Young students from Germany and Kosovo created a play, which points out connections between the two countries by the example of Suhareka and Hannover. Different aspects such as tourism, political co-operation, trade relations, cultural influences and personal relations are represented. Their aim was to motivate the viewer to use these existing connections better and strengthen them.

The play consists of individual scenes, which represents the relationship between the two places. The different aspects are broken down on the level of individual persons. Thus migrants or soldiers tell their stories, businessmen and politicians negotiate and friends or lovers meet. The spectator gets a view of the biographies of people, who carry and already use the existing connections.

The young people investigated the background to the existing connections during a ten day long stay in Germany and in Kosovo. They conducted interviews with universities, politicians, economic representatives and migrants. They asked the central question again and again: "Which use does Germany and Kosovo have, from the connection you are representing". The young people gained an insight of the different fields of international cooperation and learned to recognize potential for further common activities with network partners

Here you can find more informations about this project: www.connecting-homes.net

In the past few years graphic novels have attracted more and more attention both in the field of literature and the visual arts. Not only do they allow for an alternative perspective on the complexities of everyday life, but because of their distinct use of two media - image and text - they also suggest how memories of the past can find new forms of expression despite their inherent blanks.

This interrelation between image and text lies at the core of the project graphic, novel . Taking the works of W.G. Sebald as a point of departure, we would like to rethink the dynamics between the two mediums in the context of Pristina, eager to tackle what suggests itself as ?grey areas? in the memorization process by means of graphics and text. Also W.G. Sebald famously utilized in his work both image and text in order to find a momentary equilibrium between otherwise hazy or fragmented recollections, personal memories and, at times, ineffable events. However, similar to the grid-like structure of a Graphic Novel, the merging of image and text in W.G. Sebald’s work produces an ?excess of meaning?, which cannot be fully resolved.

The workshop graphic, novel. takes this relationship between W.G. Sebald’s work and graphic novels as a starting point to enhance an in-depth study on how to access memory through image and text. It aims at taking the potential of the literary and graphic elements of graphic novels further by drawing on the author’s ?poet(h)ic of remembering?, but also by the direct encounter with and research into the environment the workshop is set in. The participants are invited to creatively delve into yet unprecedented graphic-novelist techniques, sketching what has been lost, what is to be retrieved, and how to conjoin the missing bits and contradictions of recent local history.

Being an initiative from Pristina, the subject-matter from where to explore those techniques is the city and its (in-)visible histories. Therefore, additional to the seminars, the workshop will have a closer look at the matter and the surfaces of the city. Archival documents, found photographs, oral history and walks through the city will form a central part of the research and of the elaboration of a new graphic novel by means of visual and literary expressions.

Throughout the workshop, the participants are invited to work on a chosen context presented to them in the city of Pristina. The results of the workshop will be shown in a group exhibition during the »Polip Literature Festival« held from May 11, 2012 to May 13, 2012.

graphic, novel. Sketching W.G. Sebald in Pristina is organized by Elisabeth Desta and Sonja Lau. The workshop is led by researcher Ute Friederich and graphic novelist Barbara Yelin.

Ute Friederich | (born 1984) studied German and English philology in Bonn and Aberdeen. In 2009, she accomplished her studies with the Magister Artium in Bonn. Her Masters thesis »Komik – Comic. Komische Elemente in den Texten Franz Kafkas und ihre bildliche Umsetzung in verschiedenen Comic-Adaptionen« (Engl.: »Komik – Comic. Comical elements in the work of Franz Kafka and their visual translations in graphic novels.«) was awarded the Roland-Faelske-Preis for comic and animation films. She is currently working on her dissertation on trauma, remembrance and montage in the oeuvre of W.G. Sebald and in a selection of graphic novels.

Barbara Yelin | (born 1977 in Munich) studied illustration at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. She lives and works in Berlin as illustrator and comic book artist. Recent graphic novels include »Le Visiteur« (2004), »Le Retard« (2006), both published by Actes Sud/Editions de L’An 2, and »Gift« (2010, with Peer Meter) published by Reprodukt. Since 2005 she has been co-editor and contributor of SPRING, the annual magazine of women illustrators and comic artists. From 2010 to 2011, she was commissioned to run a series of comic workshops in Cairo on behalf of the Goethe-Institute Cairo. She currently teaches as a visiting professor at the »Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar« in Saarbrücken (Germany), presenting a seminar on »Comics and Graphic Novels«.

SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS WILL RECEIVE TRAVEL COSTS AND FREE BOARD AND LODGING IN PRISTINA.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND THE APPLICATION FORM PLEASE CONTACT: [email protected]

For applicationform please check: http://www.tiranaartlab.org/

Josip Broz – better known as Tito – reigned over Yugoslavia for 35 years. He was not ?only the revolutionary Partisan who defended his homeland against fascism and ?overpowered stalinism but also the statesman who praised brotherhood and unified his ?compatriots with his idea of a different South Eastern Europe: On the bases of an ?independent non-aligned communism, Tito and his fellows realized their version of a ?socialistic federation – the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. With the authority of a dictator and the charm of a great commander, with the power of oppression and the freedom to travel, Tito appealed to his people and the world in a highly controversial way. After he died in 1980, Yugoslavia gradually collapsed and finally broke down in 1991. But, nowadays, is the remembrance of Tito and Yugoslavia suffering from amnesia or facing a historical reality?

What came after the collapse – the recent past with its tremendous events and the ?current social reality in the states of former Yugoslavia – often leads to an image of Tito ?emerging in society as a heroic figure and a representation of the era of non-aligned ?communism, which conducts to a (yugo)nostalgic transfiguration of memories: Tito ?survived and still lives on in the minds – as a symbol for »the good old times«. But how ?does the young generation knowing Tito only from textbooks and the memories of their ?parents and their grandparents respond to this balancing act between historical facts, ?mythical romanticization and amnesia? During their whole lives, TITO WAS NOT HERE. ?For the most time of their lives, Yugoslavia did not exist. How does this generation ?encounter that controversial figure and that glorified time whose de facto absence is ?actually an ongoing narrative presence?

he project TITO WAS NOT HERE deals with literary and performative interventions of ?a South Eastern European past and present beyond public discourses: Emerging young writers from all former Yugoslavian countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia) and Germany are kindly invited to explore this issue in literary texts and to submit these literary explorations to this open call. A jury of experts will select 8 texts that will be used for a performative intervention by a group of performing artists from all over Ex-YU. Finally all performances will be shown in September 2012 in Bosnia and Herzegovina (place tba). The selected writers will be invited to this performance weekend and introduced to the audience in a panel.

