Lament of the Earth

Lament of the Earth is a cycle of audio-visual works by composer Donika Rudi dedicated to the effects of climate change on Earth.The core focus of the cycle is to address the topic of climate change and sound experiences for the deaf community.

The work is built based on the graphics of warming stripes, which visually portray long-term temperature change on the surface of the Earth. The beginning of the work focuses on organic and human sounds, mainly on calmness and harmony with the text of Doruntina Basha, while the culmination is achieved with transformed, distorted sounds and the weep of the Earth, the call for action, performed by Kaltrina Miftari, soprano. Sign language and dance are integral parts of this cycle. Through movements, dance and “visual vernacular” the emotion of the sounds will be experienced. The work addresses what we all feel but do not speak, look but do not see, something that affects as we remain indifferent.

Every living being is an integral part of the Earth, as such we rise and return to it.. This work is the medium between the listener and their long-lost genome, as it tries to explore the existence of each of us with a call, a call to listen and act before it is too late.

She spoke, but did we listen?
She asked, but did we respond?
She gasped, but did we stutter?
We are, until she is!

Flagey, Week van de Klank / Semaine du Son

Donika Rudi is a Kosovar composer specialized in acousmatic, electroacoustic music. Since 2010 she is a member of FeBeME – BEFEM (Fédération belge de musique électroacoustique) and a member of CEC (Canadian Electroacoustic Community). She is the acting Director of ReMusica Festival in Kosovo, since 2010 and associate artiste at IN SITU – European Platform for artistic creation in public space, led by Lieux publics in France. Rudi studied composition (instrumental and electroacoustic music) at Geneva Conservatory. She finished MA at Royal Conservatorium of Mons, Belgium, respectively composition in acousmatic music with Annette Vande Gorne. Her most important works are: Contemporary Ballet “Life in Slow Motion”, premiered at the National Theatre in Prishtina; “Ode to Life” acousmatic piece / sound installation, supported by IN SITU platform, in the frame of the ACT project, co- funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union “The echoes of the Crying Earth” acousmatic piece. https://donikarudi.com/

Doruntina Basha is a playwright and screenwriter from Prishtina. She is the author of five plays, including plays for children, and several short screenplays. Doruntina is also the co-author of Travels to Unmikistan (2003), a Kosovar-French collaboration project that premiered in Kosovo and was subsequently shown in France and published in a bilingual edition by L’espace d’instant in Paris. Her play The Finger (2011) was awarded the prize for Best Socially Engaged Contemporary Play (2011) in a competition organized by the Heartefact Fund in Belgrade, Serbia. It also won the Golden Laurel for Best Balkan Contemporary Play at the MESS International Theater Festival in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2013), and the prize for Best National Play in the Flaka e Janarit theater festival in Gjilan, Kosovo (2015). Her first feature screenplay Vera Dreams of the Sea was made into a film by Kaltrina Krasniqi. It premiered in the Orizzonti section of the 78th Venice International Film Festival. This Film has won the Tokyo Grand Prix in Tokyo International Film Festival, among many others.

Kaltrina Miftari was born into a family of artists. Her love for music began at a young age when she participated in the “Akordet e Kosovës” festival. She is a regular performer with the choir and orchestra of the Philharmony of Kosovo. Kaltrina has been invited to perform in numerous festivals such as ReMusica, Chopin Fest, Dam Festival, Kamerfest and has collaborated with many conductors from Kosovo and abroad. In 2021, Kaltrina was part of the Opera Gala, which was held for the inauguration of the Opera of Kosovo. The following year, she appeared as a soloist in the opera “La Traviata,” cementing her status as a skilled and sought-after soprano. Most recently, Kaltrina was a soloist in the grand concert “Walking in Beauty,” which was held at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall in a collaboration with the world-renowned composer Eriks Esenvalds. Currently she is part of the Philarmony of Kosovo, a vocal member of ReMusica Vocal Ensemble and “Dardanicum Cantori“ ensemble.

Agnes Nokshiqi is an actress, theater director, choreographer and performer. She teaches stage dance and art in performance as a professor at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Pristina. Her work is focused on body and speech performance, as she experiments in different media and seeks various ways of expression.

Hana Zeqa has always been drawn to the idea of telling stories through clothes. Through her work, Zeqa positions clothes as a tool for communication and manifestation; a way to incorporate everything from music to dance, history, psychology, emotions and drama into a visual context. Zeqa is drawn to the unconventional side of design. By adding technology to a garment, she extends its possibility, making the item able to express a function, transformation and interaction. In particular, she is interested in when this transformation imitates internal or organic processes. Her work inspires a deeper and more introspective analysis and observation of feelings, experiences and surroundings. This enables her garments to ‘speak’ for themselves and be relatable as more than objects.