Kultura na marginesie, margines bez kultury? Lunik IX [Culture on the Margins, the Margins Without C...

The now infamous housing estate in the southwestern part of Košice, the second largest city in Slovakia, was planned as a luxurious housing complex for the local administration, policemen and officers. Or was it? Soon it was populated by the majority of Roma from the capital of Eastern Slovakia. The title of European Capital of Culture 2013, which Košice was awarded in 2009, paradoxically worsened the situation of this culturally diverse but also the severely marginalized minority group. What has become of Lunik IX since its founding? What changed in the decade after the renowned book by Karl-Markus Gauss was published in 2004? Is there any hope for a bright future for the biggest urban Roma ghetto in Europe? And do the Roma living there have a will to fight for themselves and to better their plight? This article tackles the above-mentioned questions and brings to light other issues regarding the horrors of day-to-day life in Lunik IX.