In the summer of 2024, photographer Luigi Toscano traveled through Eastern Europe in his role as UNESCO Artist for Peace to meet the last surviving victims of the Nazi genocide against Sinti and Roma. His photographs and interviews give a face and voice to those who have long been overlooked. The larger-than-life portraits, created in Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine, are powerful testimonies of pain and resistance. After its premiere at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, Ma Bistrass! is now coming to Berlin. Until 15.11.2025, the exhibition will be accessible around the clock along Ladestraße on the grounds of the Deutsches Technikmuseum, and thereafter until 06.12.2025 at Steinplatz in Charlottenburg. Ma Bistrass! translates roughly to “Lest we forget!”. Toscano’s images remember a minority that was only recognized as victims of Nazi persecution in 1982. Even today, Sinti and Roma face prejudice and social exclusion. In cooperation with the EVZ Foundation, a new, if temporary, place of remembrance and learning is being created in the heart of Berlin. The project is accompanied by guided tours and an educational program. Toscano’s work is more than documentation; it’s a call to look closely. Every gaze into one of these faces tells a story of survival, loss, and the hope that responsibility endures.
Text: Isabel Raab / Photos: Claire Demoute, Łukasz Überhuber
Deutsches Technikmuseum, Möckernstr. 26, 10963 Berlin–Kreuzberg; map
Ma Bistrass! A project by Luigi Toscano in cooperation with the EVZ Foundation
First stop until 15.11.2025.
Am Steinplatz, 10623 Berlin–Charlottenburg; map
Second stop 15.11.–06.12.2025, Admission 24 hours a day, no ticket required.
@deutschestechnikmuseum
@toscano7327
@evzfoundation
@unesco
