Hodász – Roma Country House

The first Roma Country House in Hodász – located in one of the most disadvantaged regions of Hungary-, comprehends two tiny cob-houses, exhibiting the very poor housing and living standards of local Roma from the first part of the 20th century and at the same time, serves as a community center and a cultural hub. One the one hand, it offers traditional occupations, related to rural Roma life, on the other, it involves local children in the salvage of oral heritage items. In the frame of various grants and projects, the community of the country house has collected a great number of folk songs, tales and oral history interviews in the neighboring villages and in Hodász. Documenting and preserving the cultural heritage of Roma communities from North-Eastern Hungary means that intangible and tangible cultural practices, otherwise entirely missing from the mainstream cultural canon, become visible and accessible. Moreover, these kinds of activities play a major role in community building and offer novel ways of social cohesion for a marginalized community in a marginalized space.