Dr. Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka, born in 1985 in Kraków, Poland, is an anthropologist and dedicated Roma rights activist. She earned her Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in 2016. Additionally, she holds a Master’s degree in European Integration from UAB and another in Comparative Studies of Civilizations from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.
Deeply engaged in Roma advocacy, Dr. Mirga-Kruszelnicka has served in various capacities—as an employee, member, founder, and collaborator—within numerous Roma organizations. From 2008 to 2012, she worked as the European Project Coordinator at the Federation of Roma Associations in Catalonia (FAGIC).
She is the author of numerous policy evaluations, reports, and scholarly articles, and co-edited books Education for Remembrance of the Roma Genocide: Scholarship, Commemoration and the Role of Youth (Libron, 2015) and Re-thinking Roma Resistance throughout History: Recounting Stories of Strength and Bravery (ERIAC, 2020). Most recently, she is the author of Mobilizing Romani Ethnicity: Romani Political Activism in Argentina, Colombia, and Spain (CEU Press, 2022).
Between 2013 and 2015, she was a Roma Initiatives Fellow with the Open Society Foundations, where she led a comparative study of Roma associative movements in Latin America and Europe. Since 2017, Dr. Mirga-Kruszelnicka has been a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Romani Studies Program at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest.
Since 2018 she holds the position of Deputy Director of European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture.
The European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC)
Holds a distinct and exclusive mandate as the only transnational, European-level organization dedicated to promoting and recognizing Roma arts and culture.
Founded as a collaborative effort between the Council of Europe, the Open Society Foundations, and Roma leadership through the Alliance for the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture, ERIAC was formally established as a registered association under German law in Berlin in April 2017, and officially launched in June of the same year.
ERIAC’s mission is to foster Roma pride and self-confidence while combating widespread prejudice through the tools of art, culture, history, and media. As an international hub for creativity, ERIAC facilitates the cross-border exchange of ideas, spanning artistic disciplines and diverse Romani identities.
The organization serves as a platform to showcase Roma contributions to European heritage, highlight Roma talent and achievements, and preserve the historical experiences of Romani people. ERIAC also acts as a public educator—promoting dialogue, mutual respect, and understanding through the dissemination of positive representations and accurate information about Roma communities.
ERIAC’s long-term objectives include:
– Educating non-Roma audiences about Roma arts and culture to foster understanding, tolerance, and mutual respect between Roma and non-Roma communities.
– Raising awareness among European institutions, policymakers, and stakeholders about the importance of Roma cultural expression, while building strong, wide-ranging partnerships across Europe and beyond to support Roma arts, culture, and communities.