What does «Opening Doors» mean to Nick Mazrekaj?

Text and Photo: Tanya König

Nick Mazrekaj (30) is originally from Kosovo and grew up in Switzerland. He opened up his living room in Zurich to his friends and extended it for members of the «Kasheme» – what he now calls his living room. He offers an eclectic space where DJ’s can play the music they love – which they don’t in other clubs, where refugees can meet or people can relax by meditating or doing yoga. His space is a way of going back to his roots and at the same time, he streams the live music sessions, taking place in his living room on the internet for the public as well. «Kasheme» is Nick Mazrekaj’s way of opening the door to the rest of the world.

What does «Opening Doors» mean to you? 

«For me, it means literally opening my door to people. I created «Kasheme» as a living room for everyone to come together and share their love for the same music. I wanted to create a space for people who had to flee their homes to come together in a homely environment to exchange stories and knowledge. «Opening Doors» means welcoming people from different backgrounds and treating them equally. «Opening Doors» also means opening up the senses, to let the thoughts flow, questioning these thoughts and letting other people articulate their point of view or in my case what a musician wants to play and how they want to express themselves. «Opening Doors» means opening the door to someone who feels alone but in fact, isn’t. «Opening doors» is about home – giving others the feeling of belonging.»

 

Sarah Ebling

          Sarah Ebling holds a professorship in Accessibility Studies at Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and is a senior researcher at the University of Zurich. Her research focuses on natural language processing in the context of disabilities and special needs, specifically, sign language technology and automatic text simplification. Her groups’ contributions involve artificial intelligence techniques with a strong emphasis on user involvement. She is involved in various international and national projects and leads a large-scale Swiss innovation initiative entitled „Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies“ (2022-2026; https://www.iict.uzh.ch/).