Article in "Zëri" about the exhibition of Bajram and Farija"s paintings in the General Consulate of Kosovo in Milano, Italy: "Dy artistë romë të Kosovës ekspozojnë në Milano" (2019)

 

For other artists such as Bajram and Farija Mehmeti, being recognised is itself a big challenge. The minority Roma siblings live modestly in Lepina - a small village about a half hour's drive from Pristina.

Roma along with Serbs are among the most discriminated groups in Kosovo. After the war, Roma who continued to live in Kosovo were placed in camps spread out across the country.

Bajram and Farija go about their daily routine like any other villagers - collecting wood for the household, working on the farm, and other household chores. When they get time off, they get on with their art.

"Our art is inspired by the Roma way of life, what we see around us. I paint landscapes and sceneries and my sister does portraits," Bajram, 34, said shyly. The siblings proudly led Al Jazeera to their studio - a hut with many finished and some incomplete canvases.

Farija, 36, showed her portraits one after the other. Each depicted a Roma woman dressed in traditional clothes and accessories. "One is for 50 euros [$64]," she said sounding disappointed.

Her younger brother jumped into the conversation. "We can't really live off our work… It's very hard for us to survive just with our art."

AlJazeera, October 2014

"Art often thrives in particularly conducive circumstances, there where life evolves more easily than elsewhere, as in the opulence of the tropical rain forest with its multifarious species. Occasionally however, art also flourishes under the most difficult of circumstances, precisely there where one would not expect it, where it seems like a luxury when the necessities of life are lacking: clean drinking water, sufficient nutrition, and warmth in the cold months of winter.

Yet, as if in defiance, it is here where art demands its right to stand forth and not only as an enrichtment of the desolate living conditions. Its beauty is enhanced, is magnified for it does not vanish in a multitude of trivialities. Here art appears like a basic staple for the eye and balsam for the spirit and soul."

Andreas Meier, director of the Seedamm Kulturzentrum, Fondation Charles and Agnes Vögele, in Pfäffikon SZ Switzerland, in the foreword to his book "Bajram Mehmeti, Paintings of a Rom in Kosovo" (2004; s. "Publications", http://www.laprairiebern.ch/mehmeti/docs/Vorwort%20Bildband%20Mehmeti.pdf)

Samantha Hammer's blog about Farija and Bajram: http://advocacynet.org/wordpress-mu/shammer/tag/bajram-mehmeti/ (2011)

Documentation on the exhibition of Bajram's paintings in Berne 2006: http://www.laprairiebern.ch/ > "Roma unter uns" > Ausstellung

Articles in Albanian about Bajram's and Farija's exhibition in the National Arts Gallery in Pristina 2012: http://www.koha.net/index.php?page=1,5,94505, http://www.zeri.info/artikulli/4/22/47103/jeta-e-romeve-e-shkrire-ne-art/

DW-Article in Albanian about Bajram: http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,14819573,00.html (2011)

Article by Paul Polansky about Bajram: http://www.islamicpluralism.org/documents/787.pdf (2008; s. page 8 f.)