Wing Kwan, Wong

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Department of Archaeology and Ancient History

Ethnic Minorities’

Heritage and Archaeological Resources Management:

Roma people in Sweden since 1999

Wing Kwan, Wong

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Abstract

Wong, W. K. 2020. Ethnic minorities’ heritage and archaeology resources management: Roma

people in Sweden since 1999.

Wong, W.K. 2020. Etniska minoriteters kulturarv och arkeologi i förmedling och förvaltning:

exemplet romer i Sverige sedan år 1999.

At the end of 1999, the Swedish government adopted two European Union conventions to protect ethnic minorities, and Roma people were recognized as a national ethnic minority of Sweden. Approaching the 20th year mark after the recognition, this research aims to develop an in-depth and inclusive database for Roma people’s heritage and archaeological resources management. Analyzation of the collected data is based on the number, nature, and responsible organizations for the events. As a result, 48 events were recorded in the database under such a framework. A significant increase in events happened in the second decade (2010 to 2019) of the research period. 14 out of 21 counties in Sweden have participated in the topic and three excavations have been done in the past 20 years. Former Roma people’s settlements have been discovered in the western and eastern counties of middle Sweden. Therefore, it can be suggested that counties such as Södermanland and Västmanland have the geographic advantage to further discover new traces that have yet to be recorded. This thesis analyses the Bohuslän Museum’s exhibition Möt Resandefolket! as a case study due to its uniqueness as the only permanent exhibition about Roma people in the country. It includes a spatial analysis under Moser’s framework (2010) and experience analysis using the thick descriptive approach suggested by Geertz (1973). The interview with the museum’s archaeologist Kristina Lindholm connects the perspective from the exhibition curators and heritage mediators, while 3D modelling is also developed and used as a tool to understand the spatial context and the effectiveness of idea communication in the exhibition. As a result, the case study identifies two challenges in communicating Roma people’s heritage and culture: the limited resources in the material culture and the alienness raised in the exhibition. The causes and possible confrontations of these matters are discussed, followed by suggestions on how to improve the excavation agenda, digital preservation for intangible heritage, and new representation and presentation methods. There is also potential in turning alienness into a positive motivation which enables the exhibition to further fulfil its curiosity- and self-education attainment purpose. This thesis suggests that these ways of interpretation are effective means to illustrate and emphasize the uniqueness of a culture and to further appreciate the values in the ethnic minorities.

Keywords: Ethnic minorities, Sweden, Roma people, Swedish travellers, Archaeology resources

management, Heritage management

Cover Photo: A Swedish Travellers’ trolley displayed in the Möt Resandefolket! exhibition. (Source: Author)

Master thesis in Archaeology [45 hp]. Supervisor: Ing-Marie Back Danielsson. Defended and passed Jun 2020.

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Abstrakt

Wong, W. K. 2020. Ethnic minorities’ heritage and archaeology resources management: Roma

people in Sweden since 1999.

Wong, W.K. 2020. Etniska minoriteters kulturarv och arkeologi i förmedling och förvaltning:

exemplet romer i Sverige sedan år 1999.

I slutet av 1999 antog den svenska regeringen två EU-konventioner för att skydda etniska minoriteter och romerna erkändes som en av Sveriges nationella etniska minoriteter. Denna forskning fokuserar på de 20 år, 1999–2019, som gått sedan erkännandet, och syftar till att utveckla en djupgående och inkluderande databas för romers kulturarv och arkeologiska resurshantering. Analysen av insamlade data baseras på antal, typer och ansvarande organisation för genomförda romska evenemang. 48 sådana registrerades i databasen och en betydande ökning av evenemang inträffade under decenniet 2010 till 2019. Baserat på de 48 företeelserna hade 14 av 21 län i Sverige deltagit i olika aktiviteter och tre arkeologiska utgrävningar hade genomförts under perioden. Eftersom före detta romska bosättningar har upptäckts i såväl öst som väster om län som ligger i Sveriges södra mitt, föreslås att län som Södermanland och Västmanland skulle ha en geografisk fördel till att upptäcka ytterligare nya spår av romsk kulturarv, som ännu inte registrerats. Denna uppsats analyserar Bohusläns museums utställning Mot Resandefolket! som en fallstudie på grund av dess unikum som den enda permanenta utställningen om romer i landet. Den inkluderar en rumslig analys utifrån Mosers ramverk (2010) och gör även en erfarenhetsanalys med hjälp av den metod som kallas ”thick description” (från Geertz [1973]). Intervjun med museets arkeolog Kristina Lindholm kopplar samman perspektivet från utställningens kurator och förmedlare av kulturarv, medan en 3D-modellering också används som ett verktyg för att förstå det rumsliga sammanhanget och effektiviteten i idékommunikation i utställningen. Som ett resultat identifierade fallstudien två utmaningar när det gäller att kommunicera romers kulturarv: de begränsade resurserna i den materiella kulturen och den främmande komponenten, s k ”alienness”, som uppstod i utställningen. Orsakerna till och möjliga konfrontationer av dessa frågor diskuterades vidare, följt av förslag för att förbättra utgrävningsagendan, digital bevarande för immateriellt arv och nya representations- och presentationsmetoder. Det lyftes också fram att det finns en potential att vända det främmande, ”alienness”, till något positivt, som en motivation som gör det möjligt för utställningen att ytterligare stimulera till både nyfikenhet och självutbildning. Denna uppsats visar även att tolkningsmetoder är effektiva medel för att illustrera och betona kulturers unikum och att ytterligare uppskatta denna etniska minoritet många värden.

Keywords: Etniska minoriteter, Sverige, romer, Resandefolket, arkeologiska resurs förvaltning,

kulturarvs förvaltning

Omslagsfoto: En vagn liknande den i utställningen Möt Resandefolket! användes av resandefolket. (Källa: Författare)

Masteruppsats Arkeologi [45 hp]. Handledare: Ing-Marie Back Danielsson. Ventilerad och godkänd

juni 2020.

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Acknowledgements

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is

understanding.

敬畏耶和華是智慧的開端；認識至聖者便是聰明。

Proverbs 9:10

It is my pleasure to have this opportunity to thank you everyone who helped me throughout my research. I want to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Ing-Marie Back Danielsson for her continuous encouragement, patience, and knowledge in supporting my thesis. Her guidance saved me whenever I crashed into a dead-end. I cannot imagine this research will be able to finish without her.

Secondly, I do like to express my special thank you to Anneli Ekblom and to all the joint supervision meeting she arranged for our class. Her tips on thesis writing are always useful and inspiring. Also, great thanks to all my classmates for your generous intellectual support that includes and not limited to reading suggestions, comments, and lovely conversations that we had in the past two years. Judy Chu you are always my grammar-saviour.

