The Craig Gallery at Alderney Landing, along with the Bislimi Group Foundation, is pleased to present an exhibit of work by Kosovo Youth. Kosovo Thanks Canada: Artwork by Kosovar Youth will be on view from August 30th to September 30th, 2012 with the Opening Reception on Thursday, August 30th from 7 to 9 pm. Mr. Hajdin Abazi, Deputy Minister of Culture of Kosovo along with Mr Halit Bislimi, executive director of the Bislimi Group Foundation, and Mr Xhevat Latifi, artist and schoolteacher of the Abaz Ajeti School will be present for the opening. All are welcome to attend this free public reception.

In appreciation for the role that Canada played as a NATO member in stopping the ethnic cleansing of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo during the Kosovo War of 1998-99 and as a token of appreciation for the Canadian people who welcomed and supported thousands of Kosovar refugees who ended up in Canada in search of safety back in 1999, the Bislimi Group Foundation has arranged for an art exhibit, titled Kosovo Thanks Canada, to be displayed at the Craig Gallery at Alderney Landing, Market Wall.

The exhibit will showcase art work of students from the Abaz Ajeti Elementary and Middle School of Gjilan, Kosovo, and some works by young artists of Kosovo."Nova Scotia holds a particularly important place in the history of Kosovo refugees to Canada. Most of them felt safe and secure for the first time after they had been forced of their homes in Kosovo when they landed here at the Greenwood CFB in Nova Scotia," says Faton "Tony" Bislimi, founder of the Bislimi Group Foundation, who was born and raised in Kosovo and is now a doctoral student at Dalhousie and an instructor of economics at the Mount. "The purpose of this exhibit is symbolic. Kosovars are deeply thankful to Canadians for all they have done for them," added Bislimi.

To show this feeling of gratitude to Canadians, Mr. Hajdin Abazi, Deputy Minister of Culture of Kosovo along with Mr Halit Bislimi, executive director of the Bislimi Group Foundation, and Mr Xhevat Latifi, artist and schoolteacher of the Abaz Ajeti School, are coming to Halifax to officially open the exhibit, with the support of the Municipality of Gjilan, Kosovo.

Kosovo Thanks Canada art exhibit, as a cultural event, will serve to remember the generosity and kindness of the Canadians towards Kosovar refugees, most of whom have remained in Canada and call Canada their home now. The event will also serve to inform young Kosovar-Canadians about their beginnings in this great country and to continuously show the appreciation of Kosovar Albanians in general and Kosovar-Canadians in particular for Canada and Canadians.

Hosted by the Craig Gallery at Alderney Landing on the Dartmouth waterfront, the Market Gallery is open from 7am to 7pm daily, closed holidays. For more information please visit www.alderneylanding.com or contact Kim Farmer at 461-4698,  kim@alderneylanding.com, or Faton “Tony” Bislimi at tony@bislimi.org  902-452-2881or the Bislimi Group Foundation at  www.bislimi.org, info@bislimi.org