Erzen Shkololli’s works reflect events that symbolize the social polarization in his homeland, Kosovo. His rich artistic strategy consists not only of a focus on the peripheral background of the events, but also of the ability to extract global insights from the margins regarding ethnic, religious or political fate, affiliation to the Muslim community, membership in a totalitarian pioneering organization, and an ambivalent relationship with the European Union, which is now, in fact, Kosovo’s protector.
The video piece Hey You… documents a musical performance of legendary Albanian singer, Shkurte Fejza, whose performances combine elements from Albanian folk music and from popular music. Fejza has become, especially in the 1980s, a symbol of national resistance. The song is a letter addressed to Europe, referring to the split Albania and Kosovo, to Kosovo that now exists solely by virtue of the fact that the allies run state affairs. Fejza turns to the nations of the world not to divide Albania, whose flag (which is also Kosovo’s flag) bears the image of the double-headed eagle. She asks them not to split the eagle in half, but rather leave it double-headed. Fejza’s songs were banned between 1981 and 1983 by the former Communist regime. In 1986 she was imprisoned for her political activity, and stopped singing altogether when thegovernment fell.
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