Both the texts and the performances are attempts at a different and a differingPerforming of Yugoslavia in the 21st Century based on individual approaches by the ?young generation. The program aims to advance critical artistic approaches to a mutual ?past and to support artistic collaborations and networking between former Yugoslavian ?regions that rarely cooperate in terms of cultural exchange. The project is organized by Ksenija Cockova, Elisabeth Desta, Nita Hasani, Juliane Rahn and Ivana Vaseva.

16th – 18th of June 2011
PLAYgrounds Between Facts and Fiction:
New Plays and Theatre Forms
A performance that tries out the boundaries between fact and fiction, public and private in the middle of a Kosovar private apartment. Productions that are based on personal memories of the war in Kosovo or the events of September 11th 2001. Amateurs and actors who come together in a hostel and play a piece inspired by reality.
Young theatre artists from Belgium, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, the United States and in particular from the Balkan region come to Pristina to join the theatre meeting “PLAYgrounds between facts and fiction” with texts, projects and plays in their luggage. Together they reflect on the function of theatre in general, on new modes of presentation and perception for the audience, on ways of artistic expression and possible PLAYgrounds for them. In thematic panels as well as stage readings and plays, the role of social and historical reality in the theatre will be reflected. Or vice versa: How the theatre can play its game with reality.
Theatre currently plays an important role in finding new ways of aesthetic presentation and new possibilities of perception for the audience. Documentary theatre in particular has been rediscovered and developed further by different theatre makers, working at the interface between theatre and reality. Their plays deal with historical events, places and personal biographies or with recent social phenomena. But reality does not only enter into the theatres. More and more theatre discovers reality and searches for theatrical aspects in our everyday lives. The classical theatre space is replaced by streets, houses, restaurants, hotels, shops. Instead of professional actors, so-called “everyday experts” are the stars on stage.
Recent events in the Balkans are especially full of volatile history, vivid memories, broken biographies, which have a wide impact on the theatrical work of contemporary directors and playwrights. Since 1990 they are not only confronted with new languages, new social realities, new nations, but also with powerful mechanisms of forgetting or eliminating history on one hand and with the re-writing of historical narratives and national myths on the other hand. The stage becomes a medium to find new artistic ways of expressing and dealing with these challenges.
Panel discussions and presentations of specific projects are accompanied by stage readings and plays. Guests include the performance collective Lunatiks (D) with their apartmentbased play “livingROOMS”. The scene reading of Biljana Srbljanović’s play “Family stories” is about four children on bombed-out playground in the suburbs of Belgrade. Zana Hoxha Krasniqi (KS) presents “Lugina e vuajtjeve te saj” (The valley of her sufferings) based on memories of women on the war. The scenic reading “Another Life” by Karen Malpede (USA) addresses the turmoil in the U.S. since the attacks of September 11.
by Lucia Zimmermann
Here you can find more information about this project: http://playgroundstheatre.wordpress.com

New Politics of Solidarity through Cultural and Knowledge Production

A collaborative program between Qendra Multimedia (Prishtina), CZKD (Belgrade) and Center "Grad" (Tuzla)

Twenty years after the collapse of Yugoslavia, the political class of the newborn states has continued to promote social values inherent to the violent nationalistic ideology. This code of oppression has marginalized the influence of individuals and groups who believe in culture of otherness and are committed to values of equality and solidarity. One of many ways in counteracting this ideology of isolation and hostilities would be to reaffirm the above values that could be tracked back to the libertarian tradition of the shared past.

To deal with the past is very delicate endeavor today. One of the reasons is the abuse of the painful past for political purposes. Those born in the eighties and the nineties of the last century, as well as the very young one have been taught to see neighbors as enemies, other cultures as a threat to their own identity. The matter is how to create new codes that would open their minds and feelings; raise their interest for the shared cultural heritage and modernization that occurred in time of Yugoslavia; strengthen their ability to tackle with challenges of transition to democracy and global market economy. Young people and their parents have a right to know in order to be able to choose and take responsibility for their life of today and in the future.

People in Belgrade or Tuzla have rare or no opportunity to hear intellectuals or artists from Prishtina talking and performing on issues that concern shared past and today’s day life. Young people in the Balkans deserve to learn more about each other and to work together to create a broader cultural space for their books, exhibitions and performances. Artists, cultural workers, educators and activists are hostages of nationalistic codes and information. The endeavor is to give rise to ideas and institutions based on solidarity and differences without negations.

The Project is framed by three topics:

1. Affirming the anti-fascist struggle and modernism from WWII to date: towards new spaces of equality and solidarity;

2. The memory of unity and brotherhood through oral history: towards artistic imaginaries of new solidarity;

3. Continuities and discontinuities of solidarity reflected by artists: forms of solidarity embedded in social ownership, annihilated by violent transition and re-examined under corporate rules.

This Program fosters new forms of solidarity by the flow of knowledge, cultural exchange and artistic production between people of Tuzla, Prishtina and Belgrade. It recognizes and stimulates spontaneous, anarchic, fluid zones of experimentation and joy, innovations where a lot of new things will be created within the project thematic framework. Leading agents of the process will be the research-education-production teams (REP) set up by each project’s partner. REPs will collect and collate data and information, archive materials and communicate their results through to the targeted beneficiaries; the purpose is to get together young people to harness new cultural codes and reshaped information and to empower them to create their own production through a growing grass-root network of volunteers. Their final products will be theater plays, art performances, exhibitions, and stage readings that activate public space for alternative knowledge and art production. These interventions will build on antifascist and modernist legacies of the 20th century; politics of commonality and its materiality in the 21st century.

The outcome of the above activities will be three joint knowledge production public events in Prishtina (Month 4), Tuzla (Month 6) and Belgrade (Month 9) in Year 1 of project; and joint artistic productions from REP teams, partner institutions and cooperatives in year 2 of the project, that will be exhibited through a three-day cultural event “New Solidarity: Reclaiming Public Space & Good Through Art”. This event will take place in each location during Year 2: Tuzla (Month 5), Prishtina (Month 6) and Belgrade (Month 9). Joint production is presented to the beneficiaries and the public. At the end of this process a joint monograph of the project will be produced and disseminated.