Next, I want to send my greatest appreciation to Kristina Lindholm from the Bohusläns Museum and Elin Thomasson from the Hälsinglands Museum for their support and all the information they have provided for this research.

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List of Illustrations

Fig. 1 Memorial of Roma who fell in the war, Hietaniemi cemetery, Helsinki. Photo by Juho Ojala.

5 Fig. 2 Illustrative map of Snarsmon indicating the investigated buildings and surrounding

area. Draw by Anna-Karin Svensson.

17 Fig. 3 Map of Krämarstaden and the surrounding Travellers’ related sites in Finnerödja

region. Image by Persson.

18 Fig. 4 View of Skarpnäckslägret by Roland Hjelte and Karl Axel Sjöblom, broadcast in

SVT in March 1963.

18 Fig. 5 County map of Sweden labels the number of Roma heritage and archaeology related

events done by the counties between 1999 and 2019. Base map by vemaps.com and edited by the author.

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Fig. 6 Overall view of the Möt Resandefolket! exhibition. SketchUp illustration created through photos taken on 24th_{October 2019 by author.}

24 Fig. 7 Side view of the Bohusläns Museum. Photo by author. 25 Fig. 8 The entrance of the Bohusläns Museum. Photo by author. 25 Fig. 9 The entrance of the Möt Resandefolket! exhibition. The view that visitor will get

when they first step on the second floor of the museum. Photo by author.

26 Fig. 10 Aerial view of Möt Resandefolket! exhibition together with visitor movement

analysis. SketchUp illustration by the author.

27 Fig. 11 Floor plan of the second floor of Bohusläns Museum. Image by the Bohusläns

Museum and edited by the author.

28 Fig. 12 Exhibition panels and display cases of the Möt Resandefolket! exhibition. SketchUp

illustration created by the author.

29 Fig. 13 Spotlight to the exhibition panels on the left of the exhibition. Photo by author. 30 Fig. 14 Panels on the Snarsmon excavation in the exhibition. Photo by author. 30 Fig. 15 Display case hosting the knives and metal ornaments with special lighting installed.

Photo by author.

30 Fig. 16 Display case hosting metal antiquities from the Snarsmon excavation. Photo by

author.

30 Fig. 17 Personal story text accompaniment presents in the exhibition. Photo by author. 32 Fig. 18 Text accompaniment on excavated antiquities. Photo by author. 32 Fig. 19 Text accompaniments on the background information of Snarsmon. Photo by

author.

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1. Introduction

In the summer of 2015, a course ‘Museums and Memorial Sites: Displaying and Remembering minorities’ was offered by the University of Helsinki. The situation and need of minorities in the heritage and museum aspects were deeply discussed throughout the course, including minorities with physical disabilities and ethnic minorities. There was a day that the whole class was invited to visit the Hietaniemi cemetery of Helsinki, which hosted lots of official memorials for people who fell during World War II. There was one statue that stood out during the visit. This memorial statue first felt like a fallen Christianity cross or a sword to me but after taking a closer look at the plaque, it represented the wheel of a broken trolley [Fig 1]. This memorial was dedicated to the Roma people who fought for the Finnish army and fell on the battlefield during World War II. The memorial statue was placed together with all other war memorials and stood as an official heritage for the contribution of Roma people in this nation. That was the first time I saw the existence of the Roma people in national history, not as victims or drifters, but as a part of the Finnish nation. According to the Executive Director of the Finnish Roma people welfare organization Romano Missio (Å kerlund 2016:56), the right of Roma people began to be discussed in Finland after World War II and finally led to a recognition of them as the national minority in 1995. This field visit triggered my interest in the role of ethnic minorities in history and how they were presented and commemorated in society through material culture.

Fig. 1 Memorial of Roma who fell in the war, Hietaniemi cemetery, Helsinki. (Photo credit: Juho Ojala) (Photo source: https://www.krigsminnen.se/helsingfors/romernas-minnesmarke/)

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Gender Equality 2007). The languages of those five parties were also recognized as the national minority languages of Sweden. By the approval of Government Bill 1998/99:143 National Minorities in Sweden [Nationella minoriteter i Sverige], the Swedish government had the responsibility for providing protection, enhancing opportunities for influence and to support the historical minority languages (Reinfeldt 2012:5). To further structure how the work on protection should be carried out, another report named A coordinated long-term strategy for

Roma inclusion 2012-2032 was submitted to the Riksdag of Sweden on 16th February 2012 (Reinfeldt 2012:1). Although the policies are established step-by-step, the discrimination and inequality towards Roma people can still be heard throughout the years. On the Global Bar meeting in 2008, which discussed the social state of Roma people in recent years, a strong statement was made: “Everyone wants to hug an LGBT person, but no one wants to hug a Roma.” (Isaksson 2008). The continuous ignorance and discrimination towards the ethnic minority is not news to many but it is rarely being discussed in daily life. 2019 was the 20th year after the recognition of national minorities in Sweden and it would be an appropriate time to evaluate the actions that had been done with the aim of ethnicity protection. With an acknowledgement of the importance of culture and heritage to the conservation of ethnicity, this research places a special focus on Roma people’s heritage and archaeological resource management in Sweden during the past twenty years, and to further discuss the challenges and possible solutions in the conservation and interpretation of this specific ethnic minority.

1.1 Research Background

Archaeological research on Roma people is generally not a hot topic in European archaeology study. Although the presence of Roma people in the European region can be traced back as early as the 14th_{century, their material culture remains un-investigated (Bánffy 2013:77). Eszter} Bánffy, the Hungarian prehistorian and archaeologist, points out in her article (2013: 78) that in the excavation of late medieval or early modern villages in Hungary, there should be an expectation of traces ascribed to settled Roma groups. However, she found not one report mentioning anything about this. She argues that the cause of this situation was a combination of the mobile way of living and the exclusion from the mainstream society towards Roma people, but also the difficulty of putting Roma heritage and archaeology onto the agenda (Bánffy 2013:79). Bánffy raises the point (2013:78) that Roma people were viewed as a ‘culture of living’ instead of an ethnic group after World War II in many of the post-socialist European countries. This way of thinking limits the resources that have been put into understanding and preserving this ethnicity with their special tradition, language, and way of living. On the contrary, the majority of society has always tried to ‘correct’ the style of living of these people (Pusca 2012; Bánffy 2013; SOU 2015; Hartmann & Gerdes 2015). Although the resources and investments were limited in the topic of Roma archaeology, it could not restrict the need and desire for Roma people in Hungary to seek or to create their heritage (Bánffy 2013:80). Rich Roma family started a ‘fashion’ of building extremely well-decorated burial tombs and big palaces in the central area of the city. Bánffy (2013:80) explains this fashion as an after-effect due to the lack of material culture that could help Roma people to cement mental and emotional knowledge of their past. The desire to own a heritage that would be able to represent themselves from this ethnic minority was equal to any other majority population all over the world.

