The contrast of realities

By Finn van der Baan

 

For our project we wanted to make a picture collage mixed with soundscapes and quotes. We decided that the best way to do this within technological limits would be to create an Instagram account and turn the feed into a collage. We thought that a collage would be the perfect way to include pictures, soundscapes, and important quotes we had received from the interviews we conducted. Instagram provides the ability for many people to come into contact with our project. We hoped this would then result in more awareness of the situation in Kosovo. Our page focuses on the fears and frustrations and the hopes and dreams of the people living in Kosovo, and at the bottom there is a small section about what the people of Kosovo love about their country. 

 

The most impactful part of this project for me were the interviews we conducted.Whenever we had some free time we would go out and interview people living in Kosovo. We tried to conduct as many interviews as possible with people having many different perspectives. In the end we knew we were interviewing more people with an Albanian ethnicity; this was due to the fact that we mainly stayed in Pristhina which is dominated by Albanians. It took some time before interviews started going smoothly, but once we got the hang of it, interviewing gave us a better understanding of the situation in Kosovo.

 

We did manage to interview a couple of Serbian people as well when we visited the city of Mitrovica. This was an eye-opening experience for me. When we had talked to Albanians they were mostly concerned about the lack of jobs and money and visa liberalization. However, when we interviewed Serbian people, they weren’t as concerned about these things. The main worry they had was whether they were going to be displaced. When we were in Pristhina I didn’t really feel that there was much ethnic tension, or at least it was not a main theme when talking to Albanians. Serbs felt very differently, which is probably because they are in the minority and some Albanians still carry resentment left over from the war. Serbs were much less optimistic about the future than Albanians. I still remember asking a Serbian who worked for the UNDP what he thought the future of Kosovo would look like and he responded “not so bright”. 

 

This contrast between the answers we received from the two different ethnicities made me realize how, in order to understand, you really do need to get as many perspectives as possible. I remember being in Pristhina before we had gone to Mitrovica, thinking that ethnic tension wasn’t as big of an issue as I previously had thought. We heard things like “I don’t go there, too many Serbs”, but it didn’t sound like hatred. However, once we heard the other side of the story, we realized that ethnic tension might not be a big problem for Albanians, but it has a big impact on the lives of Serbs. The contrast of the reality between the two ethnic groups was insane and the things they worried about were all important, but being scared you're going to have to leave your home is a little more significant than worrying about the job market.

 

Here's the link to our instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/voicesofkosovo/