Each program partner - Multimedia, CZKD and Tuzla “Grad” - will host and facilitate two out of six milestone events where REP teams present outcomes of their research and art production.

This program is supported by Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans

Independent regional cultural foundation Heartefact with its headquarters in Belgrade and Qendra Multimedia from Prishtina are hereby announcing a

CONTEST
for the best contemporary engaged full-length dramatic text in the Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin or Albanian language. Authors with residence on the territory of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo are eligible to partake in the competition.

The jury comprised of: Biljana Srbljanovic (playwright), Selma Spahic (theatre director) and Shkelzen Maliqi (philosopher, publicist and publisher) shall reach a decision on the winner and shortlist five most successful dramatic texts. The first prize at the competition also entails awarding a financial prize in the amount of EUR 6,000 (net). Likewise, this prize includes purchase of copyright for the premiere staging of the play, co-produced by the Heartefact Fund and Qendra Multimedia, in one of regional theatres.

The Heartefact Fund and Multimedia commit themselves to publish, in print, collections of five dramatic texts shortlisted in the competition, in the Serbian and the Albanian language. Likewise, the Heartefact Fund and Multimedia are willing to support and encourage artistic affirmation and promotion of the most successful dramatic texts in the competition. The competition is open until June 30, 2011, whereas the deadline for the panel of judges to come out with a decision is September 15, 2011.

Competition Rules

The basic criteria the panel of judges shall base its decision on are artistic value and current relevance of the topic. Dramatic texts whose message incites violence, religious and ethnic intolerance, as well as discrimination on any ground, shall not be considered as potential candidates for the prize. Only original, unpublished and unperformed works are eligible to compete. Application Procedure

You are invited to send via postal mail one print, unsigned copy of the text with a code name, an envelope with a key to the code (first and last name, address, city, state, telephone number, e-mail address), as well as a CD containing an unsigned copy of the text in pdf. format, to the address below:

(for authors from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia)

’’HEARTEFACT FUND’’

(for the competition)

PO Box 16 11111 Belgrade, Serbia

(for authors from Kosovo)

Qendra Multimedia

(for the competition)

Rr. Xhavit Mitrovica p.n. Teatri Dodona 10000 Prishtina, Kosovo

The show “They will come” is a production of Qendra Multimedia that was realized within the project “Play for All” which is organized by Qendra Multimedia in cooperation with the SOS Children’s Village Kosovo for 4 years now. “They will come” has traveled during these months: Septemer, Oktober, November and December 2012 to 10 different locations in Kosovo, by choosing schools as the performing venue.

This show with the topic of conflicts during adolescence as a consequence of which it targets the youth in high schools in Kosovo had more than 2 thousand students as spectators. The show has received generally positive reviews from the leaders of the educational institutions but especially from the students that felt reached by the message that was given by the play.

The three characters of this show Zana, Sara and Era were those who eagerly awaited their peers to join the birthday party that was prepared ... music, drinks, ornaments and many other things where ready for the party, but only the guests were missing!

The delay of the guests and the impatience of the girls to start the party, reveals the girls complexes associated with their age and the adolescence that they are going through. Joy turns into fear, patience fades, the tension starts to rise, so the girls start to remember the bitter moments of their lives.

Actors: Alketa Sylaj, Vjosë Tasholli, May-Linda Kosumoviç

Playwright: Vesa Qena, Norika Sefa

Costume: Venera Mustafa

Director: Hana Qena

Field Coordinator: Sunita Kurti

Një shkëmbim mes autorëve Ines Kappert dhe Ilir Gjocaj

Dy qytete – dy autorë – një tekst

14.-19.9.2010 në Prishtinë
21.-26.9.2010 në Berlin

Shkëmbimi i autorëve ndërmjet Berlinit dhe Prishtinës, i organizuar nga Qendra Multimedia (Prishtinë) në bashkëpunim me Zyrën për Çështje Kulturore (Berlin), sjell nga data 14 – 19 shtator në Prishtinë shkrimtaren dhe gazetaren berlinase Ines Kappert. ­Ajo do të takojë dramaturgun dhe regjisorin Ilir Gjocaj, që së bashku të hulumtojnë kryeqytetin e Kosovës. Ilir Gjocaj, si udhërrëfyes, do t’ia tregojë Ines Kappert-it Prishtinën „e tij“ dhe do ta përcjellë atë përgjatë kujtimeve personale apo kolektive në vendet që, sipas tij, e karakterizojnë kryeqytetin më të ri evropian. Pas një jave, Ilir Gjocaj gjithashtu do të udhëtojë për në Berlin, ku do të qëndrojë gjashtë ditë. Atje, atë, do ta shoqërojë Ines Kappert-i nëpër Berlinin ‘e saj’.

Nga vizitat e ndërsjellta, hulumtimet dhe përshtypjet e përbashkëta si dhe nga përzierja e vështrimit personal me atë të një të huaji mbi qytetin përkatës, krijohet një tekst, i cili do të deklamohet nga një aktor gjerman dhe një aktor kosovar gjatë një leximi skenik apo si shfaqje teatri, në kuadër të festivalit BERLinPRiSHTINA/PRISHTInëBERLIN.

Festivali BERLinPRiSHTINA/PRISHTInëBERLIN (i planifikuar të mbahet në fillim të vitit 2011 në Prishtinë) nuk ofron vetëm mundësinë për të përjetuar nga afër shumëllojshmërinë dhe kompleksitetin e ngjarjeve kulturore të Berlinit nga këndvështrime të ndryshme, por ofron edhe projekte të tjera, të cilat janë planifikuar të realizohen si shkëmbimeve të drejtëpërdrejta mes artistëve të ndryshëm nga Prishtina dhe Berlini, duke I sjellë këto dy qytete, më afër njëri-tjetrit.