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7 2012 to 2014, which studied the heritage of Roma people and their cultural landscape (Holmberg 2014). The project interviewed members from the Swedish county board and regional museum and asked for the number of projects done by these parties on Roma people’s settlements or meeting places. This research recorded ten projects that were completed in the years 2004 to 2014 (Holmberg & Ulvsgard 2014:133–136). Until the year 2014, seven out of the 21 county boards in Sweden had recognized places within the county with a connection to Roma people’s settlements. More than one hundred historical places were recorded in these projects, including historical campsites, road signs, naming of places, et cetera (Holmberg & Ulvsgard 2014:137). However, among the ten research projects that were recorded by Holmberg, only one permanent exhibition finally resulted, and none of these historical places had become heritage-listed and safeguarded by the nation (Hansen & Holmberg 2016).

Based on the events recorded by Holmberg, the presence of Roma people in Swedish contemporary history is significantly observed, but how should this historical and special ethnic minority be conserved, interpreted, and presented to the public is still a gap of knowledge and work. The challenges in conserving and presenting an ethnic with limited support in material culture, continuous moving life, and minority in population will be further discussed in this paper.

1.2 Research Aim and Framework

This research fundamentally started with an interest in understanding heritage and archaeological resource management on the topic of Roma people in Sweden since 1999. A database collecting events related to the topic from 1999 to 2019 was created for the following analysis in this paper. Online research and reports produced by museums and organizations were used to identify related events. Elements that affect the management work and the effect of the management work in the past 20 years were then identified and studied. Heritage and archaeological resources discussed in this research include Roma-related architectural sites, archaeological remains both created by Roma people or found to be connected to the Roma group, and historical records and documents about the group since their first appearance within the Swedish borders. ‘Management’ in this research is defined as different methods with the purpose of study, interpretation, and presentation of the resources, which includes research projects, exhibitions, publications, seminars and conferences, and excavations.

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consideration.

Throughout this research, three questions were discussed and analysed with the collected data and specific case study:

1. How has the heritage and archaeological legacy of Roma people been studied, presented and interpreted within the study period (1999–2019)?

2. How are the Roma people’s culture and heritage being represented and presented in present museum contexts?

3. What are the challenges in presenting this ethnic minority? How can we as archaeologists, conservators and interpreters confront these challenges?

1.3 Theory

The discussion on protection and inclusion of ethnic minorities is not limited to strategy on economic and social matters, but culture and history are other essential elements. The Roma inclusion strategy by the Swedish government specifically opened a section discussing the culture and language matter encountered in the inclusion of Roma people in Swedish society (Reinfeldt 2012:54). According to the inclusion strategy, the Swedish government developed a practical goal and assessment in the culture and language aspect which linked these elements with a person’s identity, development and cohesion in society (Reinfeldt 2012:54). Sørensen and Viejo-Rose (2015:4) mention in their research that the group’s collective identity is always developed with reference to people’s belief and experience which, in nature, are intangible and personal. However, heritage is important and powerful in the sense that it can materialize culture and act as evidence of shared memories. Heritage is always much more than antiquities or an ancient building; it is the source of identity and cohesion for communities disrupted (Ruhe 2017:155). It is then being used as the definition of belonging, and boundaries that make each of us different.

The relationship between heritage and identity is complicated but also significant, and this linkage is more important than many will expect when it comes to the discussion on the ethnic minority (Tilley 2006; Al Quntar et al. 2015; Colwell & Joy 2016). Bánffy (2013:79) mentions in her paper that the lack of consideration over Roma heritage affects the group’s self-confidence and social identity, and therefore affects their future. The ethnic minority always faces problems in being heard in society, and they are rarely being mentioned in the history textbooks or history museum exhibitions. However, this cannot stop the intention of people to seek their roots and heritage. As the Hungarian Roma would try to create something representing themselves in the middle of the city (Bánffy 2013:80), Swedish Travellers also seek to find their ancestors’ traces in the country. (This issue will be further discussed in chapter 3 case study).

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9 heritage of the ethnic minorities. To fulfil this duty in a proper and ethical way is especially important to the culture, history and identity of ethnic minorities, whose past is rarely being discussed.

Ethnicity is the element that many uses to identify and specialize themselves. However, if this ethnicity is shaped by external categorization and ranking of people, it turns into the tool to discriminate against someone that lives or looks different from the majority population (Ojala 2009:25). Therefore, when the museums fail to communicate ethnicity and identity with evidence, this idea can be quickly distorted by stories from the mass media in this contemporary world. The conflation of nomadism with crime and presence of mess particularly around Roma campsites are examples. Wrongful accusations and smear campaigns are reported and strengthened by mass media, leading to misinterpretation and negative perception of the group (Pusca 2012:3). The socioeconomic disadvantages connected to the presence of Roma people turn into the psychological disorder which treats this minority ‘specially’ in everyday life (Pusca 2012:3).

The need for understanding and interpreting ethnic minorities' heritage is significant and urgent for both the minority group and the majority population and is why this research is conducted. Self-confidence in one’s ethnicity, pride in one’s own culture and traditions, personal perception as a member of society, and external welcoming and understanding—all these cannot be achieved through economic benefit or social support only. The role of heritage as one of the most substantial evidences to materialize public memorial and representation of culture cannot be ignored in the discussion of ethnic protection.

The concept of alienness plays another vital role in the discussion section of this research. The concept of alienness is widely discussed in many different disciplines with various definitions, commonly linked with a negative outcome such as rejection, discrimination, and even causing psychological disorder (Køster 2017). The aliens, or ‘the Other’, develops through verifiable accessibility of what is not originally accessible, and Husserl (1999:114) continues to claim that self-understanding is developed by one’s personal differentiation of ‘the Other’. The famous German philosopher Bernhard Waldenfels extends Husserl’s explanation on the definition of alien and claims that alien can only present itself preciously by eluding us. Waldenfels also differentiates the concept of ‘the Other’ and the alien by claiming ‘the Other’ is a distinction from ‘same’ but not ‘self’, and the alien is a reverse which is attached to ones’ ownness (Leistle 2014).

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1.4 Methodology

In order to respond to the research questions, two different methods of data collection were applied in this paper. The first section is based on secondary resources and the second section consists of a case study and an interview. The two different approaches of data collection aim to provide both objective and subjective points of view on the issue. These analysis methods also aim to discuss both quantity and quality of work that has been done in the past 20 years.

In Chapter 2, a list of heritage-related and archaeological research events within the study period (1999–2019) was collected through online research and analyzation of reports produced by museums and organizations. Three different topics were selected for further evaluation: the policy and planning umbrellaed all the protective measures on Roma heritage from the authorities, number and nature of events, and active organization involved in the topic. Although the list of events could help provide a general picture of what is going on in the field, it is not able to assess the quality of work and how it fulfils the purpose of protecting the ethnic minority’s culture. The second data collection method therefore aimed to fill this gap in the research.

