Applying an Intersectional Lens: Oláh Mara OMARA and the Politics of Care
We are presenting texts published in “Artelogie” – Numéro double spécial 22 (2024): Violencia(s), frontera(s) y sentimiento(s): formas, sentidos y significados de la violencia en nuestra América. You can access all the issue here.
Author: Viktoria Popovics
Abstract:
Known for her socio-critical paintings, autobiographical works dealing with personal traumas and subversive actions, Oláh Mara OMARA (1945-2020) is an internationally acknowledged Hungarian artist of Roma origin. As a self-taught artist who started painting at the age of 43, OMARA was considered a “naïve gypsy painter” until her recognition as a contemporary artist in the late 2000s. With her unconventional artistic practice, she challenged the art historical canon and pioneered the introduction of Roma resistance into contemporary art institutions. This essay seeks to examine the interrelation between social conditions and artistic production, the intersections of gender, ethnicity, social status, age, motherhood, and disability in OMARA’s art, and thus, to shed light on the manifestations of intersectional discrimination in Hungarian art and society.
