How Małgorzata Mirga-Tas Uses Textile Art to Reclaim Roma Stories

Why It Matters

Mirga‑Tas’s work reframes marginalized narratives, influencing cultural institutions to prioritize inclusive representation and prompting broader market interest in socially conscious art.

Key Takeaways

• First Roma artist at Venice Biennale
• Uses vibrant textiles to reinterpret traumatic history
• Collaborative studio empowers women and community memory
• Exhibited globally, including Berlin and Copenhagen
• Art challenges anti‑Romani stereotypes

Pulse Analysis

Małgorzata Mirga‑Tas, a Polish‑Romani artist born in 1978, has turned textile collage into a powerful vehicle for rewriting Roma history. By stitching together fabrics sourced from family and friends, she creates vivid portraits that replace the bleak palette traditionally used for trauma with bright, patterned cloth. This visual strategy not only honors survivors of events such as the Holocaust but also reframes collective memory in a way that is both accessible and celebratory. Her work therefore operates at the intersection of personal narrative and broader cultural reclamation, positioning textile art as a conduit for marginalized voices.

The artist’s studio in Czarna Góra functions as a communal workshop where women collaborators contribute to each piece, reinforcing a feminist ethic of shared creation. This collective approach challenges the stereotype of the Romani community as fragmented, instead highlighting solidarity and agency. By foregrounding everyday objects—clothing, handkerchiefs, tablecloths—Mirga‑Tas embeds domestic intimacy into public discourse, turning private memory into a catalyst for social change. The bright colors and bold patterns serve as visual antidotes to anti‑Romani sentiment, inviting viewers to confront prejudice through an aesthetic that is simultaneously joyful and confrontational.

International institutions have recognized Mirga‑Tas’s impact, from honorable mentions at the Bielska Jesień Biennial to a historic solo representation of Poland at the 59th Venice Biennale—the first Roma artist to do so. Subsequent shows at the Berlin Biennale, Timisoara Art Encounters, and Copenhagen’s Kunsthal Charlottenborg have amplified her reach, influencing curatorial agendas toward greater inclusivity. This institutional validation signals a shift in the art market, where collectors and museums are increasingly valuing socially engaged practices that address historical erasure. For the broader cultural sector, Mirga‑Tas’s success underscores the commercial and ethical imperative to elevate underrepresented narratives.

Original Description

”Art is a tool to convey what really matters.” Romani artist Małgorzata Mirga-Tas uses art to reclaim and celebrate Roma history, identity, and memory. To her, art is a language and a means to change perceptions within her community.

“I focus on subjects connected to Roma culture, with identity, appropriation, and reclaiming memory, as well as notions of multiculturality and anti-Romani sentiment.” Małgorzata Mirga-Tas lives with her family in Czarna Góra, Poland. Her textile works function as a response to centuries of misrepresentation of Romani people. Mirga-Tas reinterprets history through bold, patterned fabrics and colourful compositions: “I don’t want to recount these traumatic situations using black, white, or gloomy colours. On the contrary: picking strong, patterned fabrics really matters to me, because every situation of this kind should be told in colour.”

From her studio near her home, she collaborates with a small team of women, friends and family, to bring her pieces to life: “Every time I enter my studio, I feel my life is really in place,” she says and continues: “Working with the community means working on our collective memory. Collaborative efforts challenge the stereotype of the Romani community.”

Through her art, Mirga-Tas often deal with traumatic stories of violence against Romani people, including the Holocaust. In the portrait series ‘Siukar Manusia’ Romani, Holocaust survivors are portrayed with bright colours on a dark, blue, velvet background: “There are stories that are traumatic and full of violence, and you wonder how to show them in the first place. I figured the easiest way was to show only what truly mattered,” she elaborates: “The story was about them.”

Her practice extends beyond making art; it’s also about community. Using art, Mirga-Tas bridges history and memory, giving voice to those long overlooked: “This is my mission statement: To show that we’re normal people,” Mirga-Tas says: “My art can act and change the discrimination, as can the art of other Romani artists, as I’m not the only one. Creating art and doing what I do is a part of who I am.”

Małgorzata Mirga-Tas (b. 1978, Zakopane, Poland) is a Polish-Romani artist who lives and works in Czarna Góra in southern Poland. Mirga-Tas is known for her textile collages, created with materials and fabrics gathered mainly from family and friends. A feminist perspective informs her visual storytelling and challenges stereotypical representations of Roma people. Often working in collaboration with other women, she sews pieces of clothing, handkerchiefs, tablecloths, curtains and sheets together to create vivid portraits and scenes from everyday life. Her works have been exhibited at the 42nd Biennial of Painting Bielska Jesień in 2015 (she received an honourable mention then), the 43rd Biennial of Painting Bielska Jesień in 2017, the 3rd Art Encounters Biennale in Timisoara in 2019, and the 11th Berlin Biennale in 2020. Mirga-Tas was the official Polish representative at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022 – the first Roma artist to represent any country.

Małgorzata Mirga-Tas was interviewed by Roxanne Bagheshirin Lærkesen in her studio near Czarna Góra in February 2026, in connection with her exhibition Pani, so tradeł / Water that Wanders at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Camera: Jarl Therkelsen Kaldan & Rasmus Quistgaard

Edited and produced by Roxanne Bagheshirin Lærkesen

Music via Upright:

Flow Like Water by Celine Bostic and Matthew Ker

Little Memory by Kasper Kaae and Elise Rosenkrands

Ancient Ritual by Bradley Farmer

Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2026

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