Nëse dëshironi që ta intervistoni Ines Kappert apo Ilir Gjocaj, atëherë Ju lusim të kontaktoni:
Lucia Zimmermann (00386/49177258) apo Nita Hasani (00377/44345768)

Dr. Ines Kappert punon si redaktore në gazetën gjermane “Die Tageszeitung“. Më parë ajo ka vepruar në Fondacionin Federal të Kulturës në sektorin e shkëmbimit kulturor me Evropën Lindore. Në vitin 2006 ajo botoi librin me titull: "Sprung in die Stadt: Chisinau, Sofia, Pristina, Sarajeëo, Ëarschau, Zagreb, Ljubljana" (Kërcimi në qytet: Qisinau, Sofje, Prishtinë, Sarajevë, Varshavë, Zagreb, Ljubljanë). Në prill të vitit 2008 u botua libri i saj "Der Mann in der Krise. Eine konservative Kapitalismuskritik in der Mainstreamkultur" (Njeriu në krizë. Një kritikë konservative mbi kapitalizmin në mainstram-kulturë).

Ilir Gjocaj shkruan tregime, drama dhe skenare filmash. Vitin e kaluar, drama e tij „Bodrumi“ („Der Keller“) pati premierë në Teatrin Kombëtar të Kosovës. Veç kësaj, ai punon si regjisor i filmave, që janë shfaqur në Berlinale dhe në Festivalin e Filmit në Sarajevë.

Projekti përkrahet nga Instituti Goethe dhe Fondacioni Robert Bosch.

In the course of the 4th German film week Qendra Multimedia and the German Embassy Pristina presented the films of the German director Andres Veiel
Andres Veiel himself came to Pristina for the presentation of his films and for a workshop with young filmmakers
Andres Veiel has won the European Film Price 2001 and is the best known documentary film director in Germany. In his movies he chooses new and unconventional perspectives on events and conflicts, of which until now we thought we had understood them.
Screenings of the movies:
‚Addicted to acting‘, Thursday, 09 Oct. 2008, 18:30h
‚Black Box Germany‘, Friday, 10 Oct. 2008, 20:30h
‚Balagan‘, Saturday, 11 Oct. 2008, 18:30h
‘The Kick’, Sunday, 12 Oct. 2008, 20:30h
All movies have been shown with Albanian and English subtitles.
Place: Kinostudio (next to Sheshi 21) 

Qendra Multimedia në bashkëpunim me Institutin Goethe prezentoi:

Një javë me filmat më të mirë të regjisorit Rainer Werner Fassbinder

20.10.2008 - 24.10.2008
Teatri Dodona
"Regjisori më fascinues, më i talentuar, më produktiv dhe më origjinal në Evropën Perëndimore"
New York Times, 1977
Rainer Werner Fassbinder: Regjisor, Autor, Aktor, Producent dhe Provokator.
Me më se 40 filma kinematografikë e televizivë, të realizuar ndërmjet viteve 1969 e 1982, Fassbinder konsiderohet si regjisori më i rëndësishëm i "filmit të ri gjerman" (stil ky i filmit gjerman të viteve 60-ta dhe 70-ta), i cili me ndihmën e Fassbinder-it arriti suksese ndërkombëtare.
Ai e karakterizonte kinematografinë gjermane të viteve 70-ta si pothuajse asnjë tjetër. Historia e filmit gjerman nuk mund të paramendohet pa "Lili Marleen", "Angst essen Seelen auf", "Fontane Effi Briest" dhe "Die Ehe der Maria Braun". Me gjithë vdekjen e hershme, Fassbinder konsiderohet si regjisori më produktiv gjerman. "Mund të fle kur të vdes", thoshte ai për vete.

E hënë, 20.10.2008
Ora 19:30, Teatri Dodona
Hapja dhe ekspozita me pllakata të filmave të Rainer Werner Fassbinder

E hënë, 20.10.2008
Ora 20:00, Teatri Dodona
Angst essen Seelen auf (Frika e gllabëron shpirtin)
„Lumturia nuk është përherë kënaqësi" – Kjo është fjalia me të cilën Fassbinder i përgatit shikuesit për këtë film.
Emmi, një pastruese e moshuar, dashurohet dhe martohet me Aliun, një punëtor të huaj shumë më të ri, nga Marokoja. Të afërmit dhe fqinjët e Emmi-t reagojnë pa mirëkuptim për këtë çift. Një "film për dashurinë, e cila është e pamundshme, po megjithatë një mundësi". (Rainer Wernder Fassbinder)

E martë, 21.10.2008
Ora 20:00, Teatri Dodona
Martha
"Shumica e meshkujve thjesht nuk dinë të shtypin aq perfekt sa do të dëshironin femrat." (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
Tregim për një martesë të çuditshme: pas vdekjes së babait, Martha largohet nga gjiri familjar. Ajo martohet me Salomonin, një njeri karizmatik, i cili gjithnjë më shumë e kontrollon dhe e izolon nga jeta e saj. Pas një aksidenti, Martha mbetet e ngjeshur për karrocë. Tanimë ajo është krejtësisht e varur nga bashkëshorti – por në një mënyrë irrituese, duket se ajo kënaqet më këtë varësi.

E mërkurë, 22.10.2008
Ora 20:00, Teatri Dodona
Fontane – Effi Briest
Effi Briest është tepër e re kur martohet me Baronin ambicioz nga Instetten. Takimi me Majorin Crampas sjell për një kohë të shkurtër një ndryshim në jetën e saj. Vite më vonë Baroni dëgjon për lidhjen jashtëmartesore, tashmë të përfunduar, të gruas së vet – vjen deri te katastrofa. Fassbinder i qëndron besnik librit të Fontanes, por megjithatë e krijon një gjuhë vizuele të veçantë.

E enjte, 23.10.2008
Ora 20:00, Teatri Dodona
Lili Marleen
Këngëtarja e kabaresë, Wilkie Bunterberg, e dashuron hebreun e pasur Robert Mendelsson, i cili gjatë Reichut të Tretë lufton në ilegalen kundër Hitlerit. Gjatë natës ajo arrin famë me këngën e saj "Lili Marleen" tek nacional-socialistet dhe papritur e gjen veten në mes të dy fronteve. Asaj i duhet të zgjedhë mes regjimit të nazistëve dhe rezistencës. A do ta zgjedhë famën apo dashurinë?

