Artist: Doruntina Kastrati
Curator: Tia Čiček

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You are kindly invited to the opening of Doruntina Kastrati’s solo exhibition No Burning, No Wounds on Friday, 13 December, at 7 pm at Škuc Gallery!

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Exhibition events
13. 12. at 6 pm: viewing of the exhibition with the artist Doruntina Kastrati and the curator Tia Čiček (in English)
13. 12. at 7 pm: opening of the exhibition
17. 1. at 6 pm: viewing of the exhibition with the curator Tia Čiček (in Slovene)

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Doruntina Kastrati’s installation No Burning, No Wounds at Škuc Gallery explores the multifaceted realities of invisible labour, focusing on the aesthetics of factory work. By carefully reflecting personal and communal histories, Kastrati channels the often overlooked and undervalued experiences of women engaged in repetitive industrial labour. Rather than sensationalising these stories, she unveils their complexities, showing how the aesthetics of the factory – cold, metal and repetitive – can both conceal and reveal the human endurance entrenched within it. Kastrati’s approach is distinct because she neither overexposes the narratives she has gathered, nor takes advantage of the trust placed in her by the factory workers from her hometown of Prizren in Kosovo. She acknowledges the impact of this labour on her own family, bringing something personal to the forefront and opening a space for collective listening and reflection.

At its core, No Burning, No Wounds continues Kastrati’s critique of the socio-economic structures perpetuating precarious, feminised labour. Women in light industries like food production frequently find themselves in temporary roles that offer little stability, advancement or recognition. Kastrati points out how workers from a Turkish delight factory have been systematically silenced and treated as disposable. Basic protection that should be provided to employees is withheld, making their work undervalued and precarious. This is not an isolated case – it reflects a broader pattern where women’s work is seen as cheap, easily replaceable and deliberately kept unstable to maintain control. The cycle of exploitation is further exacerbated by the false promises of empowerment that a job may bring. However, these promises often become a façade for further systemic oppression, where women are pulled into labour markets with no real opportunities for security or growth.

Kastrati’s solo exhibition invites visitors into a space where the boundaries between the visible and the invisible become blurred, much like the lives of the women who balance industrial labour with domestic responsibilities. The “second shift” – the unpaid work women undertake after their official shift at the factory ends – is concealed behind the artworks and resides in Kastrati’s own experience of living with her mother. However, in focusing on factory life, with its repetitive, mechanical demands, the exhibition highlights how the cold, industrial setting hides the real work carried out by these women.

The aesthetics of the new piece are unmistakably tied to the factory setting. By incorporating industrial objects and workers’ attire – such as crates, sieves, metal tubes, and rubber fabric – Kastrati avoids creating a narrative tied to any individual. Instead, she emphasises the collective experience of factory labour, inviting viewers to consider the physical realities of these spaces. The industrial objects are aestheticised building elements from the factory environment, while the videos capture its repetitive and relentless pace. One video loops rapidly, echoing the unceasing churn of production – be it human or machine – while another unfolds more slowly, providing a counterpoint. The fast mechanical and the more delicate human labour exist in contrast. Together, these visuals capture the workers’ endurance, reflecting the physical and emotional toll on their bodies. These aesthetic devices allow the intimate exchanges between Kastrati and the workers to exist in their realms, only conveying the rigour and monotony of factory environments, honouring rather than exploiting the individuals who shared their stories.

The title, No Burning, No Wounds evokes a quiet resilience, one that does not demand dramatic displays of pain to be acknowledged. Kastrati’s choice to highlight the aesthetics of factory labour in an art space, rather than sensationalising personal stories, adds depth to the conversation. She invites us to reflect on how much labour is often rendered invisible, despite being the foundation to everyday economies. Her work calls for vulnerability, listening and nuanced engagement. This approach insists on seeing the invisible, not through a lens of pity, but through a shared understanding of endurance and resilience.

Tia Čiček

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Doruntina Kastrati (1991) is a Kosovar artist whose practice encompasses sculpture, installation, sound and film. She is concerned with the body’s relationship to biopolitical power, highlighting global labour issues. She received the Young Visual Artist Award from the National Gallery of Kosovo in 2014, and the Hajde x 6 Award in 2017. Kastrati has been an artist-in-residence at ISCP in New York (2015), Art House in Shkodra (2018) and Initiators in Athens (2018). Her work has been featured in Manifesta 14, ETH Zurich, Kunstverein Hamburg, MAXXI Museum and KADIST, among others. She represented Kosovo at the 60th Venice Biennale with her piece The Echoing Silences of Metal and Skin, earning a Special Mention for National Participation and is currently preparing new work for the Sharjah Biennial in 2025.

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English proofreading: Arven Šakti Kralj
Slovene proofreading: Inge Pangos
Brochure design: Lea Jelenko
Cover image: Research material from the work Echoing Silences of Metal and Skin – image by Majlinda Hoxha, 2024.

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Supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo.

The Škuc Gallery programme is supported by the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Ljubljana.