Hysni Krasniqi

Pristina | Date: March 14, 2020 | Duration: 122 minutes

I mostly find inspiration in nature. I take fragments from nature and try to live through them, live it with my heart and soul, and draw it on paper or paint it on canvas. For me that’s what’s important. […] For example, I have the Crops Cycle. Why crops? Crops because our people suffered from malnutrition, suffered from malnutrition. Then I have the Twig Bundles. What are the twig bundles? it’s a tool which our farmers always used, they used it to even the land […]

Then I have The Fireflies. What are the fireflies? The fireflies are the messengers of spring, the first sign that the crops are ready to harvest. Then this is how we knew that it’s the time of the harvest, and that’s what fireflies are to us. Like a fenix cik cik {onomatopoetic} sending out the message that somewhere the time has come to harvest. Like that. Then I have The Memory Flowers, the place I was born in, Llukar, though I spent more time in Pristina. The place I was born in is covered in flowers, snowdrops, violets. What wonderful smell violets have, it’s incredible, as if it were a perfume.

Erëmirë Krasniqi (Interviewer), Renea Begolli (Camera)

Hysni Krasniqi was born in 1942 in Llukar, Municipality of Prishtina. He graduated in 1969 from the Department of Printmaking at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. In 1979, he obtained his master’s degree from the same institution under the mentorship of Boško Karanović. Following the establishment of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prishtina, Kosovo, in 1974, Krasniqi joined its faculty and subsequently attained the rank of full professor of printmaking. Throughout his career, he exhibited extensively both locally and internationally. He passed away in Prishtina on March 14, 2025.

Hysni Krasniqi

Part One

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Could you introduce yourself…

Hysni Krasniqi: What?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Could you introduce yourself and start talking about whatever you think is your beginning, whether it is your family history or your personal beginning?

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes. [Should I] begin? I am Hysni Krasniqi, born in Llukar, on October 10, 1942. I am a professor, I was a professor at the Faculty of Arts, a regular professor, ordinary. I started from being an assistant to a lecturer, to a professor, up to the highest rank because there weren’t any higher ranks. Our family, as the family of my father, Idriz, who was a really good parent, he was wise. He worked the ground a little, he actually only reconciled blood feuds, these issues, he mostly dealt with stuff like that.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: He was the pleqnar1 of the village…

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, he was the pleqnar and head of the village. But look, let’s call it a village, but the Llukar [village] is older than Pristina, older than Pristina, I mean as a settlement. Pristina was built later, during the Turkish regime. We were a big family, ten members, I mean ten children, ten children, eight brothers, I never got to see one of my brothers because he died long ago. He was a baby, from what they’ve told me, I don’t know, while the seven of us were alive until the war happened. We lost two during the war, but also a sister. So, the five of us are alive to this day, but scattered like all Albanian people, in France, England, and so on. But as a family, we were very harmonious, our family in general.

My mother was very hardworking, not only hardworking but she also had high moral values, hardworking like a bee, clean like the snow in the mountains, she was a little strict (laughs), yes, yes, she was very strict. She was very… we weren’t rich, we were middle-class poor, but it’s interesting, back then and even now the Americans helped us. Even back then the Americans helped us, I don’t know what kind of relationship that was, but the Americans helped us a lot, that region and all of Kosovo. Kosovo was, it actually was, it couldn’t manage to provide food for everyone, but they [the people] went to Vojvodina, they went to Vojvodina to make a living. They worked then, but Vojvodina was the salvage of ex-Yugoslavia, yes, a lot of people worked there.

Llukar as a village is narrow, it’s a valley surrounded by mountains on the right and left, there’s little land, there isn’t much fertile soil, but the vegetation is very rich, there is fresh air, in general, it is a mountainous place, not very mountainous, but sort of a city outskirt like Gërmia, it’s connected to Gërmia. So, we didn’t have much land, and when they worked the ground then they didn’t even have a pllug,2 let alone a tractor, [having a] tractor was (laughs)… they worked with parmenda.3 Do you know what parmenda is? First with that, after the pllug was invented. Then the economy developed and you could get a tractor, and many people got one and they have worked with tractors since then.