In Chapter 3 of this paper, the Möt Resandefolket! [Meet the Travellers!] exhibition in Bohusläns Museum was selected as a case study to evaluate and discuss the above-mentioned issues. The main question for this case study was to evaluate how the exhibition helped “providing protection, enhancing opportunities for influence and to support the historical minority languages”, which was stated in the national minority bill (Reinfeldt 2012:5). The exhibition analysis was illustrated with three parts: background information, spatial analysis, and experience analysis of the exhibition. The analysis of exhibition background took reference from Stephanie Moser’s framework in museum analysis (2010) and followed the five different spatial design aspects she listed for analysing the performance of a museum exhibition. The first analysis discusses the designer and curator of the exhibition, including investigating their professional and ethnic background in this case; then, the origin and history of the exhibiting items; motivation and aims behind the exhibition; the choice of display items; expected audience; and learning outcomes expected from the exhibition. In addition, a SketchUp model was created by the author as part of the spatial analysis supporting material to help the audience visually understand the layout of the exhibition. This SketchUp model was also expected to make contributions to a digital museum in future development. As Serrell mentioned (2006:33), the design of the exhibition plays a crucial role, and it is not just presenting the content but creating it. The spatial analysis included a study of the exhibition’s spatial structure and the available interactive installation. Last, is the analysis using visitors’ personal experience to review the interpretation of the exhibition as what Geertz (1973:312) calls the thick descriptive approach. The thick descriptive method uses observation of the author to descriptively interpret the complex cultural situations one experienced. This analysis includes reflection on the writer’s personal visiting experience, activities, and programmes related to the exhibition in which visitors may participate, and merchandising and marketing on the exhibition. To further enrich the understanding of the Möt Resandefolket! exhibition, an interview with the archaeologist and curator of Bohusläns Museum, Kristina Lindholm, was also arranged. The interview mainly focused on two topics: the Snarsmon excavation project during 2004 and 2008, which investigated a former Swedish Travellers’ village, and the performance of the Möt

Resandefolket! exhibition, which owes much of its content to the results from the Snarsmon

excavation. Information from the interview was also used as an element to analyse the exhibition.

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2. Roma people in Sweden since 1999

2.1 History

The very first record on Roma people inside the border of Sweden was in 1512. The Stockholm city’s notebook [Stockholms stads tänkeböcker], which collected memos and minutes from the city council, described a group of newly arrived people with the name tartare [in modern Swedish tattare which means tinker] (Fernstål & Hylten-Cavallius 2018:20). The name given to the group showed a rather neutral attitude towards the newcomers, but in later records, the attitude significantly changed. A placard from 1637 mentioned that male tattare found in the kingdom would be hanged, women and children would be deported (Hanneryd 2017:13). Documents on the history of Roma people were rare to find but traces of discrimination, abuse, and violations were discovered in historical study (SOU 2015). Not until Sweden adopted the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in December 1999, was the discussion on Roma people’s history, culture and conservation put back on the table of the Swedish authority (Ministry for Integration and Gender Equality, 2007). The tattare, which are called the Swedish Travellers or Romani Travellers [Resande in Swedish] in present documents, lived and spread in present-day Sweden, Norway and Finland because of the historical border (Köljing & Hultqvist 2013). As discussed in the previous section, Finnish recognized the Roma people as a national minority in 1995, and the discussion of protecting Roma culture can be traced back to the end of World War II (Å kerlund 2016:56). Similar to Sweden, the Finnish government did not differentiate the Romani Travellers and other Roma people. On the other hand, the Norwegian government adopted the same European Union documents in the year 1999, as the Swedish government did, but they separated the Romani Travellers and other Roma people with a clear definition of the two groups (Kristiansen et al. 2015). Romani Travellers [Romani-folket or tatere in Norwegian] who settled within the borders of Norway in the 16th century, and the other Roma people who came to Norway mainly in the 19th_{century, are legally classified as two different ethnicities but} with the same roots (Kristiansen et al. 2015:30–41).

2.2 Policy

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13 social inclusion and equal opportunity. The National Agency for Education, National Council for Cultural Affairs, The Institute for Language and Folklore, and The Office of the Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination were the government authorities responsible for the work (Ministry for Integration and Gender Equality 2007).

To further detail the protection of specific ethnic minorities, a long-term strategy for Roma inclusion was presented in 2012 based on the framework illustrated by the national minority policy. The long-term strategy designed for the period 2012–2032 and the goal for the strategy was: all Roma who grew up to 20 years old in 2032 would have the same right in all aspects as any other non-Roma Swedish people (Reinfeldt 2012:9). The inclusion strategy was structured based on the report of Roma people’s human rights by the Delegation for Roma Issues, which was a Roma self-maintained organization (Reinfeldt 2012:1). Human rights discussed in the strategy pointed specifically to seven different issues: education, employment, housing, health, social care and security, culture and language, and organization. Roma people’s rights on those issues were the responsibility of the government offices, public authorities and municipalities according to the strategy plan (Reinfeldt 2012:12). The section on culture and language especially made a close relationship to this research, as it acts as a resourceful backup for many of the heritage and archaeological resource management events recorded in this database. According to the report submitted by the Delegation for Roma Issues, eight goals were introduced in the strategy on cultural and language aspects (Reinfeldt 2012:54). The goals were listed as follow, and those bolded goals marked the fundamental targets of any heritage and archaeological resource management events:

1. Teaching in Romani Chib should be offered for Roma children.

2. Romani Chib should be given the same protection as the three prioritized minority languages.

3. Permanent university-level research and education on Romani Chib should be established with guaranteed funding.

4. Roma people’s cultural heritage should be controlled and influenced by their own

ethnic.

5. Culture of Roma people should be conserved, developed and accessible to all.

6. Roma cultural institutions with government legal and financial support should be established.

7. Roma people’s culture and history should be visible to the Swedish majority.

8. Roma cultural institutions should be developed in a permanent base.

The Swedish government had no opposition to the goals suggested by the organization and agreed that culture and language are crucial elements to a person’s identity, which also leads to development and cohesion for a society (Reinfeldt 2012:54). In response to the plan and policy, the government took measures from different angles with different authorities. Research on Roma language and cultures began with the involvement of national organizations, such as the Living History Forum. Those organizations were also given the responsibility to study on how Romani Chib should be protected practically (Reinfeldt 2012:56). The National Council for Cultural Affairs got the responsibility to organize a celebration for 500 years of Roma culture existence in Sweden. The Institute for Language and Folklore would continue their work in the conservation, collection, storage, analysis, and distribution of material on the minorities’ languages (Reinfeldt 2012:59).

