"This is a powerful title" illuminates the forgotten monument

The visual brilliance of Shqipe Kamberi's works is like a reflection on the signs of women in the past. But there lies the sad side. On the other hand, the works of Mjellma Goranci-Firzi are contrasts. There is the modern woman. "This is a powerful title" has brought together two stories about women in extreme positions, in the Great Hammam of Pristina, the long-forgotten and neglected monument, which also preserves a memory for women

"This is a powerful title" is not a simple phrase. The title of the exhibition comes as a comment, there are works that talk about the power and weakness of the woman, about the time when all she owned after marriage was only her dowry. He didn't even have his life in his hands.

The works of Shqipe Kamberi and Mjellma Goranci-Firzi confront women in traditional and modern times in the Great Hammam of Pristina, the disfigured monument that is often neglected and is revived from time to time with such exhibitions.

The visual brilliance of Kamber's works is like a reflection on the signs of women in the past. There are two extremes there. In the vertically unfolded works, which are worked by women, very beautiful, full of colors and decorations, the sad side is the lead placed in a scarf. It is a typical dowry of a newly married girl in a society that follows the laws of the Kanun. What was known as the dowry cartridge.

On the other side, two works with large dimensions stand in front of him and seem to confront each other. While the first, where the works speak without the figure of the woman in them, is like a kind of symbolism of hiding the woman, in those that define the modern time they show her in conceptual forms, but still very beautiful, full of colors, with signs that relate with professions, vision and future. 
They are depicted with colored hair, long necks, bright bodies covered in gold. They represent powerful women and those who don't mind breaking barriers.

The author of these works, Mjellma Goranci-Firzi, said that she presents powerful women who lead institutions, but who at the same time have family responsibilities.

"Today, a powerful woman is the one who leads the state, institution, creates, has a sensational career, equal to that of the opposite sex, but family responsibilities are still expressed. I am proud of the figure of the Albanian woman, therefore the ones I bring are tall, have long necks, are proud, have beauty, are adorned. They are mothers, housewives, presidents, artists, teachers, professors and what not," said Goranci-Firzi.

This, according to the artist, because although in modern times still on the woman's shoulder are what she calls garbage carried by tradition. Her work is influenced by the story presented by the artist Kamberi.

"Albania presents a very sad history of the Albanian woman, while I, in the face of a very painful reality of history, present a contemporary woman of today, who is a very powerful figure, who has many responsibilities, sacrifices. A woman today, who has advanced over time, has a much better position than we had before. But, we still live with a very heavy weight, where today's woman is very beautiful, very magnificent, but still she carries the waste from tradition, family and moral responsibilities".

Their works collide head-on with each other and communicate with narratives of different times.

The artist Shqipe Kamberi said that she tried to visualize "an article of the Canon, which gives the right to a man to kill his wife".

"There is a clause that says that when the father takes the girl for marriage, he also gives her a pellet along with the dowry. I tried to present this in this work", said Kamberi.

He emphasized the confrontation of times in these works.

"Mjellma and I have our wife as the main character and we have tried to cope with it. Me, the woman of the past, Mjellma, with the woman of today. A Swan woman, strong, proud, independent, while mine is totally dependent on others, oppressed. We wanted to show this confrontation to the public, to confront a past and a present. But it doesn't mean that mine doesn't coincide today."

The exhibition, which also includes an artistic performance by the artist Agnes Nokshiqi accompanied by the "Zanat" choir, which also sang beautiful Albanian songs, was curated by Vullnet Jakupi.

He said that the words wife, mother, sister and daughter can easily take place in the title.

"'It's a powerful title' as it carries a lot of weight and sometimes we forget to understand and recall these stories. The exhibition where we are today is in the Great Bath of Pristina, which was built in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. This object has served as a meeting place between men and women", said Jakupi.

The artist Eshref Qahili has appreciated the works of the artists as brave.

"Albania with these draperies, with national clothes, impresses me with this version different from the one we are used to seeing with portraits, with brides, with figures. I also like the works of Mjellma, who has had the courage to make a large format and in this case Mjellma has made two. It is to be praised that one of our artists does such work", said Qahili.

On Wednesday night, when the exhibition was opened, the Hamam was lit up in orange color, as it is held in the framework of the "16 days of activism against gender-based violence". "This is a powerful title" it is estimated that the historical environment of the Hamam "reinforces the powerful message that art can be a force for change, helping to break cycles of violence and promoting respect between the sexes".