So, one of my brothers, he studied, actually he went to the Medical High School in Prizren, but he didn’t have the means to continue it, he came back and went to Normale,4 then he went to Mramor to work as a teacher to help our parents, and so on.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: You mentioned that day which you remember a little from the Second World War, the end of it.

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, the Second World War, I remember it like a dream, because look, I was born in ‘41, I was registered in ‘42, now if I say (laughs)… the documents say ‘42. There, I remember it like it was today, our yard was surrounded by avli, with a fence, you know what avli and a fence are? Avlia is placed in the yard and it has spikes on top, it has some thick spikes. I was there with my grandmother, I stayed with my grandmother all the time, my father’s mother, and she said, “Don’t be scared!” Because they knocked, “Open the doors!” She said, “Don’t open them, I will open them.” She opened them. The Bulgarians came in because the Germans left. They left us some stuff, but they took them… we told the Germans to leave some stuff, “No,” they said, “because when Bulgarians find them, they will destroy them.” They said, “We’ll take them, we don’t need them, but we have no other choice because they will cause problems.”

When the Bulgarians came, they came into our yard, I remember it like it was today, they went to the place where we kept our dairy products and took the cheese. Not only did they take the cheese, they also wrapped things with textiles and they turned the wooden buckets upside down. We had prunes, and marmalade, they took everything we had and left. Close to our house, we had a relative, our grandmother’s brother, he had some work tools which the Germans had left him, he had a mengele that is used to tighten the tools and they wanted to take it. He said, “Why are you taking it? I use this to work.” They had a bomb with them, hand grenade, the ones shaped like pears, they rubbed its surface like this, a signal to ask for money or what do I know. I vaguely remember these things.

So, the Germans didn’t touch anything. Especially in our yard, Germans had their kitchen there [at our village], they had biscuits, canned food, chocolate bars, which we saw for the first time, we didn’t have chocolate bars back then (laughs). To tell you the truth, they gave us chocolate, they stayed there, many had bicycles, they had motorcycles, they had horses, they had all of these. Why did they keep them there? Because my birthplace was at the beginning of the mountain and they could easily shelter there, I know this, nothing more. I remember that the Germans, my mother, and grandmother told me when my grandfather died because my grandfather served in the Turkish army [conscription] for twelve years, he went there to cover for his three brothers and himself. So, military service lasted three years each, he went for twelve years. When my grandfather died, my grandmother told me, about five soldiers went out and fired their guns, a salute to the dead, but they do it even today. And it was like this, I know this.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Where did you do your elementary school?

Hysni Krasniqi: I finished elementary school at my birthplace, the school was called Ganimete Tërbeshi5 back then, it wasn’t called so, until late, it wasn’t called Ganimete Tërbeshi. First, I learned at the mosque, where the mosque is today. It was a two-story mosque, the women prayed upstairs and the men prayed on the first floor. There were no desks, no chairs, nothing, everyone took a stool or woolen sheets from home and we sat there. My first teacher was from Albania, his name was Zeqir Zeka. And we had blackboards as big as a notebook, we had those chalks like pens. He would lecture, we would take notes and there would be no space left to write on those blackboards. We had to erase it and write something else. How could we remember all that information? We didn’t have notebooks, pens, or anything. So we went and got an education in those conditions. At some point, we noticed, you know how people are patriarchal, families are patriarchal, Kosovo was in general. They started to complain, “We don’t have a place to pray…” And they got us out of there. A cousin of mine opened his oda6 as a school, his name was Nu.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Catholic?

Hysni Krasniqi: No, no, Nuhi, Albanian Muslim. So, he opened it and we went there. The space was small, the air was stuffy, we couldn’t [handle it]. Some pupils came from Pristina; the government realized that it isn’t right to fit all those pupils in that small space, so they built a school. They didn’t know where to build the school, that cousin of mine had his land, a very fertile land, he gave it away and to this day, the school is there. I don’t know if they paid for it, but we finished elementary school there. The school was finished, a Serb was my head teacher, Serbian, she taught us Serbian, my head teacher was Zorka Kalašević.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Was there a mixed community, or were there more Albanians?