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culture protection was mentioned. Instead of imitating active measures on a national level, the strategy for the government was more in the stage of recognizing the importance while promising to grant funds to necessary protective actions.

2.3 Cultural, Heritage and Archaeological Events

Within the research period (1999–2019), 48 events related to Roma people’s heritage and archaeological management are recorded, based on online research and reports produced by museums or organizations (see Appendix I for the full table). Some events may have been missed due to their limited publicity. This also includes events that may have had a less clear, or unspoken connection to the topic of this research study. While the record thus is not exhaustive, it still provides a good indication of the number and kinds of events that have taken place during the investigated time period, and whether any trends can be detected. Needless to say, further information will be highly welcomed to expand the list in the future. Compared to the research by Holmberg and Ulvsgard (2014:133-136), events studied in this research were not limited to projects which had a direct relationship with historical places of Roma people as what the research in 2014 had worked on. However, the ten projects identified in Holmberg’s research were also combined into the database of this study. Mainly five different types of events are recorded spanning over 20 years: research project, exhibition, publication, seminar and conference, and archaeology excavation. The distribution among the five different classifications of events is as follows:

Table 1. The number of Roma people’s heritage and archaeological management related events collected in the database. (Source: Author)

Nature of Events Number of events Research project 18

Exhibition 11

Publication 11

Seminar and Conference 5 Archaeology Excavation 3

The research projects are unsurprisingly the largest category in the list as these projects usually act as the lead to many of the other events on the topic, such as exhibitions and publications. The category ‘research project’ includes historical document study, interviews and documentaries, and many other kinds of information-gathering programmes. The earliest research project in Roma heritage happened in 2002 by the Malmö Museum, which was the third year after the recognition of national minorities. The project was called Romerna, vägarna,

platserna [The Roma, the roads, the places], and it was a sub-project under the Agenda kulturarv project by the Swedish National Heritage Board (2004: 22). The project was recorded

as the very first study of Roma people’s history and heritage in Sweden, and was a project led by Roma people and Travellers’ group to document their historical places in the Skåne county (Holmberg & Ulvsgard 2014:133). The record of the project was not detailed in the Agenda

kulturarv report, and no specific report has been issued on this sub-project. However, an

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15 project included a formal archaeological excavation, publication of results, exhibition and even guided tour of the archaeological site (Andersson et al. 2008; Holmberg & Ulvsgard 2014:133). This project is the most remarkable event in these 20 years as it produced the only permanent exhibition on Travellers (and Roma people) in Sweden till today. Furthermore, it developed a collaboration between Roma organizations with regional museums that triggered more cooperation in the following years. The work on research of Roma people’s history was followed up by the Jämtlands läns Museum in 2005 with the project Romska spår – vägar,

platser, berättelser [Roma traces – roads, places, stories]. The official data collection period of

this project was 2005 to 2006 and the project recorded historical places, gathered photos, clarified the living conditions and culture of Roma people in Jämtland and the Härjedalen region (Holmberg & Ulvsgard 2014:134; Hanneryd 2017: 29). The project was initially ended after all the interviews finished in 2006. However, with the help of new information provided by the Roma organization, Romska Kulturcentret i Malmö, an exhibition in 2017 was finally organized and marked the official end of this project (Hanneryd 2017:29). Besides the above three projects, a survey project conducted by the Delegation for Roma Issue and an inventory research project by the Stockholm Stadsmuseet was also conducted in the first decade after the approval of the national minority policy (See Appendix i for further detail on each project). The number of researches seemed rather thin from 1999 to 2009, but a significant increase in the number of projects could be seen after 2010.

In the decade of 2010, 13 more projects were organized, and four of them continued their work after the study period. Two of the projects that continuing are self-organized projects by the Roma organization Romska Kulturcentret i Malmö (2019), documenting historical photos and places related to the Roma people. The third one is an academic networking project which developed to research Roma people and Travellers’ history in the Scandinavia region (Kott 2019). This project connects researchers from Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Turkey for the study. The last continuous project is a direct response to the language policy by the government, which is a cooperative project between the Institute for Language and Folklore and the Roma organization to organize preservation work on Romani Chib (Olgaç 2013:26). In the year 2010 to 2019, it was clear that the interest in studying Roma people’s history and heritage grew. The cooperation between regional museums, county administrations, and Roma organizations had also increased. The result of projects also got wider in formats, besides exhibition and paper publication, documentaries, digital photo libraries, children’s books, memorial panels with guided tours, and websites were used as media. Projects such as Rom san - är du rom? [Roma san – are you roma?] used and mixed different media and created engaging content to visualize the topic to the general public. The exhibition developed from this project attracted over 150,000 visitors in around two months of exhibition time, and the published children’s book, interview records and photos provided approximately 1,500 education opportunities for the Göteborgs Stadsmuseum (Forneheim 2019). The website produced by this project (http://www.varromskahistoria.se) became a useful tool for basic knowledge on Roma people’s history and the different categories of Roma people in Sweden. Information provided on the website in both Swedish and English was also helpful in many ways and widened the recipients of knowledge. The Västerbottens Museum also learned the variety of media publication possibilities in their projects during 2015–2018, Mångfald – Minoritet – Kulturhistoria [Diversity – Minority – Cultural History]. The museum partnered with a famous photographer in Sweden, Petter Engman, and created a documentary film for the project (Breimo 2018).

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permanent exhibition till the end of the study period is the exhibition by Bohusläns Museum,

Möt Resandefolket! [Meet the Travellers!]. The exhibition started in 2012, and part of the

exhibit was unearthed antiquities from the Snarsmon excavation, which was held between 2004 and 2008. This exhibition will be further discussed in the case study (Chapter 3) with the author’s personal visiting experience and interview with the archaeologist who is one of the curators for the exhibition. Another important exhibition on the list was the exhibition developed from the Rom san - är du rom? project, Vi är romer – människorna bakom myten [We are Roma – people behind the myth], which was a collaborative work between Göteborgs Stadsmuseum, Swedish European Social Fund Council and private Roma individuals (Göteborgs Stadsmuseum 2014). The exhibition period was January 2014 to March 2015 in Göteborgs Stadsmuseum and toured around the country afterwards, this exhibition won the Exhibition of the Year award by the Swedish National Museum and Swedish ICOM (Holmberg & Ulvsgard 2014:136). The exhibition was not only popular among visitors but was also rewarded in the professional curating aspect. According to the press release by the Swedish National Museum and Swedish ICOM (2014), the exhibition touched people and raised the discussion on everyone’s history. On the other hand, this social debate was also presented in a cleverly planned and inspiring way, and with a norm-critical perspective.

The third category of Roma heritage and archaeology resource management is the publications. The very first book record in this database is published by a reporter, Bo Hazell, who research on the Roma people since 1992 (Ordfront Förlag 2011). His book discusses both the culture and history of the Swedish Travellers but also focus on the majority perspective towards the minority group. The first book which written the story from the Roma people’s perspective and discusses on Roma people’s literature, culture, and history was Svarta Rosor –

Kale Ruze [Black Roses – Kale Ruze], which is written by 12 Roma authors (Malmö Stad 2003).

