(By Olafs Arnicāns)
Another hot summer day here in beautiful Prishtina! And yet
another day filled with new experiences, meetings and refreshing drinks. As I’m
writing this, smooth jazzy tunes are playing in the background in one of my
personal favourite spots in the city- Half&Half Café. The urban hipsterish
interior accompanied with great staff and of course amazing coffee always
works. The co-owner gives me a soft drink on the house. And in case anyone is
wondering, the working staff in every café, bar, and restaurant are fantastic.
Once you enter a place with a smile the locals cheer you back. Finally before
you leave, a handshake and a brotherly pat on the shoulder seems like a custom.
It’s our final full day here in Kosovo and it begins to feel
like we’re so used to this place that we should (have to) stay longer. One of
the ways to show you know any new city is when you have saved the Wi-Fi
passwords on your phone from so many places, that you always stay connected when
walking through the streets.
Today, June 16, we had our final two meetings. With a few
tired faces from the day (night) before, we first visited the editorial office
of the local magazine called Kosovo 2.0. The rather unique magazine in the
region shares and generates various stories, discussions and commentaries about
Kosovo and the world. Published only twice a year (!), each issue deals with a
single theme, including public space, sex, corruption, religion, sports and
migration. In their own words: “Kosovo 2.0 pulses with voices unfettered and
unafraid. Interactive blogs, articles and multimedia bring the untold stories
and views of your world and their world.” I think this also perfectly describes
the reason why we just had to talk with them as well. The office is situated in
the centre of the city and we’re welcomed with smiling yet slightly stressed
young faces. The new issue is going to be published in three weeks. We had a
long talk with editor-in-chief and co-founder, Besa Luci, for about an hour or
so. The conversation began with explaining why in 2010 they decided to create,
first, a blogging platform and, later, the magazine. There was (and still is) a
need to tell stories, especiallz about sensitive topics from all perspectives
and viewpoints. A critical and in-depth analysis about the contemporary issues
is needed. Popular media in the country often lack the capacity or interest to
generate discussions about things that might feel awkward to talk about. Kosovo
2.0 allows different voices to be heard. The story further unfolded and we
heard how sensitive some of the topics really are, particularly, when it came
to the topic of sex and LGBT communities (for more info: Huffingtonpost).
The second part of the discussion was filled with a Q&A session. Kosovo is
a small country, and as such, everybody knows one another. It can be nice when
you’re going out, but when it comes to structural critique of different media
sources or even art, people often opt out from accidentally saying things that
their colleagues and friends might find impolite. Going for a coffee with a
friend might seem a bit awkward after you’ve just said that his article is,
well, sloppily written. Another problem that we were told of is the lack of
knowledge about recent history or even geography amongst younger people.
Belarus was part of Yugoslavia, no? On the one hand, education here in Kosovo
needs improvements, but also young people need to have the possibility to go
outside the country. A reoccurring theme in our trip. Young people want to go
visit Europe and beyond, and they have to broaden their horizons from their own
experiences not only from watching movies (Eurotrip?) or hearing stories from
other people.
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