Markéta Šestáková is an artist famous for her embroidery. After her mother's death, she grew up in a children's home. As an adult, she searched for her roots and rediscovered the world of the Roma thanks to meeting her future husband and his family. She worked in several blue-collar professions.
Since 1989, she has devoted herself fully to art. Based on her own drawings, she embroiders romantic images depicting the world of the Roma. These are part of the collections of several museums and have also appeared in various Czech and foreign publications. Šestáková also writes and collects classic Romani fairy tales and stories, which she then transforms into both embroidery and literary works. She has published some of her stories and commentaries in the magazine Romano hangos. Three of her fairy tales were published in the electronic anthology of fairy tales Otcův duch (Father's Spirit, Kher, 2012). In 2014, her series of short stories “Má báječná Rodina” / “My Wonderful Family” was published in the e-book of narrative prose by Romani authors Moji milí (My Dear Ones, Kher, 2014), which was subsequently published together with the story “Válka” / “The War” in print in the anthology Všude samá krása (Nothing but Beauty Everywhere, Kher, 2021) and reprinted in English translation in Velvet Blues (Kher 2025).
Photo: the author's personal archive
