14.04.2021

Racism and discrimination are issues of concern in Kosovo society, and they must be fought at all times and in many ways.

Forum-theater performance “Othello from Kosovo” that took place in Oda Theatre on 14 April, put on the surface the problems that communities in Kosovo face, but also there happened a lively discussion about the action we need to take as a society to combat these phenomena and raise awareness.

“Othello from Kosovo” intertwine racist insults, jealousies, and intrigues that still take place in our society. The story begins when three young people prepare to surprise their friend Desdemona at her birthday party, however, the real surprise comes from her.

Actors Art Pasha (Jago), Blendon Ahmeti (Kasi), Djellza Dema (Desdemona), Ergjan Mehmeti (Othello), and Venera Bojaj (Bianca) trained by Edlir Gashi skillfully brought to life these poisonous phenomena of our society.

This performance was fulfilled more by a discussion between the public and the actors/actresses after the end of the performance.

Veton Gashi, from the non-majority community during the discussion said that suffocation of hope to the youngsters of his community is more dreadful than the physical deprivation from life.

“Many people like Jago can use hate speech. It is not easy; I’m one of the youngsters from the community (non-majority) …. A person’s life is not lost only if he is killed, a person’s life is lost when he loses hope if he is offended, threatened, this must change. I think that generation after generation is changing and I hope that this generation that is seeing the performance is positive and will stay like this entire life with us, and to not support Jago and say that he is doing the right thing”, Gashi said, among other things.

The director of Artpolis, at the same time the theater director Zana Hoxha, who facilitated the discussion, after thanking Veton Gashi for his speech, said that “we are ending this session with the hope that this performance has made us reflect and has made us agents for change”.

The activity was carried out in accordance with the recommendations for the prevention and suppression of the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

This activity is supported by Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR KS), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the European Union in Kosovo through the project “Transforming conflicting perceptions through increased civic and community engagement in Kosovo” implemented by Artpolis and NGO AKTIV as members of the Kosovo Coalition for Reconciliation (KCR).

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Rasizam i diskriminacija su pitanja koja zabrinjavaju kosovsko društvo i protiv toga se moramo boriti u svakom trenutku i na svaki način.

Predstava Forum teatra „Otelo sa Kosova“ koja se održana u Pozorištu Oda 14. aprila otkrila je probleme sa kojima se suočavaju zajednice na Kosovu, ali i donela dinamičnu raspravu o tome šta moramo preduzeti kao društvo da bi podigli svesti i borbi protiv ovih pojava.

Na proslavi Desdemona predstavlja svog dečka Otela, koji je iz druge zajednice, što naglašava rasizam i ljubomoru Jaga i Biance. S druge strane, Kasijeva solidarnost sa Otelom, koji je takođe žrtva nacionalističkog rasizma jer potiče iz mešovitog albanskog srpskog braka.

Glumci Art Pasha (Jago), Blendon Ahmeti (Kasi), Djellza Dema (Desdemona), Ergjan Mehmeti (Otelo) i Venera Bojaj (Bianka) koje je obučavao Edlir Gashi vešto su prikazali ove otrovne pojave u našem društvu.

Ova predstava je dopunjena diskusijom između javnosti i glumaca/glumica nakon završetka predstave.

Veton Gashi, iz nevećinske zajednice tokom diskusije rekao je da je gušenje nade mladima iz njegove zajednice strašnije od fizičkog lišavanja života.

 „Mnogi ljudi poput Jaga mogu da koriste govor mržnje. Nije lako; Ja sam jedan od mladih iz zajednice (koja nije većinska) … Osoba ne gubi život samo ako je ubijete, osoba izgubi život i  kada izgubi nadu, ako je uvređena, ugrožena, ovo se mora promeniti. Mislim da se generacije za generacijom menjaju i nadam se da će ova generacija koja gleda prestavu biti pozitivna i da će ostati čitav život uz nas, te da neće podržati Jaga i reći da čini pravu stvar “, rekao je Gashi, između ostalog.

Direktorka Artpolisa, istovremeno pozorišna rediteljka Zana Hodža, koja je vodila diskusiju, nakon što se zahvalila Vetonu Gashiju na ovom govoru, rekla je da „zaključujemo ovu sesiju sa nadom da nas je ova predstava naterala da razmišljanje i učinila nas agentima promena“.

Aktivnost je sprovedena u skladu sa preporukama za sprečavanje širenja virusa Covid-19.

Aktivnost je podržana od strane Inicijative mladih za ljudska prava (YIHR KS) koju je osnovala SAD agencija za međunarodni razvoj (USAID) i Evropska unija na Kosovu kroz projekat „Transformisanje konfliktnih percepcija kroz povećan angažman građana i zajednice na Kosovu“ koji implemenetiraju Artpolis i NGO Aktiv kao članovi Kosovske koalicije za pomirenje (KCR).