E premte, 24.10.2008
Ora 20:00, Teatri Dodona
Katzelmacher
Katër çifte në një qytezë të Minhenit jetojnë një jetë pa ndryshime. Marie është e fejuar me Erichun, Paul flen me Helgen, Peter mbahet nga Elizabeta, Rosi flen me Francin për pare. Në këtë rreth gjithnjë të njejtë takohen në 'Wirtshaus' (lokal). Lidhjet nisin të luhaten kur një ditë vjen punëtori i huaj 'greku' nga Greqia. 

Bas Böttcher was born in 1974, lives in Berlin and is one of the best known slam and rap poets in the German speaking countries. He creates his poems for stage, no written text is needed for his presentation. Rhythm and atmosphere are equally important in his show than the content of his poems. He incorporates elements of Afro-American language art but refers as well to the origin of European lyrics - as being a form of art which is listened to and shared in communities.
Just like rap created a form of music apart from the mainstream music, his art has to be well distinguished from the mainstream literature. His form of writing and performance allows him to bypass the power structures of the literature business. In a spoken word situation there is no editor, no head critic, no filter. As travelling poet Bas Böttcher performs his lyrics on stage all around the world – from Peking to New York, from Moskau to Paris. On behalf of the Multimedia Center he was to Pristina too.
Besides his performance on the 7th of May, 2008, Bas Böttcher conducted a workshop for students on the 8th and 9th of May from 10 to 12 o'clock at the philosophical faculty of the university of Pristina, room 51. He guided the participants in how to write and perform poetry in the slam-poetry-style. The workshop was open to all students who speak German.

Qendra Multimedia and the partner organisation AAC Kulturanova from Serbia are working together on a program entitled “View from my Window”, which deals with the history of Serbia and Kosovo. Part of the program will be a theatre play that will aim to introduce new oral history methods in such a way where ordinary young people from Kosovo and Serbia are telling their life stories to each other: stories from the past and from the present, told from a subjective perspective. In this way, a theatre play will reflect relations between Albanians and Serbs, their differences and their similarities. Jeton Neziraj and Minja Bogavac will write the play and it will be published in Albanian, Serbian and English. The play will be performed in Kosovo, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania and in the EU countries.

Besides theatre play, the outcome of the program will also be a historical website platform covering the period 1960-2009, with testimonies/interviews and two exhibitions, one in Prishtina, Kosovo and another in Novi Sad, Serbia.

The program is being implemented in a time when Kosovo and Serbia are expected to be candidates for EU accession. The implementation of this project under these specific conditions may facilitate the relaxation of the Albanian-Serbian relations as well as create a debate platform about these relations. If this assumption proves to be true, the spillover effect may be intensified communication and cooperation on the two sides of the border.

This program is financed by:

European Cultural Foundation
Kosovo Foundation for Open Society 
Heinrich Böll Stiftung
Foundation for Open Society Serbia
Erste Stiftung

Përderisa Kosova po hynte në fazën kulmore të fushatës parazgjedhore, për zgjedhjet vendore të 15 nëntorit, Forum-Teatri si projekt i Qendrës Multimediale në Prishtinë nisi projektin e sensibilizimit të moshave të reja për rëndësinë e daljes në zgjedhje, pra kryesisht me 18-vjeçarët në disa shkolla të mesme kosovare; si në Kaçanik e Han të Elezit, Ferizaj e Shtimje, Gjilan e Viti, Lipjan, Fushë Kosovë, Kastriot, Prishtinë dhe Vushtrri.... Forum-Teatri ishte i ndërthurur me debatin përmes tre shfaqjeve/komedive, “Komuna”; “Vëllëzërit Shishmaku” dhe “Vota për dajën Shaban” me aktorët Fatmir Spahiu, Arben Zharku dhe Herodita Ramshaj

Derisa gjatë fushatës binin në sy dy momente që nuk ishin karakteristike për fushatën e vitit 2007. E para është rritja e cilësisë së performimit të kandidatëve për kryetar komunash, sidomos atyre për Prishtinën e cila tërheq prapa vetes edhe kosto shumëfish më të lartë se më 2007. Pra së pari herë bartet edhe në Kosovë modeli i antifushatës, kur një kandidat ngritjen e vet e modelon pikërisht në rënien e popullaritetit të rivalit pararendës. Por, kjo, duke qenë se Kosova nuk ka elektorat por ka anëtarësi (militantët partiakë) vetëm këta të fundit janë të interesuar për zgjedhjet vendore të nëntorit e gjithqysh pushteti do të vendoset!? Prandaj antifushata duket se nuk “dhezë” në Kosovë pikërisht nga ky fakt. Instituti Kosovar për Media dhe Politika në Prishtinë ka synuar të kuptojë vullnetin e qytetarëve prishtinas nëse do të dalin ose jo në zgjedhje. Në hulumtimin e ndarë nga i mësipërmi, i realizuar midis 22 e 25 tetorit, 57.6 për qind e respodentëve janë deklaruar se nuk do të dalin në zgjedhje, ndërsa vetëm 32.7 për qind e tyre kanë konfirmuar se do të votojnë. Këmbënguljen për të mos marrë pjesë në ditën e votimit të anketuarit e kanë arsyetuar me zhgënjimin me politikanët, gjuhën e ashpër politike në fushatë dhe premtimet joreale që japin kandidatët.

Kurse momenti i dytë është abuzimi me qytetarët përmes premtimeve “në hava” për nevoja të propagandës partiake.

Sëkëndejmi vërehet se interesimi për politikën përgjithësisht dhe për zgjedhjet vendore nder qytetarët e Kosovës (edhe tek të rinjtë që votojnë për herë të parë) derisa më 2007 ishte rreth 40%, më 2009, së paku atje ku Forum-Teatri debatoi me nxënësit del se sivjet mund të shënojë një rritje.

