma encampment of Monachina lies on the outskirts of Rome, on a leftover piece of land formed by a highway exchange.
The community is made up of one large extended family originally from Montenegro. The family has organized the placement of their shanties and mobile homes, their common spaces, and their routines over time.
What looks chaotic at first is in fact a series of hidden logical patterns at varying levels of intimacy. With many visits and time spent with the family, we mapped the relationships that gave rise to the organization of family and social space.