The 48th Annual International GLS Congress

The event was organized by the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (IESA SAS), the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, the Institute for Migration Research in Zagreb, and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, in cooperation with the Croatian Roma Union Kali Sara.

Members of the academic committee also included two researchers from IESA SAS: Dr. Tatiana Zachar Podolinská and Prof. Elena Marushiakova. The congress was held as an outcome of international cooperation agreements between the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Slovakia), the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences (Croatia), and Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (Germany). IESA SAS was a co-organizer of the conference and co-publisher of the Book of Abtracts, edited by Dr. Danijel Vojak and Dr. Juraj Majo (available at: https://doi.org/10.31577/2026.9789538404573).

The President of the Gypsy Lore Society, T. Zachar Podolinská, opened the conference by welcoming distinguished guests, ambassadors from several embassies, representatives of the ministries of culture, science, education and youth, the heads of the congress’s main organizing institutions, representatives of the Croatian Roma Union Kali Sara, conference participants, and representatives of the media.

The opening addresses by the President and the GLS Vice-Presidents (Huseyin S. Kyuchuk and Lilyana Kovacheva) were followed by addresses from a representative of the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media and the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth, the Director of the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences in Zagreb (Željko Holjevac, Photo No. 2), the Dean of the University of Zagreb (Domagoj Tončinić), the Director of the Institute for Migration Research (Marina Perić Kaselj), the main conference organizer Danijel Vojak (Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences), and the founder of the Croatian Roma Union Kali Sara, Veljko Kajtazi.

In her opening address, titled „How a Tradition Is Born: From Invisibility to a Voice of One’s Own — the Cult of Saint Sara” (Photo No. 7), T. Zachar Podolinská discussed the origins of the world-famous “Gypsy pilgrimage” in the French coastal town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, presenting it as a success story of the gradual emancipation of the Roma voice through the establishment of the Roma’s own patron saint cult — that of Saint Sara (Kali Sara — “Black Sara”) (presentation available HERE; an output of project SRDA 22-0389, RELIROMA).

Following the addresses and opening speeches, the President of the Croatian Roma Union Kali Sara, Suzana Krčmar, presented T. Zachar Podolinská with an award in the form of a plaque depicting the most significant achievements in the emancipation of Roma in the Republic of Croatia (Photos No. 3 and 4).

Within the conference panels, our institute was also represented by Elena Marushiakova and Veselin Popov, who presented a paper titled  The Romani Kris and Social Media in Postmodern Society: The Case of the Post-Soviet Space and Bulgaria v rámci panelu „Ethnography, Customs and Rituals“ as part of the panel “Ethnography, Customs and Rituals” (3 September 2026; see Photo No. 6; an output of projects VEGA 2/0057/24 and SRDA 22-0389, RELIROMA); by Štefan Ivanco, with the paper “Exploring the Trajectories and Coping Strategies of Roma in Securing Work in the Current Labour Market in Slovakia” (3 September 2026); and by Daniel Škobla, co-authoring with R. Filčák (4 September 2026), with the paper “When Rivers Rise: Flood Risk and the Resilience of Roma Communities in Slovakia” (both papers were outputs of project SRDA-22-0428, HAZARD, Marginalized Roma Settlements in the Context of Natural Hazards and Social Inequality). Štefan Ivanco, a doctoral candidate at IESA SAS, was awarded a GLS scholarship in 2026 covering his participation in the congress.

Panels conducted in the Romani language were also organized as part of the conference. In her paper, Lilyana Kovacheva presented her work translating texts by Elena Marushiakova and Veselin Popov into Romani for the digital platform Roma Heritage Handbook, an output of the IESA SAS project eHISTORY OF ROMA EMANCIPATION (09I01-03-V08-00001), funded by the EU Next Generation EU scheme under the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia. The paper generated exceptional interest among the audience. Participants expressed their intention to use the platform in their own scholarly work and in teaching, and discussed the possibilities and need for translating academic texts into the Romani language, as well as the future expansion of the Roma Heritage Handbook to new topics and translations into other languages and Romani dialects. This discussion is expected to continue at the next GLS conference and in the pages of academic journals.

The thematic panel “Roma and Christianity” was organized by T. Zachar Podolinská and E. Marushiakova (IESA SAS) in cooperation with Diethard Sawicki of Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, under a bilateral international cooperation agreement. The panel was an output of project SRDA 22-0389 (RELIROMA, Religiosity, Spirituality and Non-Religiosity among Roma); in terms of the number of participants and active contributions, it was among the largest at the congress. Within the panel, the project’s principal investigator and co-investigators presented papers on behalf of IESA SAS: Juraj Majo (Minority within a Minority: How Roma Are Welcomed – or Not Welcomed – Within the Largest Protestant Body in Slovakia, the Lutheran Church), Jana Belišová (The Body Between Ecstasy and Discipline: Embodiment, Habitus, and Performativity in Musical and Dance Expressions of Roma Christian Communities; Photo No. 8) a Tatiana Zachar Podolinská (The Pillars of Faith: Missionary Strategies of the Charismatic Branch of the Greek Catholic Mission among Roma in Slovakia; Photo No. 11).

In addition to their conference papers, E. Marushiakova and T. Zachar Podolinská also appeared on national television and radio, where E. Marushiakova discussed, among other things, the phenomenon of the Roma court (kris) within the context of Roma customary law, while T. Zachar Podolinská addressed the origins and mission of the Gypsy Lore Society and the story of Roma emancipation against the background of the establishment of the Roma Saint and patroness Kali Sara (3 September 2026; Photo No. 5).

