Thinking of You

In 2015, thousands of dresses, each carrying the stories of survivors of sexual violence from the Kosovo War, filled the Pristina football stadium in Kosovo. This was the birth of the Thinking of You art installation created by conceptual artist Alketa Xhafa Mripa. In 2024, Alketa Xhafa Mripa teamed up with the Mukwege Foundation, the Kosovo Embassy and Municipality of The Hague in the Netherlands. Together, they recreated a global Thinking of You art installation in The Hague from 3 June until 28 June 2024.

This time, more than 1.200 pieces of clothing were donated by survivors of sexual violence from 21 countries across the globe. Some human rights supporters, like Dr Denis Mukwege and HRH The Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, donated pieces of clothing in solidarity with survivors. SEMA, the Global Network of Victims and Survivors to end Wartime Sexual Violence, supported the art installation by collecting and donating 500+ dresses for the installation.

Together with SEMA, 24 national survivor networks donated dresses. Among them: Association des Victimes, Parents et Amis du 28 septembre 2009 (AVIPA), Initiative des Femmes pour la Défense des Droits Humains (IFDDH), Mouvement des Survivant.e.s en Centrafrique (MOSUCA), Survivors’ Voices Network (SVN), Women and Children – Conflict Survivors Foundation (WCCSF), SEMA Ukraine, Alumni, Mouvement des Survivant.e.s de Violences Sexuelles en RDC, Red de Mujeres Víctimas y Profesionales, Aso. el Meta con Mirada de Mujer, Tamboreras del Cauca, ALIATE, Centro Para la Accion Legal en Derechos Humanos (CALDH), Nas Glas, Survivors Network in South Sudan (SUNS), Ethiopia Survivors Network, Hold my Hand, Golden Women Vision Uganda, Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN), Network of South Sudanese Survivors in Uganda (NoSSSU), Confédération des Organisations de Victimes des Crises (COVICI), Grace Agenda, Usila, and WAVE group.

You can find more information about the installation here.