Hysni Krasniqi: No, no more,7 we were all Albanians, there was a Montenegrin family far away in Makovc, to tell you the truth there was only that family, I don’t know how they got there, it’s like they fell from the sky, I don’t know how. Back then the king placed them on the most fertile of lands. So, I was a pupil and my head teacher was Serbian (laughs). Imagine, her name was Zorka Kalašević. Then, I finished elementary and middle school. When I finished elementary and middle school, I had to enroll in high school. What I did was, I went there. I was good at it, I was a very good kid, because, actually I was my mother’s right arm, I helped my mother.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What kind of chores did you do back then?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What kind of chores did you do at that time, since you had a lot of work?

Hysni Krasniqi: Well… well look, my mother mostly cooked and took care of dairy products, I helped her, sifted the flour, can you believe it? I took the bread and put it on qerep8 and my mother would put the saq9 over it because she was scared I would get burned and she had special tools, I still have them, tools to grab it with, not just any tool, no, all was specially made for this. I still have those tools. So I helped my mother clean, wash the dishes, and I washed the dishes. I guess this fate followed me, I did the same when I got married (laughs)… because we both, my wife worked, and I worked. Look, I had to do it, she worked eight hours a day. She worked eight hours, I taught four classes a week, she worked at the post office and she did quality assurance for the post office before and after the war. So, I had to work. I helped my mother a lot. I hope God rewards me (laughs). So I helped my mother a lot, I chopped wood and everything.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What was it like living with your other family members?

Hysni Krasniqi: Well, look (laughs), have you noticed? None of them are the same, some went to take care of the cattle, some worked the yard. We had a brother, the oldest one, he was very hardworking, he was the only one who took after my mother, he was clean, hardworking, helpful and fair. He was very hardworking, very much so. And I feel so sad that he had to stay in the woods for three months, he got cancer, he went there during the war, that’s why he didn’t dare come home and sleep there. This is what it was like, we had big problems. Then after I finished, I actually went to the Technical High School…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Here in Pristina?

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, in Pristina, at 18 Nëntori. There I finished high school in Serbian, I only finished elementary and middle school in Albanian. After high school in Serbian, I went to faculty in Serbian, we did it all in Serbo-Croatian. But, the generation who went to university in Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana, opened the university.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Yes, but let’s go back, what was Pristina like in the ‘50s when you came here?

Hysni Krasniqi: I remember the ‘50s like it was today. That place, the road where you go Pristina-Llukar-Makovc-Grashtica, then you go through Loskovc in Serbia. That road was all muddy. I don’t know if you know, there were train rails there, one went to Serbia, Podujevo, to Serbia. When we got to the railroad we said, “Uff, finally,” because there was no mud there. We often left our socks wet, and when we had to wear them again, they were still wet, this is how we went through education. There, back then, there were no shoes, we had opinga10 from Pirot, opinga made out of leather.

My mother, may she rest in peace, made opinga, simple, she knitted them in the Bulgarian style, she knitted them so well, it was unbelievable. I told you, my mother was very hardworking, she also worked with vek,11 so art was born into me from my mother. My mother made me separate the threads in red, white, black and green, they were all in small boxes, and I would separate them, and it [artistic inclination] was born there. And then Llukar was a place with many flowers, God gave us that nature. I took, we didn’t have paint colors, you could not buy them, so I took a flower, I pressed it into the paper and painted it, I swear to God.

Believe me that until late, I had oil paint colors, they were wax colors, when the Americans came, they gave them to me, they gave us things, but now we’re giving stuff away, can you see? Our children send things to other schools, it’s very good. You know my soul hurts, but I say to my wife, “Give them good things because this is how people helped us.” Honestly, we do it too.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Do you remember Pristina in the ‘50s, when you came here?

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes because we went off topic for a little because my memory is still very good. I remember the road to Leskovc, there was some kind of xhymlyk12 we had to pay, if you had a basket of eggs, you had to pay a xhymlyk.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Tax?

