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By:
Besarte Elshani
- December 5, 2024 21:01
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The banner with Thomas Jefferson's quote "When injustice becomes a law, resistance becomes a duty", is in the hall where performances of the National Theater of Kosovo are given. It has taken place there since Sunday, November 17, when the general strike was officially announced. As the strike enters its third week, there is little movement in TKK. The space is unlit, no actors' voices are heard and there is no evidence. On Wednesday afternoon, when the TIME team visited TKK, they met the management there.
The general director of the TKK, Kushtrim Sheremeti, has said that the demands of the actors are legitimate as they themselves previously had the same request in advance. The strike as a union step returns to TKK after the one in 2018.
"We are very unhappy about the situation. We wish very much that it will be resolved as soon as possible. We do not know how the solution will be made, because it is not in our hands. In the end, I am sure that the solution will be what the management has proposed since 18 months ago, also in relation to the legal explanations and the right to decent wages for the actors of the TKK, who recently but even before they did a large volume of work", said Sheremeti.
He said that several planned projects, including co-productions and presentations on the international stage, have remained suspended.
"We are continuing to work, to get ready for next year to work with the same enthusiasm all at TKK to continue with the same trend where there are no cheap tickets, where qualitative and big shows are produced. We have many pre-planned international projects, co-productions, presentations at festivals. All these are currently suspended due to this situation", said Sheremeti.
When he spoke about the damage caused during the interruption of the work of the theater, he also mentioned the emancipation of society.
"Not only the Theater, but also the audience misses him. The damage is great, it is true that society cannot live without bread, but at the same time it cannot be emancipated without theater. The development of social emancipation that is done by the theater, as one of the most engaged arts, is unfortunately missing and this should be an alarm for the whole society", said Sheremeti.
The artistic director of TKK, Kushtrim Mehmeti, has said that he does not see the strike as reasonable, as he needs time to meet the demands of the actors. However, he said that the strike is legitimate and the right of the actors.
"I don't see the strike as a good option, but it is their right, so I would like the National Theater of Kosovo to continue its work with the resident ensemble, to complete the works, such as the show that was canceled five days ago the premiere, but also the festival", said Mehmeti.
According to him, the strike has greatly damaged the Theater.
"It has damaged the theater a lot. We are talking about the last time when the National Theater had all the tickets sold for the vast majority of the shows. It has been a public that gradually, not because there was no public before, but the acclimatization in a different, new place, until it began to be established. The theater has an extraordinary audience", said Mehmeti.
The strike returns as a "repeat" in TKK after the one six years ago. It was precisely the Theater Union that had continuously called for a different salary ranking. In 2018, the actors went on strike when the Minister of Culture was Kujtim Gashi. After the negotiations, the former minister Gashi agreed with the representatives of the employees that the salaries should increase up to 50 percent. The increase was made without any planning and the budget of several capital projects and the annual budget of the institutions was sacrificed. For the following year, salaries were foreseen with increases in the Law on Budget Appropriations. On November 1 of that year, 228 employees had received increased wages. Two media conferences and a party in a luxury hotel on the outskirts of Pristina were organized for this decision. Despite this, the increase in many cases has not been made to 50 percent, as promised by the then Minister of Culture, Kujtim Gashi.
