Alketa Xhafa Mripa/
Here we stand in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, a historic site for human rights and social justice movements, on the doorstep of the United Nations. It has long been an ambition of mine to bring Thinking of You to this profoundly significant place—especially during the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the largest global gathering dedicated to gender equality and women’s rights.
Installing Thinking of You here, where public voices meet global power, places survivors’ stories directly within the sphere of international decision-making.
In doing so, it continues the plaza’s long tradition as a place of moral activism rather than passive observation. Opening this exhibition on International Women’s Day carries profound meaning. While this day celebrates the achievements of women, it is also a reminder that the struggle for equality, safety, and justice continues.
For many women around the world, this is still a day of protest, of resilience, and of demanding to be heard.
Thinking of You began in 2013, when I saw a TV interview of one survivor of wartime sexual violence in my country, Kosova. Her face was hidden in shadow to protect her identity, but her words were clear. She spoke about the shame and trauma she carried every day, and about the justice she longed for. She was one brave woman speaking on behalf of an estimated twenty thousand survivors of sexual violence from the Kosovo war. She said: “No one is thinking of us.”
Those words pierced my heart. I wanted to tell her: I am thinking of you. We are thinking of you. You are not alone. I wanted survivors to feel the solidarity of a community coming together. A simple act—donating a dress, hanging on washing lines, an everyday domestic image was transformed into a public act of remembrance, resistance, and care. Survivors came forward. Society began to acknowledge their truth.
And together, we began a process of healing.
Over the past decade, Thinking of You has continued to grow, expanding beyond borders. Today, the dresses you see represent survivors from across the world—from Colombia to Sudan, from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Japan. They have been installed in places that shape justice and human rights.
Today, this collection stands here—on its most visible stage yet—on International Women’s Day.
Each one of these dresses represents a human being with a story like that first woman’s story: a story of harm endured, dignity defended, and justice too often delayed. I place Thinking of You in this space as both an offering and a reminder: that peace cannot exist without the full recognition of the survivors’ life, and that accountability begins with acknowledgment.
This New York installation exists because of extraordinary collective support. I want to thank the Albanian community in New York, thank you to each one of you for your support.
My appreciation also extends to the partners and institutions who made it possible for these voices to be here, to the embassies, missions and foundations whose support affirmed that survivors’ stories belong not at the margins, but at the very heart of our global conversations. I am so deeply grateful to the small crew whose belief in this work and generosity went above and beyond. Sokol, Fiona, Djellza, Richard, Viosa, Uran— Faleminderit. All we ask is that you hear their voices. That you recognize them. That you think of them. Thinking of You began when listening turned into action. And today, standing here together, that action lives on in all of us.
Foto: Gazeta “Dielli”