The book was published in 2007 and described the Roma life in Sweden from their perspectives. In the next year, 2008, the first publication joining the point of view between the majority non-Roma people and non-Roma people was published. The report from the Snarsmon project, together with the excavation results were published in the book Snarsmon – resandebyn där vägar möts [Snarsmon – the travellers’ village where the roads meet] (Andersson et al. 2008). Although the project was led by the Bohusläns Museum, the close cooperation between the Roma people and the museum made the publication the first collective view in Roma history. The category of publication also involved more stakeholders than other categories, for example universities, government research centres, and local education authorities. Publications are often used as tools in results release of academic research with an advantage in having long conservation periods and high accessibility, especially with electronic copies. However, they are passive in the spread of knowledge and less attractive for non-professionals’ interest.

The category of seminars and conferences is relatively small, with five events recorded and organized in the past 20 years. This group of events is important because of the high number of professional participants which allow them to exchange their knowledge in direct conversation. However, the seminars and conferences were not as increased in the past decade as other categories. Four of the recorded conferences and seminars took place before 2009, and there was only one seminar organized by the Hälsinglands Museum in 2019. The lack of conferences and seminars indicates a decrease in communication within the study topic and is undoubtedly necessary to improve.

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17 and non-Roma (Andersson et al. 2008:163). Archaeologists from the Bohusläns Museum and other participants spent one week a year between 2004 and 2007 on this project. Snarsmon, located very close to the Sweden-Norway border, was believed to be used as a Swedish Travellers’ village since the 1860s (Andersson et al. 2008:162). The site was abandoned by the Travellers around 1900 and was taken over by forestation till the start of the excavation (Andersson et al. 2008:177). The aim of this excavation was to recognize the history that was left unknown for many people and many years in a scientific and formal archaeological investigation (Andersson et al. 2008:167). The excavation area was about 100 x 500 meters, and a total of 13 dwellings’ foundations were discovered during the excavation; traces of hollows, stone walls, and plantations were also found. The excavation team took a further study of three foundations and investigated the appearance, material used in the construction and function of the dwelling (Andersson et al. 2008:167). Besides the buildings, artefacts from the 19th century were also found in the site, including personal items, utility goods, tools, and building materials (Andersson et al. 2008:172). Some of these artefacts are exhibited in the Bohusläns Museum exhibition Möt Resandefolket!

Fig 2. Illustrative map of Snarsmon indicating the investigated buildings and surrounding area by Anna-Karin Svensson. (Source: Bohusläns Museum)

Following Snarsmon was the excavation on Krämarstaden. The site was also recognized as a former settlement of Swedish Travellers and was abandoned in the 1920s (Sannerstedt 2011:14). The project to investigate the history of Krämarstaden and its relationship with the Finnerödja community was started in 2010 by the Ö rebro läns Museum, the Finnerödja Hembygdsförening and Roma representatives under the project Kalejdoskop – sätt att se

kulturarv [Kaleidoscope – way to see cultural heritage] (Sannerstedt 2011:4). The

archaeological excavation on the site was held between 2013 and 2014 under the name

Krämarstan på Myra (Holmberg & Ulvsgard 2014:135; Edlund 2016:3). The result of this

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Fig 3. Map of Krämarstaden and the surrounding Travellers’ related sites in Finnerödja region. (Source: Persson 2015)

The third excavation happened between 2015 and 2016 by the Statens Historiska Museer on a former Roma people’s settlement named Skarpnäckslägret. It was part of the project Romska

liv och platser [Roma people’s life and places] (Arnberg 2017:7). The excavation aimed to

increase knowledge on the history of the site and to pass the gathered information to the general public (Arnberg 2017:18). Similar to the other two excavations, the Skarpnäckslägret excavation also cooperated with professionals from the museum sector and representatives from the Roma people’s organization (Arnberg 2017:19). The contextual method was used and investigated the cultural layers of the site. The choice of the area to be opened up was based on historical photographs, the memory of the community around the site, and the use of metal detector (Arnberg 2017:26). As a result, seven phases of the cultural layer were identified, and over 11 kilograms of finds were collected (Arnberg 2017:32).

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2.4 Organization

Concluded from the 48 events recorded in this research database, mainly three parties were involved as participants or organizers: county or regional museums, Roma organizations, and universities.

Fig 5. County map of Sweden labels the number of Roma heritage and archaeology related events done by the counties between 1999 and 2019. Counties in grey indicated no event has been recorded in

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she also mentioned that county or regional museums faced some challenges, examples of which include lack of space for collections display and financial limitations for further research. Another active county was Skåne, contributed by the Malmö Museum, which was the first museum that started projects on Roma heritage, and the Regionmuseet Kristianstad also actively participated in recent years. As Roma people’s settlements were discovered in Västra Götalands, Ö rebro, and Stockholm, there was a high possibility of discovering more Roma settlements and heritages in the middle part of Sweden. Although the Södermanland and Västmanland counties did not participate actively archaeology research before, they have the geographic advantage to further discover new traces that have not been recorded. The involvement of more county museums will certainly bring in resources and knowledge to the understanding of Roma heritage and history of the Roma people in Sweden.

Roma organizations were the other party which played an important role in nearly every event. Starting with the first project on Roma heritage led by Malmö Museum in 2002, Roma people took a major role in data collections, providing ideas and knowledge in the researches (Swedish National Heritage Board 2004:22). The cooperation between county museums and Roma organizations has noticeably increased in the past 20 years. In some of the events, the Roma organization could even be the initiator of the project or owner of antiquities. The Snarsmon project is an example where the Roma people initiated and supported the project with interest in finding their roots and own village, which was only known from oral stories before the project and had been treated as a myth (K. Lindholm 2019, pers. comm., 24 October). From the county or regional museums’ point of view, these initiatives and information were critical, as the Roma group was ‘traditionally’ not believing in and not cooperating with the authorities (K. Lindholm 2019, pers. comm., 24 October). Compared to the region or county museums, Roma organizations had a looser structure, and some of them stopped operation, renamed or restructured during the study period. Three of the Roma organizations which were involved in the heritage and archaeological research in the last few years were still in operation at the end of this research [Appendix i]: Kulturgruppen för Resandefolket (Snarsmon project in 2004,

Kortsamling och bildspel – vilka släkten vill vara med? project in 2010 et cetera), É Romani

Glinda (Romska liv och platser project in 2013, Skarpnäckslägret excavation in 2015 et cetera.), and Romska Kulturcentret i Malmö (Romernas Nordiska Kulturhistoria exhibition in 2014,

Romska bilder project in 2016 et cetera).