Duke qenë se qytetarët e kanë humbur besimin se me votën e tyre mund të ndërrohet diçka, vota e lirë pothuajse e ka humbur kuptimin në Kosovë, ende pa u etabluar, të rinjve që votojnë për herë të parë megjithatë shprehin një interesim që të votojnë, sepse kjo u duket fillimisht festë e moshës dhe duan që ta shfrytëzojnë këtë të drejtë. Vota në demokracitë liberale është një e drejtë dhe jepet me koncesion, duke përfituar nga programet reformatore, në taksa, shërbime më cilësore, punësim dhe siguri. Fundja, sipas sistemit zgjedhor kosovar, legjitimiteti i zgjedhjeve është i diskutueshëm ngase nuk kërkohet vota e 51 përqindëshit, pra mjafton të dalin në zgjedhje madje edhe 20 % e trupit elektoral, sa për ta siguruar njëfarë legaliteti, ndërsa dalja e 30 apo 40 % e elektoratit natyrisht se i përafrohet një standardi europian. Nga një studim i Leon Malazogut, del se ideja e shtet-ndërtimit i ka bërë njerëzit të dalin masovikisht në zgjedhje p.sh. në vitin 2000 nga trupi votues prej 913. 179 kanë dalë në zgjedhje 721. 260 kurse nuk kanë dalë vetëm 191.919, kurse në prag të pavarësisë më 2007 nga trupi votues prej 1.567.690 kanë dalë në zgjedhje vetëm 628.630, kurse nuk kanë dalë 282. 060. Nëse ky trend i mosdaljes ka shënuar rritje, tashti kur Kosova është e pavarur, kjo d.m.th. se qytetarët nuk e perceptojnë tutje pushtetin si “të tyrin” dhe nuk duan të marrin pjesë në sigurimin e një pushtet me legjitimitet horizontal dhe vertikal. Është interesant fakti se, iniciativa e një OJQ-je kosovare për ta caktuar pragun e fundëm të daljes në zgjedhje, nën të cilin zgjedhjet do të shpalleshin jolegjitime, është pranuar vetëm nga një parti jashtë parlamentare dhe ky fakt dëshmon se partitë e mëdha janë në paranojë se po e humbin votuesin e tyre. Epoka e pasluftës së ftohtë e ka gjetur Evropën Juglindore të papërgatitur për të bërë politika globale, prandaj shumë nga këto vende ende e ushqejnë kulturën e sekretit (jotransparencën) dhe autoritarizmin (jollogaridhënien) për politika nacionale, në kohën kur nuk ka më të tilla, sepse që nga ngrohja globale (emetimi i gazrave) e deri të kriza financiare globale janë politika ndërkombëtare, që thyhen edhe për shpinën e qytetarit kosovar, pra qe kanë të bëjnë edhe me zgjedhjet lokale. Së këndejmi ka ekspertë që mendojnë se nuk ka më politikë nacionale, sepse ajo po bëhet ndërkombëtare, ajo ndikon në votat, festat dhe pushimet tona... Por tashmë druaj se kjo klasë politike mund të edukohet (emancipohet) përmes zërit kritik të shoqërisë, intelektualëve dhe mediave, porse shoqëria civile (nëse ka mbet diç nga ajo) dhe mediat (e kanë mbet pak media të lira) duhet ta zhvendosin luftën ne edukimin (emancipimin) e publikut, (gjë që mëtoi ta bënte edhe Qendra Multimedia përmes Forum-Teatrit) përkatësisht elektoratit. Ky mentalitet nuk ndërron përderisa ajo që ne e cilësojmë si bashkësi ndërkombëtare në Kosovë ka nevojë për vasalitetin e klasës politike për ta kamufluar më mirë sundimin e vet të përmasave hegjemone, pa telashe dhe duke përdorë dy standarde për sa i përket të drejtave civile, demokracisë dhe vetë sistemit politik. Ndërkombëtarët e kanë një marrëveshje të heshtur me klasën politike aktuale në Kosovë “ju neve stabilitet dhe mbrojtje për serbët kosovarë – ne ju pushtet të pakufishëm”. Në anën tjetër, nëse kandidatët për kryetar komunash mbahen pengje të ideologjive partiake dhe provincializmit, kjo ngjall mosbesimin e qytetarëve dhe pikërisht ideologjitë e forta e punët e flashkëta e kanë bërë qytetarin që “ta harrojë” me qëllim ditën e zgjedhjeve, duke mëtuar që t’i ndëshkojë. Dihet se sipas ligjit mbi zgjedhjen e Kryetarit të Komunës, ai do të jetë jo vetëm kryetar asambleje por “sherif” i shehrit, pasi që edhe komandantin e policisë e propozon vet, kjo shpie në logjikën se atyre do t’u imponohet një polic nga kampi i të fuqishmëve të Kosovës, që janë dëshmuar se janë nga ajo anë e ligjit, atëherë cila mund të jetë shkalla e sigurisë së qytetarëve të Kosovës, pra kujt po ia besojnë lirinë ata?

Mosdalja masive në zgjedhje nuk është “fatkeqësi” vetëm për Kosovën, ajo po ndodh në kohën e internetin dhe spektaklit televiziv në tërë Europën. Por dalja e vetëm një 20-30 përqindëshi në votime e derivon një pushtet me legjitimitet të brishtë, madje të kontestueshëm lehtë, i cili krijon imunitet nga kritikat e 60% që nuk voton, sepse në një farë dore abstenuesit nuk kanë të drejtë morale ta kritikojnë qeverisjen, derisa mosdalja në zgjedhje është pjesëmarrje në to, sepse pakicën e shndërron në shumicë.

Me këtë grup-moshë u debatua edhe për thirrjet e disa grupeve politike për bojkot (sidomos nga Lëvizja Vetëvendosje, por veçanërisht jashtë Prishtinës, pos deri në një masë në Kaçanik) dukej se këto thirrje nuk kishin jehonë të madhe. U debatua pra, edhe për atë se a cenon mosdalja në votime kohezionin kombëtar, nëse votimi nuk është obligim ligjor por qytetar, atëherë cila është e drejta e lëvizjeve anti-votim, dhe cilët janë kufijtë e padëgjueshmërisë qytetare?

Shumica e të rinjve të kësaj moshe thonë se do të votojnë pa u ndikuar nga familja, babai apo farefisi, por me vullnetin dhe bindjen e tyre politike (pos disa të rinj në Han të Elezit), kurse vlen të theksohet se këta të rinj mendojnë se fushata parazgjedhore prej një muaji është tepër e gjatë, shkakton humbje energjie dhe kohe dhe bëhet e mërzitshme. Në Prishtinë dhe Kastriot ta zëmë, disa nga të rinjtë mendojnë se fushata parazgjedhore duhet të zgjasë dy javë, ndërkaq që, shumica e debatuesve të kësaj moshe e shohin të paarsyeshme koston kaq të lartë të kësaj fushate dhe, sipas tyre do të ishte më me vend sikur ato para të investoheshin në ndonjë projekt kulturor ose sportiv për rininë. Përndryshe, në Shtimje ankohen se komuna dhe kandidatët aktualë për Kryetar të kësaj Komune nuk kanë ofruar asgjë joshëse për rininë. Derisa të rinjtë e Prishtinës kërkojnë më shumë hapësira të gjelbra si dhe rrënimin e mbindërtimeve ilegale.

