Muzeum Susch

→ LECTURE

Erëmirë Krasniqi

Redressing Absences — The Legacy of Women Artists 
in Kosovo’s Art Historical Accounts

Alije Vokshi as a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade in the 1960s.
Alije Vokshi as a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade in the 1960s.

Largely understudied, women artists from Kosovo are often excluded from local historical narratives. In the absence of a formal written history, non-traditional sources have proven invaluable in reconstructing their stories and artistic trajectories. Oral histories, archives, and exhibition catalogs have been particularly instrumental in creating a more comprehensive understanding of their contributions. This lecture sets out to achieve two primary objectives: first, provide an overview of the historical and cultural context of Kosovo during and after Yugoslavia; and second, to look closely at three artistic positions, focusing on the works of Alije Vokshi, Violeta Xhaferi and Valbona Zherka.

Erëmirë Krasniqi is an art writer, researcher and curator based in Prishtina, Kosovo. She holds an M.A. from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA, and B.A. from Bard College Berlin, Germany. As a freelance writer, she was published in Kosovo 2.0, springerin, frieze and Artforum, among others. From February 2017 to January 2024, she served as Executive Director of the Oral History Initiative, a research platform fostering critical engagement with different forms of narrating, recollecting and archiving. As an independent curator, she has led and curated projects for the National Gallery of Kosovo, the National Gallery of Arts in Albania, and the 39th EVA International, Ireland. Most notably, she curated the Pavilion of the Republic of Kosovo at the 60th International Art Exhibition—La Biennale di Venezia, which received a Special Mention for National Participation.