By Shqipe Malushi
On the fourth morning of FemArt, as the sun lifted gently over Prishtina, the voices of women rose in unison—soft, strong, and soul-stirring. It was the Women’s Choir Okarina, a circle of voices born in 2022 by the vision of Elikonë Hysaj Shala— soloist, conductor, a visionary and the keeper of tradition, a cultural light from Kosovo.
They came not as performers alone,
but as women of many seasons and cities,
volunteers carrying time in their hands,
yet offering it back in songs that stitch the old with the new. Their harmonies were more than melody—they were a balm, a breath, and a bridge.
Inside the National Theater of Kosovo,
where minds had gathered to reflect on art, healing, and burnout, Okarina opened the Art+Mind conference like dawn opens the sky— gently, gracefully, with a song that floated as if to say: we are here, and we remember.
Under the poised hands of Elikonë,
the music moved like water—traditional Albanian echoes woven into choral tapestries, international notes joining the thread, each voice a vessel, each breath a beginning.
And as the day of dialogue and resistance reached its close, the choir gifted us one final flame—“ I Am My Mother’s Savage Daughter,” sung not only with voice, but with the pulse of drums and the pride of generations. It was more than a song—
it was a declaration, a spell that summoned every mother’s story into the room.
In the stillness that followed, our hearts stood taller. We had been lifted, not away from pain,but toward a place where healing hums.
To Okarina, to Elikonë,
to every voice that rose today—thank you for reminding us that art does not only speak; it sings, it soothes,
and in its gentlest notes—it sets us free.