Besides Roma organizations, the involvement of Roma individuals also brought in important help to many of the projects. One of the most vital individuals on the topic was Rosa Taikon (b. 1926–d. 2017), who was a famous Swedish silversmith and actress with a Roma background (Hanneryd 2017:26). Her success in work brought her attention from the public, and she made good use of this fame to draw attention to the living conditions and culture of Roma people in Sweden. Rosa Taikon and her family had participated in many of the projects within these 20 years, such as the Spår... av romer och resande i Jämtland och Härjedalen and the Romska liv

och platser project (Hanneryd 2017; Fernstål & Hyltén-Cavallius 2018). The donation of her

silversmith work to the Hälsinglands Museum in 2017 also brought the museum in attention to the topic. The donation also started the project Rosa Taikons samling to study Rosa Taikons work and her life in fighting for the right of Roma people in Sweden (Hälsinglands museum 2018).

Compared to museums and Roma organizations, the involvement of universities was relatively less. In the 48 events recorded in 1999 to 2019, only four universities participated: Lund University, Uppsala University, Linköping University, and University of Gothenburg. Lund University and Uppsala University were involved in the Romers och resandes historia i

Norden research network building, and their focus was on the injustice and history of Roma

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21 cultural landscape and heritage of Roma people, which resulted in the Rörligare kulturarv research project (Holmberg 2015).

2.5 Chapter Summary

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3. Case Study

3.1 Möt Resandefolket!

Besides looking at the general picture of the trend and development of heritage and archaeological resource management on Roma people in the past 20 years, the Möt

Resandefolket! [Meet the Travellers!] exhibition in Bohusläns Museum was further studied

through the framework suggested by Stephanie Moser (2010). The exhibition is special in many aspects. For one, it is the first permanent exhibition about Roma people in Sweden. Furthermore, its exhibits include artefacts retrieved from the Snarsmon excavation, and the exhibition has been open for visitors for more than seven years. Through analysing the exhibition’s background, spatial design, visiting experience and an interview with the museum’s archaeologist, this case study analysed the performance of the exhibition as an educator on the history and culture of Roma people, and as the protector and conservator of Roma people’s cultural identity.

The Bohusläns Museum is located in the city Uddevalla inside the Västra Götalands county. As discussed in the previous chapter 2.4, this museum is the most significant contributor to the work on Roma people’s heritage and made Västra Götalands the most active county within Sweden on the topic. According to the press release by Sveriges Museer (Persson 2018), Bohusläns Museum was the second most visited regional museum in Sweden in 2017 with over 280,000 visitors within the year. According to the museum’s website, their mission is to become a vibrant cultural centre in Uddevalla, and to provide public programmes and exhibitions where visitors can explore the life, art and nature of Bohuslän and the city of Uddevalla (Bohusläns Museum 2020). The Bohusläns Museum contains nine permanent exhibitions inside a two-storey building and also provides space for temporary exhibitions, concerts, performances and cultural events. The Möt Resandefolket! exhibition was opened in 2012 and is one of the nine permanent exhibitions in the museum today. The exhibition interprets antiquities from the Snarsmon excavation led by the same museum, and the history and culture of Swedish Travellers (Hjort & Brun 2015:8). According to the interview and report by the museum (Hjort & Brun 2015; K. Lindholm 2019, pers. comm., 24 October), this exhibition was described as a beneficial result from the excavation of Snarsmon and was used to enrich the content of the

Gränsland [Borderland] exhibition in the museum. The report also mentioned that increasing

attention on Roma people was part of the reason for the exhibition to be developed (Hjort & Brun 2015:9). The exhibition thereby includes the history and culture of Swedish Travellers as part of Bohuslän and brings out the importance of cooperation between non-Roma and Roma (Andersson et al. 2008; Hjort & Brun 2015).

The design of the exhibition was a cooperation between curators, archaeologists from Bohusläns Museum, a professional exhibition designer, and the Roma organization

Kulturgruppen för Resandefolket [Cultural Group for Travellers] (Hjort & Brun 2015:8; K.

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23 & Brun 2015). A mix of ethnic- and educational background could be observed within the exhibition design group. Regular meetings were organized between the museum staff, the designer, and the Travellers’ representatives during the design process of the exhibition. Opinions from different parties were collected and discussed (K. Lindholm 2019, pers. comm., 24 October).

Exhibits presented in the Möt Resandefolket! exhibition can be categorized into six different types. First, the antiquities excavated from the Snarsmon excavation project, including ceramics, glass, leather and fabric, and metal. These materials are interpreted to be used for different craftmanship. The second type is a video recorded of interviewed participants in the Snarsmon excavation. The third type is life stories of Swedish Travellers, some of which were presented on roll-up panels, but most of which are gathered into a catalogue for visitors to read. The fourth type is old photos of the Travellers’ family and life. The fifth type is daily utensils of Travellers, including musical instruments, kitchenware, knives, entertainment utensils, handicrafts, and utensils related to the trading business of Travellers. The last type is installations, including a trolley, a stove together with some kitchenware, and a dining table together with two chairs. Except for the antiquities from the Snarsmon excavation, the origin of other exhibited items is not clearly stated in the exhibition. Most of the life stories and photos are credited with the name of the storyteller and persons in the photo. According to the interview with Lindholm (2019, pers. comm., 24 October), old photos and daily utensils are partly donated by the Travellers and partly from the inventory of the museum. The source of the installations is not identified clearly, but it is valid to believe that they function as interactive entertainment to visitors because of the lack of label and text accompaniments.

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3.2 Museum Spatial Analysis

A museum is an active agent in the construction of knowledge; all details in design express the theoretical, political, and intellectual values of the exhibition (Moser 2010). Although the achievement of knowledge and experience is very much a personal choice even in a thoughtfully designed and constructed exhibition, the spatial design of an exhibition is still an important tool for curators and designers to communicate their intentions and motivations for specific messages (Macdonald 2007). In order to further analyse the performance of the Möt

Resandefolket! exhibition, a spatial analysis following Moser’s (2010) framework for

researching the knowledge-making capacity of museum display was conducted. Eight aspects of the exhibition were analysed: architecture, location, and setting; space; design, colour and light; subject, message, and text; layout; display types; exhibition-style; audience and reception. A SketchUp model and photos of the exhibits were used in this section to further describe and explain the spatial design of the exhibition.

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3.2.1 Architecture, Location, Setting

The visiting experience of the exhibition begins with the first impression of visitors towards the museum building, especially when the museum is a heritage-listed building of its own (Lord & Lord 2002:69). Many scholars also point out that the difference in architecture style and location of the museum building conveys messages about the museum content to its visitors (MacLeod 2005; Yanni 2005; Moser 2010). For example, Moser (2010) pointed out that a museum housed in neoclassical architecture usually provides a legacy and presence as a “Temple of Learning” and adds substantial importance and trustful atmosphere to its exhibits. On the other hand, she also comments that neoclassical architecture symbolizes the power and ruling role of European countries during the 19th century. This style also represents the imperial age for the nations which collected numerous antiquities all over the world. The British Museum in London is an excellent example of such a museum. The location of the British Museum, which is the busiest city centre of London, also strengthens the importance of the museum and its exhibits.

