Xhulia Ibrahimaj immigrated to Germany a few years ago, as an asylum seeker. Nowadays she works as a professor and just recently opened her first pictorial exhibition. “Homeland, my freedom” is its name, a dedication to her home country, Albania.

“It’s something that pierces me, because I see my freedom related to the place where I lived, Albania. The air I breathed there was enough to give me freedom. I didn’t paint these pictorials having an exhibition in mind, I’ve made them during my time in Germany,” Xhulia says.

She’s been living in Germany for 8 years now. Although a cold country, it managed to win Xhulia’s heart.

“I came here in 2015, seeking asylum like many other fellow Albanians. There were very few opportunities to come here through a student visa,” Xhulia tells us.

Her passion for pictorials existed ever since she was a child. But, as she says, life in Albania was based in priorities.

“I didn’t put much importance to it, because my first priority was school and work. I wasn’t sure the society would accept me being into pictorials,” she confesses.

Xhulia works as a social professor in Germany. She has a stable life there, but wishes to, one day, return to Albania.

“There’s no place like home, even though conditions aren’t the best. If I could work in my profession, I would come to Albania and even start a family,” Xhulia concludes.