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Concerts
Monday May 31, 2010
IV. ATHE SAM! WE ARE HERE! GIPSY ART FESTIVAL
19:00:
Opening
20:00:
Roma Legend (musical performed by Gusztáv Varga and the Kalyi Jag on the terrace)
00:00:
DJ Kokalo
Location:
Gödör Club
Ticket Price:
Free
„Athe Sam! – We Are Here!” – Gipsy Art Festival – 31 May–6 June
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal.”Martin Luther King
“We are here!” is what Athe Sam means in gipsy language. These two words are the motto of this one week long festival. We are here, the gipsy culture, and most possible ways of gipsy art on the highest quality for the open and varied audience of Gödör and anyone else who is interested in the centre of the capital.
The goal of Athe Sam is to create a frame for intercultural conversations and to help the mutual acceptance and to decrease the everyday misunderstandings with the help of art. The base of tolerance is knowledge. What we do not know we often reject or we may become scared of it. On our festival gipsy and non gipsy encounters will take place, acquaintances will be made while the audience can gain a deeper knowledge of the gipsy culture. The organizers hope that they can long term contribute to the defeat of negative stereotypes against the gipsy society. They would like to help with the positive image change of the gipsy culture. Besides another of their important goals is to have a cultural dialogue formed between the different gipsy groups and to get them know and accept each other’s culture.
The music programs are specially emphasised on the festival; apart from the authentic music all kinds of different genres can be heard (folk, jazz, hip-hop, etc.). Some segments of the European gipsy music are presented to us by foreign performers. Via the talent contest many young artists will also be introduced.
The top of the national music scene have already presented itself but this year for the first time we will have a real international star Chico, the founder and front man of the legendary Gypsy Kings. He is co-composer of some world famous songs such as “Bamboleo”, Djobi, Djobi” and the “Ben Ben Maria”. The UNESCO Peace Ambassador Djelloul Bouchikhi, alias Chico and his band the Chico & The Gypsies (ES/Rumba Catalana) is now again in Hungary after 14 years.
About the IV. Athe Sam Festival
The 2010 Athe Sam festival is expecting its audience with the most varied program ever of the highest standard.
In order to improve the quality some changes are inevitable. We started the renovation with the music programs. This year for the first time an international star band accepted our invitation, the Chico and the Gypsies.
This year new collaborations started in the name of tolerance. The 2010 Athe Sam is cooperating with several national and international art festivals to strengthen the value of tolerance. Till now we formed collaboration with the Bánki-lake Festival but the organizer of the other festivals taken into the program are also going to attend and meet each other on the Athe Sam. (Balkan Traffik, IRAF, Hungarian Song Day.)
The Athe Sam and the Bánki-lake Festival are organizing workshops, talk shows, concerts, literature and theatre pieces, folk dance sessions, movie screenings, exhibitions in cooperation to represent a continuity and unity for the thoughts about tolerance.
Music Program
The music program is enriched by a special foreign performer, the Chico and the Gypsies.
Probably the concert will not only be a big event of the year for the festival because The UNESCO Peace Ambassador Djelloul Bouchikhi, alias Chico and his band the Chico & The Gypsies has not been in Hungary for long, 14 years had to pass so that we could see the world famous group live again!
Chico, the founder and front man of the legendary Gypsy Kings, is co-composer of some world famous songs such as “Bamboleo”, Djobi, Djobi” and the “Ben Ben Maria”. More than 30 golden and 10 platinum records credit his name.
Also this year a special production will open the festival: Roma Legend, the first gipsy musical will be performed that was written and directed by the rightfully world famous Gusztáv Varga. The also world famous Ferenc Snétberger and his band will also perform on the festival.
The Olah Gipsy Allstars which consists of popular gipsy musicians will present the oláh musical heritage at the highest standard. The band of 15 members – singers, musicians, dancers – is not comparable to anything it is a real unique experience full of energy.
The further music program is also very much varied; authentic oláh-gipsy and beás-gipsy folk, jazz and other genres will represent themselves on the festival. Primary concept of the organizers was, apart from the quality, to give space for bands that had not performed on the past festivals and/or has some kind of actuality this year.
After the success of the last year the search and introduction of young talents will be specially emphasised this year. Following the last year’s practice the performances are selected through an application procedure and Gödör Klub aims to support and help their career even after the festival depending on its available resources.
