chai bari

Chai Bari is a visual exploration of early marriage within a Roma community in Romania. The project traces a tradition shaped by history, survival and the daily realities that continue to define the lives of Roma girls. In rare instances, girls manage to resist early marriage and pursue education, sometimes even reaching university. Yet, for most, this choice is limited by deep social and economic pressures. Historically, during the 19th century, when Roma people were enslaved, early marriage emerged as a form of protection against sexual abuse by slave owners. Over time, it also became tied to poverty and the preservation of community identity. In Roma culture, a daughter’s marriage represents both continuity and exchange: the bride’s family receives money or gold from the groom’s family, symbolising the couple’s stability and the bride’s future role within her new household. Behind these customs lie the struggles of families to safeguard their daughters, maintain dignity, and secure a sense of belonging in a world that has long marginalised them. Chai Bari invites to not condemn or romanticise but to listen to Roma women navigating the space between inherited expectations and their own possibilities.