Washing and bathing frequently feature as a long-established symbol of purification and cleansing, through religious and ritual practice. Bathing often features as part of a rite of passage, used to denote transitions. In Kosovo, the bodies of the dead are washed by family members before burial.

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Here, Alketa establishes a new tradition and washes her father while he is alive as a representation of appreciating life while it is still with you, and not waiting until someone is gone. She poignantly explores the shifting of family roles, as she washes the fragile body of her 82-year-elderly father.

 

The other works in the exhibition celebrate the artist’s role as a mother, and the joys and strength drawn from nurturing the young, but with this piece Alketa suggests that it is only from being nurtured that we become nurturing. Alketa had both the permission and blessing of her father to for this intimate piece.

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