Shutka - Macedonia - the biggest Roma municipality in Europe

Walking down the street

Big new house

Small poor house... someone living there?

Children playing and making pause for the picture

The market and the shops exibiting manequins on the streets with a huge Macedonian flag

In the suburbs of the Macedonian capital, Skopje, lays the biggest Roma municipality around Europe. This place is at least very surprising, diverging between the existence of authentic "favelas" - made of the weakest materials possible such as cardboard, plastic and metal - and new huge and modern houses built by the well-succeeded Roma people who emigrated to Germany some years ago. Walking around this neighborhood makes you realize one thing: even in the poorest places where the all population is composed of brother and sisters, the life standards can vary pretty much. But one thing which is surprising is the smile of the people in their faces, no matter their living conditions.

Shutka is undoubtedly the biggest Roma municipality in all Europe. There live only Roma people. This neighborhood is quite far away from the city center and Macedonians don't mix with Roma. This kind of separation or even stigmatization exist in every part, even in smaller cities such as Vranje. The only time I saw Roma mixing with Serbians in Vranje (even if the two communities live some 100 meters form each other, they don't participate in each others cultural events or parties) was during a yearly summer festival called "Stari Dani" (old years) where traditional Roma brass band musicians held performances on stage. Among the universally well-known musicians were Boban and Marko Markovic. I saw this night as a miracle: Roma and Serbians, all together in the same area, dancing and singing as they were the best friends.

Shutka is incredibly well furnished in food, small grossery shops, millions of clothes and mannequins standing at the doors, exhibiting modern jeans and shirts for almost nothing. A huge semi-covered market selling all kinds of domestic goods, clothing, vegetables and fruits, takes place in the center of the municipality.

Recently, I was told that even an organization for homosexuals had opened there. After searching for deeper information, I found out that this organization is actually a "cafe room" where the gay of the municipality gather...