Halil Matoshi, analist i pavarur i zgjedhjeve, moderator në Forum-Teatër

"Project Spiders" will give the opportunity `6 writers from Kosovo to stay a week in one of these capitals in the region: Belgrade, Skopje, Sarajevo, Zagreb, Podgorica and Tirana and also 6 writers from the towns: Sarajevo, Belgrade, Skopje, Zagreb, Podgorica and Tirana to stay from a week in Pristina.

These 5 Kosovar writers who will visit these five capitals of the states of the region and writer from these five countries of the region who will visit Pristina, will be obliged to write out a text to 10 pages on their experience and impressions of the host city .

The main focus of Kosovar writer would be to write about jetetën in the city that they visit, the impressions of people who now can move freely throughout Europe, writing about the advantages and opportunities that created the process of visa liberalization and also, the describe the city, the reviews and have had the vision for the city who have previously visited, etc. .. For a writer from Kosovo would be a rare opportunity to visit Belgrade, Sarajevo or Zagreb (which probably has conducted studies), after almost 20 or more years and to observe differences, similarities and reviews ...

And so, five writers from the region who would visit Pristina, each one a week, will be able to write to the lives of Kosovars will be able to find possible similarities of their countries once, will describe life in the city, reviews of ordinary people on the impossibility of moving slirshëm in Europe, cultural life, future and many other issues.

Writings of these 10 writers will then be published in a bilingual book, English slip ... These 10 stories, as in the original, will be published in the magazine come from letrate magazine writers. In Kosovo, all writings, will also be published in one of the few literary magazines or newspapers supliment of any of the day.

By offering this option these 10 writers, we want to open a debate, primarily within the Kosovo society for the challenges that have gone to neighboring countries before coming to this process that has allowed them free movement in Europe .

And so, open a new path of communication between writers and artists in the region, so slowly, to restore cultural ties that have existed formerly, which according to us, are very important for stability and relaxation of relationship after conflicts, war tensions in the former Yugoslavia.

The group “A wall is a screen”, young film and cinema activists from Hamburg, during Dokufest 2008, for two days turned the house walls in the streets of Prizren into cinema screens. Starting from Shadërvani square they took the audience on a tour through Prizren. They showed short movies on special places or places that became special through the movie projections. When one movie was finished, artists and audience moved on to the next place. For this unique city tour the entrance was free.

Multimedia Center and Dokufest 

"Play for All" Children Festival is an EU funded project managed by the European Commision Liaison Office to Kosovo and implemented by SOS Children's Villages Kosova and Center for Visual Arts Multimedia. The project was launched as part of the Civil Society Support Programme of the European Commission Liaison Office to Kosovo after the success of the Sarajevo Kids Festival also supported by the European Commission.
The project aims at providing Kosovo children with an opportunity to learn through educational and recreational activities and an opportunity to express their artistic talents. The initiative is unique in its kind as it encompasses a wide array of activities where children are directly engaged and interact. The project also aims at including children from marginalized social groups such as children with disabilities and children from minority communities. Activities of the festival can be clustered into five major areas: Workshops, Performances, Film and Theatre, Children's Parade, and Essay/Environmental Competitions.

During the last decades a high number of Kosovarians migrated as guest workers or refugees to Germany. Estimated 300 000 people or 15% of the population of the Kosovo came to Germany to stay or to return after a few months or years.

The transition from one country to an other, in a foreign culture, in a foreign climate and in a foreign language cannot happen without a deep impact on the lives of people who go through this change. But there is little authentic knowledge on what kind of effect this change had on the life and the identity of people from Kosovo who migrated to Germany. At the same time this migration brings up the question of how Kosovo and the live their has been changed by the high number of people moving (temporarily) to an other country. How did Kosovo chance because of the experience of foreign countries?

The book project

Until now these issues have not been analysed. The writer Beqë Cufaj, born in Kosovo but now living permanently in Germany, the writer Jeton Neziraj from Pristina, who has lived and worked in Germany as a refuge in the mid nineties for 15 months, and the German Timon Perabo, who is working in Pristina as culture manager of the Robert Bosch Foundation, will give answers from their different perspectives to these questions in a joint book. They will approach this issue by writing 15 portraits, each of them describing the live of an individual or a family who have migrated from Kosovo to Germany and who are still living there or have moved back to Kosovo.
These portraits shall comprise the different experiences in adopting to new every day live circumstances, in solving previously unknown problems, they will picture opportunities people found and how they were restricted. At the same time they will also show similarities in the “new” life of the portrayed people.

The main content of the book are individual portraits of migrants. In this way the subjective experiences of the migrants become the main source of knowledge about migration to Germany. By choosing this approach the authors of the book intend to narrate the life conditions of the migrants in its complexity. Max Frisch has pointed out with his well known phrase: “We wanted labour forces, but people came” that public perception of guest workers was very much reduced to their roll as labour force excluding many other things of their life in the new country as well as the question of coexistence with the people already living in Germany. Based on this assumption the book aims at creating a different understanding of the live of Kosovarian migrants in Germany. The missing knowledge about foreigners and from that resulting fears and clichés shall be overcome with the narrations of experiences of migration.

The portraits are based on interviews, which will be conducted with guest workers and refuges which are partly Kosovo-Albanians and Kosovo-Romans, which live in Germany or have returned to Kosovo. The interviews will turn around the question of life and work situation before migration and the reasons for leaving the Kosovo. Questions will concern how people moved to Germany (means of transportation and orientation), how they made or still make a living in Germany, what there work situation was or is like, their housing situation, the relations to other Kosovarians or relatives in Germany, the contact to Germans, what their every day life looks like, their dreams, disappointments, love.
The migrants will narrate of feeling at home or being nostalgic, the sentiment of departure, new beginning, of arrival and continual search.