The Roma magazine and online portal Phralipen, published by the Croatian Roma Union Kali Sara, conducted an extensive interview with E. Marushiakova about the Roma court, in connection with initiatives to establish it as part of Roma cultural heritage.

As chief editor of a dedicated book series on Roma history and culture published by Brill, E. Marushiakova, together with the publisher’s representative Kirsti Doepner, presented the series’ publications to date in a special section of the congress (4 September 2026; Photo No. 9).

The congress concluded with the General Assembly and Annual Meeting of the GLS membership 2026 (4 September 2026; Photos No. 13 and 14).

On the final day of the conference, participants paid tribute to the victims of the Roma genocide in Croatia at the Roma memorial center in Uštica. The site had housed Camp III C (the “Gypsy Camp”) within the Jasenovac camp system. According to the register of names kept by the Jasenovac Memorial Site (Spomen-područje Jasenovac), 16,173 Roma men and women were murdered there — proportionally the largest genocide of a Roma population during the Second World War. The memorial center was built by the Croatian Roma Union Kali Sara in cooperation with the government and the city of Zagreb. It was officially opened on 2 August 2020, on the International Roma Genocide Remembrance Day — Samudaripen.

This year’s gathering of the international scholarly community in Romani Studies offered not only a wide range of original research topics. Through its organic and deliberate engagement with representatives of government and political spheres, the media, and local organizations representing the interests of Roma and other minorities in the country, the Gypsy Lore Society purposefully pursues the mission it has held since its founding in 1888: to present cutting-edge research findings, to create space for interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue, to connect scholarship with lived practice, to contribute to the production of new knowledge, and to offer solutions for redressing asymmetries within society.

The 49th annual conference of the Gypsy Lore Society in 2027 will be held in Veszprém, Hungary. The preparatory committee and the editorial board of the GLS journal Romani Studies, published by Liverpool University Press, have already begun preparations for the jubilee 50th congress, at which the society will celebrate the 140th anniversary of its founding in 2028.

Author: T. Zachar Podolinská, IESA SAS

(This text was produced within project SRDA 22-0389, RELIROMA)

Photo captions:

Photo No. 1: Participants from IESA SAS at the Gypsy Lore Society 2026 congress in Zagreb, (from left): Štefan Ivanco, Daniel Škobla, Jana Belišová, Juraj Majo, Elena Marushiakova, Tatiana Zachar Podolinská, and Veljko Kajtazi (Kali Sara), Huseyin S. Kyuchuk and Lilyana Kovacheva (GLS Vice-President and Vice-President) (2 September 2026; photo: M. Slavkova).

Photo No. 2: Dr. Željko Holjevac (Director of the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences in Zagreb, Croatia) and Tatiana Zachar Podolinská (President of the GLS) (2 September 2026; photo: M. Slavkova).

Photo No. 3: Presentation of the award by the Croatian Roma Union Kali Sara (Suzana Krčmar and Tatiana Zachar Podolinská) (2 September 2026; photo: M. Slavkova).

Photo No. 4: The award of the Croatian Roma Union Kali Sara — a collection of commemorative medals marking the most significant achievements in the emancipation of Roma in the Republic of Croatia (2 September 2026; photo: T. Zachar Podolinská).

Photo No. 5: Appearance of Elena Marushiakova and T. Zachar Podolinská on Croatian state television (3 September 2026; photo: Petre Maximov).

Photo No. 6: The paper presentation by Elena Marushiakova and Veselin Popov at GLS 2026 in Zagreb, “The Romani Kris and Social Media in Postmodern Society: The Case of the Post-Soviet Space and Bulgaria” (3 September 2026; photo: T. Zachar Podolinská).

Photo No. 7: The opening address by Tatiana Zachar Podolinská at GLS 2026 in Zagreb, titled “How a Tradition Is Born: From Invisibility to a Voice of One’s Own — the Cult of Saint Sara” (2 September 2026; photo: J. Majo).

Photo No. 8: The conference paper by Jana Belišová within the panel “Roma and Christianity” at GLS 2026 in Zagreb, titled “The Body Between Ecstasy and Discipline: Embodiment, Habitus, and Performativity in Musical and Dance Expressions of Roma Christian Communities” (3 September 2026; photo: T. Zachar Podolinská).

Photo No. 9: Elena Marushiakova and Kirsti Doepner (Head of Publishing, Brill), during the plenary session on book and journal presentations, introducing the publications to date in the book series Roma History and Culture (4 September 2026; photo: T. Zachar Podolinská).

Photo No. 10: Overview of the books published to date in Brill’s Roma History and Culture book series, with a selection of publications (4 September 2026; photo: T. Zachar Podolinská).

Photo No. 11: The conference paper by T. Zachar Podolinská (ÚESA SAV, v. v. i.) within the panel “Roma and Christianity” at GLS 2026 in Zagreb, titled “The Pillars of Faith: Missionary Strategies of the Charismatic Branch of the Greek Catholic Mission among Roma in Slovakia” (3 September 2026; photo: J. Majo).

Photo No. 12: Meeting of the GLS Board of Directors. Elected members of the GLS Board representing IESA SAS — T. Zachar Podolinská and E. Marushiakova (1 September 2026; photo: J. Majo).

Photo No. 13: The Gypsy Lore Society General Assembly and Annual Meeting: T. Zachar Podolinská thanks the members of the organizing committee and the main congress organizer, Danijel Vojak (5 September 2026; photo: J. Majo).

Photo No. 14: The closing slide from the presentation by GLS Secretary Julieta Rotaru at the GLS 2026 General Assembly, featuring snapshots from the 2026 congress in Zagreb, Croatia (5 September 2026; photo: T. Zachar Podolinská).