Małgorzata Mirga-Tas. An alternative history

Małgorzata Mirga-Tas (*1978) was the first Romni artist ever to represent a country at the Venice Biennale. With large textile pictures, the artist told the story of the Roma in the Polish pavilion in 2022, of their legends, heroes and mystical figures, but also of their oppression and marginalization.

Together with women from her community, the artist sews tablecloths, curtains, bed linen and items of clothing to create visually powerful narratives. Małgorzata Mirga-Tas collects the textiles from family and friends in order to report on the everyday lives of Roma from a feminist perspective, but also on their mostly stigmatizing, stereotypical and often racist representation in European art history. The artist takes historical models and interweaves them with everyday scenes from the present. In oversized portraits, Małgorzata Mirga-Tas captures protagonists who have so far been overlooked by official historiography, thereby strengthening the diversity of voices. Her textile images, space-filling, animated or loosely arranged, deconstruct stereotypical representations. In doing so, the artist emphasizes the cultural richness of the Rom:nja community.

Please visit the website: www.kunstmuseumluzern.ch/besuch/