About SEKHMET
SEKHMET is a young NGO based in Prishtina. With our work, we intend to contribute to the democratization of Kosovo. For us, this means recognizing our individual civic duty to fight for justice through our work, to occupy the public space with competence and responsibility, and to nurture public processes which promote wellbeing for all.
SEKHMET promotes justice and respect for human rights, particularly of minorities and of those excluded from power, representation and recognition, by supporting inclusive social and cultural change. Our work takes the form of research and documentation, through cultural and artistic productions as well as advocacy and awareness-raising activities targeting the general public, mainly on women's and LGBT+ rights.
Why SEKHMET
Sekhmet, “She who is Powerful”, is an Ancient Egyptian goddess of war. Half woman, half lioness, she is the daughter of Ra, the King of the Gods — and his most feared and revered servant. Implacable warrior and with limitless power, Sekhmet exacts revenge on all those who defy the laws of the gods by bringing injustice and imbalance onto the world. As dangerous as the desert, as mighty as the midday sun she wears as a crown, Sekhmet is the annihilator of bad things, she who allows for the restoration of order. As such, Sekhmet is also worshiped as the goddess of medicine, and of just retribution. Also known as Nesert, the “Burning Flame”, Sekhmet personifies raw power, defiant righteousness and unashamed femininity. Destroyer on one hand and creator on the other, mother of balance, she is a goddess of sexual liberation.
At SEKHMET, we celebrate the power of this ancient goddess, and her commitment to make all accountable before justice. We salute her resolve, stemming from her sacred duty to what is right, and her fearlessness in displaying her innate power. We honor the strength of her womanhood and of her unapologetic individuality, and the generative power of her public-spirited pursuit of justice.
Who we are
Dardan Hoti, co-founder and Executive Director of Sekhmet, has over 13 years of experience in journalism, primarily covering human rights, with a particular focus on LGBTIQ+ rights. In 2013, he won the first Journalism Poverty Prize awarded by the United Nations Kosovo Team. From 2014 to 2021, Dardan served as a board member of the Kosovo Journalists Association. He is the researcher and producer of the documentary As I Was Looking Above, I Could See Myself Underneath, which explores the lives of LGBTIQ+ individuals in Kosovo. He is also producing the documentary I Have Never Been on an Airplane, supported by the Kosovo Cinematography Center. In 2023, he received the Women’s Empowerment Prize from the Kosovo Journalists Association. In 2024, he was awarded the Ethical Journalism Award from Article 19 and the EU Prize for Investigative Journalism in Kosovo.
For our projects, we count on a network of collaborators in the fields of journalism, research, advocacy and culture.
Anyla Kabashi is an emerging art historian, researcher, and writer based in Pristina, Kosovo. Anyla completed her BA in Art History and Information and Communication Sciences in Zagreb and her MA in Semiotics in Budapest. During this time, she has been involved in researching feminist practices in Central European and Balkan art history and documenting and classifying artworks in museum and gallery collections using technologies such as ICONCLASS and AI. She has worked on documenting the works of the artist Vera Dajht Kralj in Zagreb and on the database of Kosovo artists developed by the Qahili Gallery. She participated in the mediation program of MANIFESTA 14. Recently, she was an artist-in-residence at the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna and worked on the curatorial team for the exhibitions Ancestral Clouds, Ancestral Claims, and Darker, Lighter, Puffy, Flat at Kunsthalle Wien. Anyla is interested in exploring visual languages and artistic discourses to better understand artistic creation, communication, contexts, realities, and mediation as processes of making meaning.
