Spells for a feminist future | Giuvlipen Theatre (Romania)

Performance of the first Roma feminist theatre.

Performance in Romanian with Polish subtitles.

In Romani, „giuvlipen” means feminism. It is also the name of Romania’s pioneering Romani feminist theater, established in 2014. Co-founded by Mihaela Drăgan – actress and playwright who lives and works in Bucharest, alongside Zita Moldovan and other Romani actresses. Giuvlipen’s performances and activities confront contemporary systemic racism against Romani people, with a profound focus on the difficult situation and rights of Romani women.

The performance in Łódź emerges from the concept of Roma Futurism – an artistic and feminist movement initiated by Drăgan at the prestigious Para Site art center in Hong Kong in 2018. The concept was subsequently presented in performance form at the Venice Art Biennale in 2022. Drăgan launched Roma Futurism with dual aims: to redefine the language through which Romani women and men express their history of persecution and to reclaim the identity of the Romani witch.

The label „witch” is one of the main stereotypes stigmatizing Romani women. The artist proposes a new perspective where witches incorporate technology into their magical rituals, becoming symbols of a progressive future.

Romani cyber-witches use their powers to, firstly, preserve the history and heritage of their community; secondly, save the planet from ecological disaster; and thirdly, oppose racism and all forms of social and economic exclusion. The performance will also feature Nicoleta Ghiță, who collaborates with Drăgan in creating rap music as Kali x Niko G.

After the performance, there will be a discussion with the playwright, Mihaela Drăgan, and Dr. Joanna Talewicz, an activist for Romani people and the President of the Towards Dialogue Foundation. The discussion will be moderated by Agata Siwiak The meeting will be conducted in English with translation into Polish.

Creators:

• Script and direction: Mihaela Drăgan
• Cast: Mihaela Drăgan, Nicoleta Ghiță
• Visuals: Ciprian Făcăeru
• Visual support: Tomasz Roszczybiuk
• Partner: Foundation Towards Dialogue

Mihaela Drăgan is a multidisciplinary artist with an education in theatre who lives in Bucharest and works in several other countries. In 2014, she founded Giuvlipen Theatre Company together with other Roma actresses, for which she is an actress, director and playwright. She was one of the six finalists for the 2017 New York Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award, which acknowledges the exceptional theatre work of 20 women around the world. In 2020 she was once again nominated for this award, and she was a recipient of The Special Award of the League. In 2022, under the alias Kali is releasing the first feminist trap music album from Romania together with Niko G. In 2023, wrote and directed her first theatre show ”Viral on TikTok” at the Romanian Playwrights Theatre and in 2024 is staging ”Caliban and the Witch” in romani language at the International Shakespeare Festival from Craiova, rewriting Shakespeare from a decolonial perspective.

Nicoleta Ghiță is an actress, she is young and very talented. She conveys messages through music and theater, trying to motivate those who believe that “life has only offered them so much”. Since 2015, she has been part of the Playhood group, a collective of teenage artists from the Ferentari neighborhood, combining education with performing arts. They have performed in numerous cultural spaces, from the National Theatre Bucharest, National Theatre Craiova, and Arcub, to MNAC, Godot Cafe, and Green Hours From 2018 to the present, she has participated in several Erasmus + affiliated programs and is a peer-trainer within the project “(Roma) heroes in Theater Education and Everyday Life”. ince 2019, she has been part of the Giuvlipen theater company and has performed in the shows Sexodrom, Romacen – Vremea Vrăjitoarei, and Virală pe Tik Tok. In 2022, together with Kali (Mihaela Drăgan), she released the rap album TehnoVrăjitoarele produced by Giuvlipen, with which she has performed in the United States of America, Italy, France, Romania, Switzerland, and Germany.