The artworks of the “most dangerous woman in the world” – as Selma Selman refers to herself – served as the starting point for a collaboration with Bachtale Romnja, a women’s counseling center for Romnja in Frankfurt. The organization is the first point of contact for many Romnja women in the city. In the summer of 2024, an outreach project was launched, building on the existing group programs of the organization, inviting women and children to the SCHIRN. The project then continued at the ADA-Canteen. Selma Selman, herself Rom*nja, identifies as a feminist-activist artist who works globally for her community.

The first of three sessions took place at the SCHIRN – for many of the participating women and children, it was their first visit to this institution. The goal was initially to create an open and respectful framework for collaborative work. After an introduction to the life and work of Selma Selman and a tour of the exhibition, numerous discussions emerged around autobiographical and social topics. The women later shared that they were inspired by Selman’s artistic engagement with her own experiences to be bolder in standing up for themselves in everyday life and to raise their voices against injustices.

Two more meetings took place at the ADA-Kantine in Bockenheim, where participants tried out artistic techniques themselves. Together with the children, they created a large, three-dimensional collage filled with motifs that were valuable, important, or desirable to them in life. The theme was inspired by the exhibition title “Flowers of Life.” At the next meeting, the focus was on empowerment: the group created self-portraits and, inspired by the exhibition, designed their own fragrance. Throughout all sessions, the group was accompanied by an interpreter, and the exhibition’s content was translated into Romanes beforehand.

Beyond the official meetings, there was also a lively exchange between Bachtale Romnja and the SCHIRN. A group from the association attended the opening of the exhibition and had the opportunity to meet Selma Selman in person. They were particularly impressed by the intensity and message of her performance “You Have No Idea,” which left a lasting impact. Additionally, SCHIRN staff supported the Bachtale Romnja rally on July 11, 2024, at Paulsplatz, where the association demanded its own urgently needed premises.

With the move of the SCHIRN to the Dondorf Printing Factory in Bockenheim, the SCHIRN and Bachtale Romnja will be physically closer to each other in the future – an ideal opportunity to deepen the collaboration and forge new connections in order to gradually create an open house for all citizens.

The project was made possible with the kind support of the Crespo Foundation.