THANKS…
The staff of the organization warmly thanks Enio Marku for his ideas and dedicated work, Rona Nurja for her creativity in the sketches, photographer Ergys Vela for his artistic eye in capturing the photos, and activist Eleonora Lumçi for giving an identity and emotion to each outfit for this brochure.
This project is financially supported by the Women’s Empowerment Network in Albania (AWEN) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
AROUND THE NECK
Domination. He holds you captive with power, he lets you breath when you beg for it. That’s not enough for him, he dresses you up in ties of power to tell the world you belong to him, that you are his, and he proclaims his success as a man. A man dominates a woman.
STALEMATE
Scale. When they hired you, you considered it a success. Employers are favored when you are a woman—lower costs. They chose you because your salary doesn’t follow the same mathematics as a man’s. When you complain about the unequal pay, they strike you with the stones of the scales, blaming you for choosing to work.
STRAIGHTEN UP
Obedience. You became a copy of many other frames that show, within them, a woman. Inside, you are not your true self. You have no voice, no life, you are not free. A frame hanging on the walls of his pride. What if tomorrow he wants you to be a horizontal frame? How will you remain straight?
WITH YOUR HEAD BENT
Submission. They praised you for your humility and simplicity. They weren’t mistaken; they did it intentionally, so you would continue to keep your head down. When you suffer, you swear on the sky which you can’t see. Without running and without the sky, how can you be free?
NO WEDDING TONIGHT
Denial. When the candles of her 14th birthday were blown out, she made one wish, but received another gift from you. You hastily chose the fate of her life and the bride’s veil. She is too young, none of it fits her. Do you have the heart to deny it?
LIGHTS OUT
Obligation. You weren’t naive when you blamed yourself for wearing the nightgown, the one that highlights your beauty, the one that makes you feel good. He doesn’t think you need to feel loved, so he forcefully pulled you close, tearing the straps of your dress as if it were the last time you’d wear it. Without asking and without saying a word of love, he raped you. He didn’t look at you, the lights were out…
THE FIRST AND FINAL WEDDING GIFT
Echo. When the dowry is opened, the white dress is carefully folded so that the thing that is between the folds doesn’t fall and make a sound. An order as girl, an order as a bride. When will you start living? They give you value when they you that the family’s honor is in your hands, and they act as though you are a nothing when they kill you with your father’s bullet and seek vengeance. The honor’s echo.
BLACK ON WHITE
Chronicle. Here, you get more attention than him, you turn into a victim. There is no mercy for you between the lines, on the contrary, you risk being just statistics without an identity. Murdered women become headlines, they sell the newspapers, they become the norm. When will we write with white ink?
A LIFE FOR LIFE
Love. On the ground of life, you are a garden of flowers. A woman who, for
nourishment, has love for herself, for her body, for her soul. Your flowers
have no season because you gain life by bringing to life.
HISTO-WOMAN
Feminist. They are in coats with pockets, transparent yet limited, expressing that courage has a place even where it seems there is no space to emerge. In response to the denial of their rights, they answered with the power of knowledge, either alone or together with ideas that later became the work of feminist movements, giving a voice to equal rights.
MOTIVES OF EQUALITY
Tradition. The shift towards equality shows the courage and foresight of women by challenging the elements that tradition has only enforced without justifying them. The colors and transformation of the attire represent a woman that has the power to confront the patriarchal tradition embroidered on her.
INFORMALITY IN FORMALITY
Weight. The formal costume reflects the seriousness of the mission for gender equality, dressed without a gender. Informality is the path towards it; there is no need for a costume to walk this journey, where initiatives seem to make the world universal.
SACRIFICED MIRROR
Reflection. When they looked in
your mirror, they shattered you into pieces. They spoke ill of you, diminishing
the value you had for yourself, telling you that you were just beautiful. But you, as a strong woman, gather the pieces and build a mosaic.
DREAMS ON PATCHES
Pride. The pieces on the ground you quickly gathered, for you were near them, humbled. You brought them together, not thinking about the combination of shapes. With torn stitches, you weren’t ashamed of how they looked; in fact, you proudly wore them right away, to tell others that everything gains value when it is worn by you. The past becomes the present.
OPPOSITE TO ONESELF
Muse. If the answers are good, the questions deserve the credit. What do you do with 10 questions and 16 answers? You stitch them together with the threads of history into the material of your life. You are beautiful dress, woman.
TWO LETTERS
Dignity. This time she said “No” to answer “Yes” to life. She is not a new being; she became aware that she is strong enough to refuse what does not do good to her soul, to her life. Two letters, the choice is yours, whatever the answer may be.
AT NIGHT UNDER THE MOON
Light. The stars do not shine with the same brightness. Tonight, along with the moon, they became companions to the girls and women who are leaving the home that has never had the light of life. She saves her own life, tells her story, and seeks help. The stars of the night of her departure and the continuation of her dreams.
THE ANTHEM OF NEED
Chorus. The artists of the gender-based violence cause are composing every day for you. You have become a chorus that is heard and learned, even though not all radios have the volume turned up. The violence inflicted upon you has become a note in the melodic line of your independence.