09.12.2023

On December 9, Blerta Gubetini and Dora Xhemajli brought their performance “Be Aware: Patriarchy Destroy Zone” to the stage of the Faculty of Arts in Prishtina.

Featured as part of the “16 Days of Activism” campaign, this performance served as a powerful response to the systematic oppression of women perpetuated by the patriarchal system, also advocating for an end to the violence against women.

Combining key feminist events, “Be Aware: Patriarchy Destroy Zone” is a feminist performance confronting sexism, misogyny, and femicide, while urging women to unite in solidarity. The performance opened with scenes depicting women’s protests spanning from Chile to Washington, Paris to Pristina, all echoing a unanimous call to end the violence and assault against women, notably exemplified by the performance “Un Violador en Tu Camino (A rapist on your way)” crafted by Les Thesis.

Then, Dori Xhemajli appeared on stage, delivering the monologue of the first feminist writer, Christine de Pizan, as a plea for women’s education—a right denied over the centuries. Beyoncé’s song “Flawless” and the “BollMa” march from Artpolis also featured prominently in this performance.

Inspired by Carolee Schneemann’s performance “Interior Scroll,” Blerta Gubetini challenged social norms by exploring themes of femininity, sexuality, and art. The bold and provocative act of pulling a letter out of her vagina while reading it aloud challenges traditional notions of women’s bodies.

Xhemajli and Gubetini also addressed the recent case of femicide in Kosovo, unfurling a banner as they demanded justice for Liridona Ademaj.

They also remembered another victim of femicide, 22-year-old Iranian Mahsa Amini, who was killed on September 16, 2022 for not wearing a headscarf in public. They joined numerous protests around the world by cutting their hair on stage, as a call to stop the killing of women around the world.

Blerta Gubetini said that through this performance they wanted to show that solidarity is very important.

“The main goal and the result we are expecting from this performance is solidarity. The union of women is the most important thing, because only together we can bring about the big change. We make small changes every day in our daily life, even if they are not seen and are not public”, said Gubetini.

Dori Xhemajli has emphasized that there is improvement in women’s rights, but there is still oppression of them in many countries, as she emphasized that the state must punish criminals.

“There is still oppression…Protests are necessary. The state, the police, the courts must give life sentences to these people. Because there are cases where they have released them earlier, therefore the justice that the state can bring is to punish the criminals with life imprisonment”.

This performance was supported by the Artpolis Feminist Art Fund, which is supported by the Kosova Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) program ‘EJA Kosova’, co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Sweden and the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

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