Museum of Roma history in Černelavci shutting down
Murska Sobota, 12 August - A small museum of Roma history started by Jožef Podbregar in Černelavci, a village near the northeastern city of Murska Sobota, is closing down after 13 years as visitor numbers have been reduced to a trickle.
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Murska Sobota
The museum gallery of Roma history in Černelavci, a settlement in Murska Sobota, is closing down 13 years after opening.
Photo: Vida Toš/STA
Podbregar says it was his son's desire to have a museum tell the story of the Roma, who have lived for centuries in Prekmurje, Slovenia's northeastern-most region.
Podbregar thus founded a Roma association called Phuro Kher, which means an old house, and transformed his former car mechanic garage into a museum, filling it with photographs, musical instruments, pottery, pieces of furniture, clocks and weapons, which he restored himself.
The museum used to attract visitors from all over Slovenia and abroad, but in time interest waned, so the founder decided to close it down.
He has already sold some of the museum artefacts, such as the double bass, which once again serves its original purpose.
The museum has kept several other instruments, including his uncle's violin and the cimbaloms he bought in Czechia and in Hungary. He has restored them himself.
"I taught myself to restore, all by myself. I'm self-taught, but not only in restoration, I have also repaired cars and taught myself to do that. I'm a true ezermešter (jack of all trades)," says Podbregar, who changed his surname a few years ago from a typical Romani to the Slovenian one.
His museum also keeps records on the history of the Roma, Roma housing culture, Roma crafts and professions, medicine and divination, blacksmithing, musicians and instruments, and music, which Podbregar says runs in the Roma's blood, including his family's.
"I'm not selling the cimbaloms. Even if you offer me 5,000 euros I won't. My two grandchildren play and practise on these cimbaloms you see here. One of my grandsons has finished the music school in Beltinci, where he learned to play very well. The granddaughter is still attending," he adds.