Those who have stayed in Germany will be asked about their today’s feelings and relationship to Kosovo. From the “returnees” it is the aim to find out about whether their return was voluntarily or if they have been send back, if the Kosovo had changed during their absents so that they encountered an other foreign country, how they resettled in Kosovo, how they perceive Kosovo and the way of living their after their return, if they can share their experiences with those who have not left Kosovo and how they feel related to Germany nowadays.
The book shall close with a chapter on the more recent history of Kosovo, on the German guest worker and refugee policies and on general information on migration of Kosovarians to Germany.

Intentions perceived with the book and its further exploitation
Until today there are no publications which comprise different experiences and narrations of Kosovarian migrants. The book shall close this vacancy in a twofold way: by being published in German in Germany and in Albanian in Kosovo.
In Germany, due to the media reports, Kosovo is mainly perceived as a place of violence and war. Germans see people from Kosovo, living in Germany, often as asylum seekers or criminals. With portraits of individual destinies this perception shall be questioned. It bears the chance to create a different picture and an understanding of what migration means today and what it is like to enter Germany as a migrant.
In Kosovo the publishing of the book will be followed by a series of events, to stimulate in different ways a debate on the experiences of migration. The book shall be presented in public readings, some of the portrayed people will read their narrations on the radio. For 2009 a on the book based German-Kosovarian theatre show is planned for Dodona theatre in Pristina.
In Kosovo every Kosovar has directly or indirectly experienced migration. In spite of this close connection to this topic a public discussion on these experiences has not taken place yet. It is thus, that Germany is still seen as paradise for refugees. Especially young people underestimate the burden for Kosovarians moving to Germany, working hard without their family and their familiar surrounding.
Especially for the public debate on a national identity, which doubtlessly will be led eagerly as Kosovo becomes a new state, the reflections on the experience of migration will be of great importance. Wars and myths of the past, which have been recalled many times to justify the formation of cultural communities and nation state borders, still dominate the discourse on identity. The habits and values which Kosovars have developed during their stays of long duration in West European countries are less present in this discourse until now.
Of equal significance is the reflection on experiences of migration as Kosovo approaches the EU. The experience of Kosovarian migrants of different European lifestyles and cultures can be used as a base for the formation of a joint European community of values.

Seri e debateve me qytearë rreth shëndetësisë, administratës komunale, ndotjes së ambientit, dhunës në familje dhe edukatës seksuale, duke përdorur Teatrin e Forumit

Një project i financuar nga The Olof Palme International Center - Suedi

Implementuar nga MULTIMEDIA / Qendra për Zhvillimin e Teatrit për Fëmijë – CCTD

©CCTD 2008

Pregaditi: Imer Mushkolaj

Skenat i shkroi: Jeton Neziraj

Ekipa: Arta Selimi, Adrian Morina, Fisnik Ademi, Arben Zharku, Blerta Rrustemi, Faik Gashi, Bernard Berisha

Xhoker / Moderator: Imer Mushkolaj

PËRMBLEDHJE E SHKURTËR

Gjendja në shëndetësi, funksionimi i administratës komunale, ndotja e ambientit, dhuna në familje dhe edukata seksuale kanë qenë temat të cilat kanë zgjuar interesim të madh te qytetarët, në serinë e debateve të organizuara nëpër vende të ndryshme të Kosovës. Qytetarë moshash, gjinish dhe profesionesh të ndryshme janë treguar mjaft kritikë në të gjitha rastet dhe kanë kërkuar nga institucionet përmirësimin e kushteve për një jetë më të mirë.
Të gjithë qytetarët që i kanë parë pjesët e shkurtra teatrore të përmbledhura në “Ankohu”, e të cilat kanë pasur të bëjnë me këto pesë tema dhe më pas kanë diskutuar për to, janë ankuar për mungesën e debateve të tilla, në të cilat ata do të kishin mundësinë të shprehnin mendimet dhe kritikat për çështjet esenciale dhe problemet me të cilat ballafaqohen.
Varësisht se cilat pjesë teatrore në cilin vend janë shfaqur, edhe mendimet dhe kritikat kanë qenë të ndryshme. Qytetarët më së shumti janë ankuar në shërbimet, sipas tyre, katastrofale mjekësore, ndërkohë që kritikat e nxënësve të shkollave të mesme kanë qenë më të ashpra për mungesën e lëndës së edukatës seksuale nëpër shkolla. Nga ana tjetër, femrat kanë qenë më të zëshme në debatet rreth dhunës në familje.
Tema e ndotjes së ambientit, ashtu siç pritej, ka zgjuar debat në mjediset që vuajnë nga kjo dukuri, siç janë Mitrovica dhe Obiliqi, si dhe vendet rreth Obiliqit.
Papërgjegjësia dhe inferioriteti i institucioneve përgjegjëse janë përmendur nga qytetarët si shkaqet kryesore të mosofrimit të shërbimeve të duhura në administratën komunale. Por, problematike është konsideruar edhe neglizhenca e vetë qytetarëve për të kërkuar atë që iu takon. Kanë qenë të rralla rastet kur qytetarët e kanë shfrytëzuar të drejtën e ankesës, në rastet kur nuk iu është ofruar shërbimi që iu takon. Ata më tepër kanë qenë të prirur (por edhe të shtrënguar) që punët t’i kryejnë nëpërmjet ndonjë të njohuri që ka punuar në komunë ose në qendrat shëndetësore, apo duke paguar para “nën dorë”. Ndërkaq në rastin e ndotjes së ambientit, përveç që janë fajësuar institucionet që nuk ndërmarrin masa, një pjesë e fajit iu është hedhur edhe qytetarëve, respektivisht vetëdijes së ulët të tyre për ruajtjen dhe mbrojtjen e mjedisit ku jetojnë.
Për dhunë në familje është thënë se shkaktarët kryesorë pse ajo ndodh janë mentaliteti konservativ dhe gjendja e vështirë ekonomike, ndërkaq për edukatën seksuale gjithçka është “arsyetuar” me njëfarëlloj turpi që ekziston si në mesin e mësimdhënësve që do të duhet të flisnin hapur për të në shkolla, ashtu edhe në raportet ndërmjet prindërve dhe fëmijëve, respektivisht diskutimit lirshëm në familje për çështje të tilla.