Morgan Ahern, a long-time supporter of the Holocaust Center and recent addition to the Holocaust Center's Speakers Bureau, is an outspoken voice for Romani culture and rights around the world. Check out her blog at http://lolodiklo.blogspot.com/.
Mobile museum on Vashon honors Romani culture
By ELIZABETH SHEPHERD
Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber Arts Editor
Jul 08 2010, 4:12 PM · UPDATED
Vashon has a new museum, but it doesn’t look like most other museums. For one thing, it’s on wheels.
The Romani Traveling Museum and Education Center is tucked inside a 14-foot, wood-paneled 1967 travel trailer parked in Burton. Inside is a treasure trove of items that speaks to the rich culture of the Romani people, an ethnic group commonly referred to as Gypsies.
Colorful scarves are draped across the ceiling, and vibrant fabrics cover the sofas.Captivating photographs of Romani people from all over the world cover almost every inch of wall space. A small library of books, DVDs and music CDs detailing Gypsy life fill the remaining nooks and crannies.
But the museum is not only a celebration of a lively and exotic culture. It also aims to tell a complex and often heartbreaking story that began almost 1,000 years ago, when the Romani people began to migrate to Europe from India, facing discrimination and persecution wherever they moved.
Orchestrating this remarkable display is Morgan Ahern, an Islander who has devoted much of her life to working as an advocate and documentarian for the Romani people. A tall, striking woman, she bears the distinctive look of her heritage — a warm olive complexion and huge brown eyes characteristic of many Romani people...Read Article
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