Theatre Program
Besides the music programs again this year there will be theatre performances. On the opening the already mentioned Roma Legend musical by Gusztáv Varga, and Tollfosztás (Feather-shorn) – performance by the Rodrigo Balogh production with the subtitle: tolerance-theatre.
Magda Szécsi: Csörgőkezű, Vödörjáró és Dobhasú (Rattlehand, Bucketwalker, Drumbelly) – music and theatre performance for children by the Panna Czinka Gipsy Theatre (Duende Theatre Association). The director Judit Jónás recommends the play for everyone within the age range of 3 to 100.
We get an insight of the world of the circus by the Hippodrom Company – Circus attractions music performance.
Exhibitions
This year the photography is in the focus point. There will be an exhibition of the past festivals’ photo shoots by Dávid Nyitrai. In the Terrace Gallery a puppet exhibition will be shown with the title: “The way of the gipsies” by József Sztajko. On the passage there will be an exhibition on authentic gipsy professions.
Civil programs
Encounters
The ATHE SAM not only a series of art programs but is a festival also with the nowadays slightly abandoned original meaning of the word: celebrating together, meeting people, exchanging and sharing thoughts. The “Encounters” is a full day program where young gipsy intellectual groups can have an opportunity to have a conversation with each other. We launched the program last year with the intention of creating a tradition. The program accomplished the expectations so this year we continue with the presentation of successful projects and initiatives realized by gipsies.
Athe S(l)am Poetry 2010
Our literature programs have also been renewed by taking in the poetry slam style. One of the characteristics of poetry slam is that the poet chooses the topic in consideration of the society and is presented by the poet him/herself. This year we announced the Athe S(L)AM program for students with the title: “If I were gipsy – If I weren’t gipsy”. As a result of the nationally organized semi finals 10 talented students are expected to present on the festival.
Role Model project presentation
The philosophy of the Polgár Foundation: More and more program, foundation, statutory and EU funded support organization tries to help the gipsies’ situation but there is still no noticeable and experiencable result. The situation of gipsies in Hungary is more and more hopeless. The Polgár Foundation for Opportunities have developed new role model methods which provide real help for those who need it the most. They have a successful job creating program in collaboration with gipsies that provide and long term subsistence for the communities. On this year’s Athe Sam the topic is one of their most successful projects: the cucumber initiative of Igric.
Tolerance in education
The education for tolerance is the way for the evolution of a democratic, equal opportunity society. Educating and socializing children is vital for peaceful living together, for having them develop tolerant and stereotype-free values.
Within Athe Sam we would like to provide opportunity for professionals who work in the field of education for tolerance to meet and share their experience with each other. This is to take place in a private workshop. Those who attended the workshop will give a classroom-lesson for a volunteer class from the audience for demonstration reasons.
On the Athe Sam festival the tolerance in education program will be closed by a panel discussion where the professionals of the field will present the current status of the topic in formal and informal education.
Movie program
Naturally the movies about gipsies will not be missed this year either.
The curse of the hedgehog – colour, subtitled, Romanian–Hungarian documentary, 95 minutes, 2004
Director: Dumitru Budrala
When the Road Bends: Tales of a Gypsy Caravan – colour, subtitled, American documentary 110 minutes 2006
Director: Jasmine Dellal
Parno Graszt in India’30 documentary
Vespa – colour, Hungarian drama, 85 minutes, 2009
Director: Groó Diana
Transylvania – colour, in Hungarian language, French drama, 98 minutes, (Not Recommended for Viewers younger than 16 Years)
Director: Tony Gatlif
After the screenings the audience can stay for meetings and discussions.
Folk Dance
Respected national bands, those who were the most popular of the previous festivals, will provide the music in the folk dance sessions, and dancers asked by them will teach different dances every day for the audience.
The entrance for the festival is free this year too. The only exception is the Chico and the Gypsies. Here the economical situation and the capacity of the venue require the entrance fee.
Entrance tickets for the star band’s concert can be purchased in advance for 5000 HUF and on the day of the concert for 6000 HUF.
Athe Sam band – Roma Band Leaders playing together (József Balogh, Zsolt Farkas, Antal Kovács, Béla Lakatos, István Nagy, István Szilvási)
The band was formed from the occasion of the first Athe Sam Festival, two years ago. It is a real gypsy supergroup since all the gypsy front men stand on stage together (József Balogh, Zsolt Farkas, Antal Kovács, Béla Lakatos, István Nagy, István Szilvási).
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