Kosovo Exhibition Commemorates Women Raped in Pristina Hotel

The exhibition of images of women who were victims of sexual violence during the Kosovo war, created by architect turned politician Eliza Hoxha, opened on Tuesday in the basement of the Grand Hotel in Pristina.

The basement, where women were raped and ethnic Albanians killed during the conflict, has been closed to the public for the past 20 years since the war ended.

The exhibition, entitled 'Be My Face', includes an image of Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman, who last year became one of the first women in Kosovo to speak publicly about how she was raped by a Serbian policeman during the conflict, when she was 16 years old.

The opening of the exhibition marked the start of the seventh annual FemArt festival.

Zana Hoxha Krasniqi, the director of FemArt, told BIRN that the exhibition was intended to "show solidarity with women that have been victims of sexual violence and have not had the courage to speak".

"The idea is to bring back and make real these unpunished and unheard-about crimes," she said.

The FemArt festival promotes freedom for female artists, inspired by social themes and human rights in the Balkan region. Its motto this year is 'Freedom vs Shame'.

Photo: Atdhe Mulla.

Photo: Atdhe Mulla.

Photo: Atdhe Mulla.

Photo: Atdhe Mulla.

Photo: Atdhe Mulla.

Image of Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman. Photo: Atdhe Mulla.

Photo: Atdhe Mulla.