Fig 7. Side view of the Bohusläns Museum. (Source: Author)

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Bohusläns Museum is located next to the Bäveån river with a connection to the sea. Its location emphasizes the historical importance and the impression of Uddevalla being a coastal trading and fishing city. Very different from museum houses in neoclassical style discussed above, the Bohusläns Museum is housed in a modern purpose-built building with a combination of red brick and metal as building material [Fig 8]. According to MacLeod’s (2005) discussion, a modern purpose-built museum leads to a contemporary impression of the exhibition it hosts and suggests a challenge to the traditions. The architecture has a close relationship with the purpose and mission of the museum, which aims to be the vibrant cultural centre in Uddevalla with not only house historical antiquities but also public programmes, art galleries and performance spaces (Bohusläns Museum 2020). This combination of very different purposes of the museum is represented by the materials used in construction; red brick represents a more historical and classical feeling, but metal presents an industrial and modern atmosphere. The architecture of Bohusläns Museum symbolizes a meeting of past and present and this joins very well to the mission of the museum. Although the museum building is not a heritage site itself and cannot bring integrity or authenticity to its exhibits, the choice of building material positively promotes the function of the building. With the Möt Resandefolket! exhibition, this modern purpose-built building provides visitors with a very contemporary point of view to this exhibition, which also works well with the purpose of creating a meeting point for the majority and minority. This contemporary perspective moves visitors’ attention away from the relatively heavy history in order to see the interrelationship of the two ethnic groups through the lens of the present.

3.2.2 Space

The spatial factor of an exhibition is very foundational and vital. Rather than discussing how large the display area space should be, the direction of visitors’ movement through the space is equally important (Moser 2010). A well-sequenced and organized exhibition can invite visitors to experience the ‘story’ in the way that the curator wishes to present it, while an exhibition with more open space may help to provoke self-reflection on visitors.

Fig 9. Entrance of

the Möt

Resandefolket!

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27 Fig 10. Aerial view of Möt Resandefolket! exhibition together with visitor movement analysis.

(Source: Author)

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Fig 11. Floor plan of the second floor of Bohusläns Museum which displays near the main entrance of the museum. Location of Möt Resandefolket! exhibition added by the author. (Source: Bohusläns

Museum, 2020)

3.2.3 Design, Colour, Light

Decoration of an exhibition is powerful in the way that it can situate or contextualize the exhibits, reinforce the cultural status of the societies on display, or even make them alien and inferior (Moser 2010). Choice of display cases, installations, and furniture are mostly awarded elements in the design of an exhibition that help to enforce the exhibition messages. The Möt

Resandefolket! exhibition portrayed a home setting with the installation of a stove, dining table,

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29 Fig 12. Exhibition panels and display cases of the Möt Resandefolket! exhibition. (Source: Author)

Colour is another element that can strongly symbolize time period or a specific culture. In the case of the Möt Resandefolket! exhibition, colours that might be suitable for representing the Roma group would be the colours of the Romani flag: blue, green and red. However, those colours were not used significantly in this exhibition but rather keeping the natural wood pattern. The colour indicated the life of Swedish Travellers to always be surrounded by or travelling inside the woods. If the colours of the Romani flag were chosen in this exhibition, the focus might slightly shift to the political or human rights discussion throughout the history of Roma people, which was surely not the target for the curators.

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Fig 13 (left). Spotlight on the exhibition panels on the left of the exhibition. (Source: Author)

Fig 14 (right). Panels on the Snarsmon excavation in the exhibition. (Source: Author)

Fig 15 (left). Display case hosting the knives and metal ornaments with special lighting installed. (Source: Author)

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3.2.4 Subject, Message, Text

Although there is no way to make sure every visitor reads through all the interpretation text in an exhibition, the critical position of textual accompaniments cannot be shaken. The language used in the textual accompaniments, the tone of writing, and even the appearance of the text (font, font size, bold, italic et cetera) can impart meaning and interpretation on the exhibits (Moser 2010).

Textual accompaniments in the Möt Resandefolket! exhibition could be gathered into a total of two books of interviewed stories, ten roll-up panels interpreted together with old photos and stories, 25 pieces of text interpreted together with antiquities, and 14 pieces of purely textual accompaniments. All the text in the exhibition was in Swedish and no English or Romani Chib was provided in the interpretation. The choice of language expressed the primary target audience of the exhibition but also missed the chance to promote and preserve the minority’s language, or to present the Swedish Travellers’ culture to non-Swedish-speaking visitors. As mentioned above, the exhibition was a cooperative project between curators, archaeologists from the Bohusläns Museum, and the Roma organization Kulturgruppen för Resandefolket (Hjort & Brun 2015:8; K. Lindholm 2019, pers. comm., 24 October). The textual accompaniments were also a collaborative work between the parties. This collaboration was well shown by the perspective and style of writing. Personal stories of Swedish Travellers were recorded and presented together with old photos in a self-narrative manner. The description of the excavated materials was more scholarly and academically written, and the panels describing the background or general history of the Swedish Travellers were interpreted in a more poetic way.

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Fig 17. Personal story text accompaniment presented in the exhibition. (Source: Author)

The style of interpretation on the text accompaniments for Snarsmon excavated antiquities and other display exhibits were very different from the personal stories discussed above. The text was written in a descriptive approach, with objective interpretation on the shape, the number of the discovery and material that was presented. However, some of the information was marked as uncertain, such as function and original form of the utensil [Fig 18]. The descriptive approach to this material provoked the atmosphere of academic and scholarly discussion on the exhibits. This style fits very well in the discussion of excavated materials but could also be relatively boring to read for most visitors without a related professional background. By leaving blanks in the description, the curator also opened spaces for visitors to make their own interpretation into the exhibition, further connecting and interacting with the exhibits.

Wing Kwan, Wong

Ethnic Minorities’

Heritage and Archaeological Resources Management:

Roma people in Sweden since 1999

Wing Kwan, Wong

Abstract

Abstrakt

Acknowledgements

Contents

List of Illustrations

1. Introduction

1.1 Research Background

1.2

Research Aim and Framework

1.3 Theory

1.4 Methodology

2. Roma people in Sweden since 1999

2.1 History

2.2 Policy

2.3 Cultural, Heritage and Archaeological Events

2.4 Organization

2.5 Chapter Summary

3. Case Study

3.1 Möt Resandefolket!

3.2

Museum Spatial Analysis