As leaders of Kosovo and Serbia meet later on Monday to negotiate a peace agreement, a young artist from Kosovan capital Pristina will likely continue to receive threats over a painting that depicts the leaders of both countries kissing.
Ermira Murati's painting, which is 3 m (9.8 feet) tall, shows Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in an embrace, kissing each other on the lips with their eyes closed.
“I see their relationship as an acting performance...and both the peoples of Kosovo and Serbia, we are watching the same show," Murati, known as Orange Girl, told Reuters, presenting her painting, which shows both men in black suits against a bright orange background.
"Despite how deep the chaotic relations between Kosovo and Serbia are, I think that our youth loves peace more than anything else."
Kurti and Vucic are scheduled to meet in Brussels later on Monday, where they are expected to endorse a Western-backed deal to normalise relations and end decades of hostilities.
If they do not reach an agreement, they will face international isolation and less financial aid from the European Union and the United States.
"History records kisses from the moments of pain and farewell. But history also reminds us about kisses of brotherhood and even betrayal. Will this be one of them?," Murati wrote on her social media accounts as she unveiled her painting on Feb. 17, when Kosovo celebrated its 15th year of independence from Serbia.
Thousands on social media posted comments about Murati's painting, with the majority using hate speech and some even making death threats.
"You deserve a bullet," one commenter said.
Murati, born a year after the war ended in 1999, is known for breaking taboos with her art work.
She received threats last year when she produced a similar painting showing two men wearing Albanian traditional folk costumes kissing on the lips as a gesture of support for the gay community in Kosovo, where the strong conservative society still hesitates to accept gay people.
Murati said the new painting had a purely political message and that she was accustomed to getting threats, and indeed, that any negative reaction was still stirring a discussion over the subject.
"This is not stopping me. The moment they react as they are doing then I understand that the message has gone in the right place. This is creating a debate."
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 but Belgrade never recognised the statehood of its former breakaway province and still considers it part of its territory.
(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
