AMICO ROM 2026: Romani Excellence award
ERGO Network is proud to share that our Director, Gabriela Hrabanova, will receive the 2026 Romani Excellence Award at the 33rd International Amico Rom Art Competition in Lanciano, Italy. We are deeply honoured by this recognition, which we also see as a responsibility: to continue standing up for Roma rights, challenging antigypsyism, and strengthening the voice and participation of Roma across Europe. We thank the organisers of Amico Rom for recognising Gabriela’s work and, through it, the collective efforts of the many people and organisations committed to equality, dignity and justice for Roma.
One of the most prestigious events for Italy’s Roma community returns with commemorations, music, performances, awards, and a Roma haute couture fashion show featuring a Roma designer and models.
Amico Rom has been held in Lanciano, in the province of Chieti, for 33 consecutive years. It is a well-established event whose International Amico Rom Art Competition attracts both Roma and non-Roma participants from around the world, offering an intercultural encounter of the highest artistic standard and value.
The event opens on Sunday, 27 September, in Orsogna, in the province of Chieti, with the annual Romheritage – Roma Route for Peace, a route of approximately 12 kilometres stretching from 34 Via Borgo Romano to the Parco delle Memorie in Lanciano. Along the way, there will be two refreshment points, as well as stories, poems and songs about the Roma world.
On 30 September at 10:30 a.m., at 34 Via Borgo Romano in Orsogna, in front of the house where Gennaro Spinelli (1937–2021), who was deported by the Fascists as a child, was born, a commemoration will be held for the Roma and Sinti children who were deported by the Nazi-Fascists and never returned.
On 7 October at 11:00 a.m., the National Research Council, Fisciano/Rome, will present the booklet Pills of History in Memory of the Samudaripen at the De Cecco Hospitality Institute in Pescara.
On Thursday, 8 October, at 9:00 p.m., the European Orchestra for Peace will perform its grand Ethno-Symphonic Concert of Roma Music in the Cathedral of Madonna del Ponte in Lanciano. The concert will feature Alexian Santino Spinelli as accordion soloist, soprano Tania De Giorgio singing in the Romani language, and internationally renowned flautist Ostalinda Suárez Montaño as special guest of honour.
Friday, 9 October, will be the most eventful day and will bring the programme to a close. All events will take place in Lanciano.
At 10:30 a.m., at the Parco delle Memorie, a laurel wreath will be laid at the Monument to the Samudaripen, along with floral tributes at the Roma Memorial Naj sen Bistarde (“You Are Not Forgotten”) and at the tree dedicated to Gennaro Spinelli (1937–2021).
At 3:00 p.m., in the Sala Lanci of the Casa di Conversazione, Croatian Member of Parliament Veljko Kajtazi will present his new documentary film in person. The film won the Video and Film category of the 33rd Amico Rom International Art Competition.
At 5:00 p.m., at the Auditorium Diocleziano, Roma fashion designer Sara Cetty will present her new collection in a Roma haute couture fashion show featuring Roma models.
This will be followed at 6:00 p.m., also at the Auditorium Diocleziano, by a performance by Roma puppeteer Rašid Nikolić.
At 9:00 p.m., the solemn Awards Ceremony of the 33rd Amico Rom International Art Competition will take place at the Teatro Mazzini. The overall winner is Romanian university professor Gheorghe Sarău, a world-renowned scholar of Romani studies.
Among the most prominent award recipients, together with our Director Gabriela Hrabanova, are Ismael Cortés, Director of the Institute of Roma Culture in Madrid and former member of the Spanish Parliament, who will receive the 2026 Romani Excellence Award; and Rocco Lanatà and Renato Ongania of the Assisi Chair of Peace, together with Paolo Dossena, founder of the CNI record label, who will receive the 2026 Phralipé Awards.
Guests of honour will include the distinguished composer and orchestra conductor Paco Suárez and his daughter Ostalinda.
Admission to all events is free of charge.
