The evolution of women's empowerment

By Hanna Jaspers

Nadia and I created an online museum exhibition about the evolution of women’s empowerment in Kosovo by highlighting three exceptional stories. We told the stories of the Burrnesha, of the Bread for Drenica protests, and of Haveit, a feminist art collective. 

Through this project, I really realized the power of stories. Individual stories build a movement and can create a revolution. Women’s empowerment in Kosovo has not been highlighted enough in Kosovo’s history. I noticed while I was collecting these stories that I felt inspired: Inspired to do more, to speak, to act. Their courage made me realize that change only happens when people speak out and act. 

I think I fully grasped the potential of stories when Igo told us her story about the Serbian women apologizing. I almost started to cry and I realized how important it is that you feel the stories that are shared. It isn’t enough to know the stories, you have to feel them. If you have emotions attached to the stories, you can mobilize those emotions to inspire yourself and others to do something. 

In our project, we aimed to tell these stories and we invited people to connect with them, to think about their own roles. As I am writing this, I realize that it would have been powerful to add a sentence: what is next? Diellza shared her story about her grandmother who was only allowed to be in primary school for 5 years and her mother who actually finished Law School. That story really made me see how the fight of a generation can transform the lives of the next generation. In a relatively short amount of time, a lot can change. These stories need to be shared so that people know that they are not fighting an impossible battle. That’s what I know now: stories need to be shared so that people can build on each other's efforts and be inspired by each other. 

It sparks a feeling of gratitude when you realize that people before you have fought for your rights and people after you will also do that for you. For me, this project has made visible how women have fought for their rights, but also for the rights of others. If you look at the bread for Drenica protests, this becomes really visible. These women were fighting for the rights of women who were separated from the rest of the country and who did not have enough food. It’s a powerful feeling to know that people cared and still care. The potential really lies in highlighting these stories in order to inspire people and make them feel hopeful. I think action to improve the position of women has to come from both hope and curiosity. You need to have hope in order to believe that your action can make a change and you need curiosity to learn and to be motivated to keep learning.

Link to exhibition: https://www.artsteps.com/view/5ef06e8c33af2a5f918327e0