Singular do plural

People like everyone else

"When a handful of 'good men' drafted and proposed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they headed it, in its first article, with an obvious and seemingly indisputable statement in the eyes of any rational being:

'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.'"

This liberty, equality, and fraternity, which has a long history, blessed with much bloodshed, when proposed and proclaimed in 1948, reveals the world's need to reaffirm, reclaim, and consolidate these values.

Although it is a general statement, not specifically aimed at or protecting Roma people, it looks to and draws inspiration from the past of this people, as well as other equally tormented peoples.

Life is not without its accidents, and if the Declaration has thirty articles, it is no coincidence that this commandment is the first, preceding all others.

Almost seventy years later, we still need to revive what is stipulated in the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It is a need that is not limited to the Roma, it is true, but in Portugal, the circumstances of life and the future of this community demand greater civic care.

The “Singular of the Plural” responds to this need for reaffirmation of fundamental rights and the civic care to which we are all obliged.

With these portraits, as in Every portrait contains the figure and the person, with the certainty that each person is a figure, with features, expressions, knowledge, experiences, expectations, goals, and a history.

They are people like everyone else. That is the great objective of the exhibition: that we discover that our fellow human beings are similar to us.

Putting myself out there, participating in this initiative, collaborating with the European Anti-Poverty Network, with Sérgio Aires, Maria José Vicente, and Father Jardim, was a privilege for me, aware that I am a privileged Gypsy, not for what I have built, but for the education my parents provided me.

Enjoy the exhibition and remember that behind each portrait, there is a story, a life, a person.