The European Roma Institute for arts and culture (ERIAC) – a joint initiative of the Council of Europe, the Open Society Foundations, and the Alliance for the European Roma Institute - has awarded its Tajsa Roma Cultural heritage prize 2025 to Selma Selman, a Romani-Bosnian artist working across performance, painting, and video.
Her work challenges dominant narratives and brings new visibility to Roma experiences of society, particularly those of Roma women. Ms Selman is also the founder of “Get the heck to school” (Marš u školu), an education initiative supporting girls in her hometown of Ružica, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Tajsa Prize, awarded biennially and including a €10,000 grant, highlights outstanding Roma creators whose work shapes the cultural future of the community. This year’s finalists – Coco Reyes, Noell Maggini, Riah Knight, Sead Kazanxhiu, and Selma Selman – represented a wide spectrum of contemporary Roma creativity across visual arts, performance, music, design, and socially engaged practice.
Tajsa 2025 award ceremony & gala took place at the historic Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest on 29 November. Eleni Tsetsekou, head of the Council of Europe’s Roma and Travellers division, represented the organisation at the event.
The Council of Europe and Roma and Travellers
