47th Annual Conference of the Gypsy Lore Society in Paris has concluded

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The 47th annual conference of the Gypsy Lore Society took place on 24–26 September at Campus Condorcet in the Paris district of Aubervilliers. The conference, which once again welcomed more than 130 active participants from around the world, was organised in collaboration with the Institut des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) in Paris, the Institut Convergences Migrations (ICM), the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), and FNASAT Gens du Voyage – Médiathèque “Matéo Maximoff”, also based in Paris. The Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (IESA SAS) actively contributed to the organisation of the congress (members of the academic committee included E. Marushiakova and T. Zachar Podolinská). IESA SAS also served as a co-publisher of the Book of Abstracts.

Representing the institute, Dr. Daniel Škobla, in co-authorship with Dr. R. Filčák, presented the paper “Roma Poverty and Marginalisation amid the Decline of Mining Towns in Eastern Slovakia.” In a separate panel, Religiosity, Spirituality, and Non-religiosity among the Roma, Dr Juraj Majo and Dr Tatiana Zachar Podolinská delivered the paper Some Current Aspects of Romani Religiosity, Spirituality, and Non-Religiosity in Slovakia – First Results from the RELIROMA Project. T. Zachar Podolinská also presented Anti-Maryism and Pentecostal Peripheralisation of the Virgin Mary among the Roma in Slovakia (findings from the RELIROMA project).

In the panel Roma in and from Ukraine, convened by Elena Marushiakova and Veselin Popov as part of the project Identity of Roma in Transcarpathian Ukraine: Past and Present (VEGA, project no. 2/0057/24), the convenors presented the paper The Phenomenon of the Roma Women’s Court: Overcoming or Modifying Traditions in Postmodern Society. In the special session “Book / Book Series / Journal Panel Discussion,” Elena Marushiakova introduced the latest publications in the Brill Series: Roma History and Culture, which have been published since the GLS conference in Sofia.

This year’s conference once again confirmed, through its high level of participation, that Romani Studies continue to offer a wealth of timely and significant topics attracting the attention of scholars from across the globe. We therefore look forward to new insights, experiences, and perspectives at the next Gypsy Lore Society annual conference, which will take place in Zagreb, Croatia, in 2026.

Photo 1:Opening ceremony of the Gypsy Lore Society Annual Conference (© J. Majo)