Research on Roma Representation in Public Spaces
The Tom Lantos Institute launched its research series in 2018 to explore the representation of Roma in public spaces in Hungary. When launching the research, we set the strategic goal of examining how and to what extent the role of Hungary’s Romani communities in society, as well as their participation in the events and processes that have shaped the country’s history, are represented in public spaces – for example, through memorial sites, monuments, statues and plaques, as well as street and other public-space names.
The research initially focused on the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Budapest, before being extended to the capital as a whole and, subsequently, to the national level. It examines the historical background, location and circumstances surrounding the erection of statues, memorial plaques, memorial sites and other public works that depict Roma people or commemorate aspects of Roma history, culture and public engagement. As part of the fieldwork, the researchers visited all previously identified sites and documented them photographically.
The national research was conducted by Dr Péter Bogdán, László Fejős, Gábor István Molnár and Jenő Setét. The results were summarized in the publication Roma Representation in the Public Spaces of Hungary, published in 2021 in both English and Romani and authored by the same researchers. Civil rights activist Jenő Setét passed away in 2022, before the book was published, and was therefore unable to attend its launch.
The identified representations in public spaces are also available in a continuously updated online database featuring maps, photographs and relevant information. A short video (currently only available in Hungarian) recorded in 2024 presents the aims, methodology and most significant findings of the research. In the video, experts and researchers involved in the project explain why it is important to examine the public presence of Roma communities, how the memorial sites were identified, and what the identified sites reveal about the historical, cultural and social visibility of Roma.
The research continued after the video was produced. László Fejős and Gábor István Molnár identified a further public-space representations.The findings of the expanded research were published in the revised and expanded volume Becoming Visible – Statues, Plaques, Memorials: Roma Presence in the Public Spaces of Hungary in 2025 and incorporated into the updated online database. (The book and the database is currently only available in Hungarian.)