Hysni Krasniqi: Tax, some kind of tax, but it was called xhymlyk. We paid the tax there and they took their cows there or what do I know, but they paid a tax to come to the city to sell their goods, fruits andvegetables, they all had to pay a tax there. Pristina was very simple, I remember the road to Llap for example. Until lately, there were cattle there, there were stacks of hay, they had cattle. Until recently, Pristina got rid of them recently. But there is Shefki Gashi, he was the last one to get the cattle out of there, the last one (laughs). Now I’ve heard that Mramor [a village near Pristina] has also done that.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What was there, can you describe it to us?

Hysni Krasniqi: Oriental houses made out of hay, wood, çahma, pallzina, do you know what pallzina is? It’s graved wood and that’s how it was covered, they stuffed it with hay. Rarely any of them were covered in magjup13 qerpiç,14 as they called it, covered in magjup’s ceramic roof tiles, there were some covered in hay, until recently they were some [houses] covered with straw as well. There was no city center. You know what, the main city center was, you know where the main mosque is… ?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Which one, Xhamia e Çarshisë15 or Xhamia e Madhe?16

Hysni Krasniqi: Xhamia e Çarshisë, not the other one, that one is still… they’ve been renovating it for years, it’s embarrassing, it is the oldest mosque. The city center was there, there was a public bath, then the carriages were parked there. Whoever had money went to Gërmia, especially Taukbahçe, they went to Taukbahçe to freshen up, and then when children got circumcised, they took them there and made rounds around the city as well. Whereas in the city center, where Hotel Union17 is, when you go that way, on the left. On the right side, there was a huge wall and there was Uzor, that’s what it was called, a store which had everything from needles to t-shirts, earrings and everything, it had everything.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Was Xhamia e Llokaçit [Llokaç Mosque]18 still there or…

Hysni Krasniqi: Which one do you mean?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Llokaç, the one where Božur19 is, it was right there.

Hysni Krasniqi: Božur, no, no, that one was demolished.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Yes they did, and then they built the hotel there, do you remember now?

Hysni Krasniqi: There was a mosque and a church.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: The church was further down.

Hysni Krasniqi: There used to be a church. Good, you know about it well. So, there used to be a huge wall, all the movie posters were hung there. The gypsies were stationed there with their carts with wheels as loader people and waited if anyone needed anything carrying. My late professor, Muslim Mulliqi20 made an artwork with loaders, it was amazing. For that state system, it was like a knife with two blades, and what he meant to express with it was that this nation was allowed [social mobility] only as loaders. I remember it as a student, our Albanians were working with arm saws in Belgrade, cutting wood, unloading coal, and so on.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Where was the technical school, the high school which you said you attended?

Hysni Krasniqi: The Technical School was where it is today.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Yes, yes, did you go to the Technical High School?

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, I attended the Technical High School. Where it is today, now it’s a gymnasium,21 Sami Frashëri, there are two gymnasiums there. Eh, that’s where it was, the old school was there, it was the first one. Do you know what it was? Residence for students of Normale, dormitory.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Ah, where the City’s Archive is today?

Hysni Krasniqi: It was a dormitory, it was there.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What were those high school years like, were there many educated people then, or what was the situation like?

Hysni Krasniqi: Well look, I remember it like it was today, there were both educated and uneducated people.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Yes, but what was it…

Hysni Krasniqi: In general, they were educated.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Was it the beginning of education then?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Was it the beginning of education for the people…

Hysni Krasniqi: No, no, that was even before, it didn’t begin with my generation. But I said, my first teacher was Zeqir Zeka from Albania, it was him. And then a lot of people got educated, but the first agronomist in Kosovo was my cousin, my [paternal] uncle’s son, Shemsi Krasniqi, he was killed during the war, I know this. Then there was Ibush, a very knowledgeable person. Fejzë Krasniqi was a mathematician and a great physicist. Zeqir Krasniqi, who taught French, but he didn’t know French himself, I know that, but he taught it.

After I finished it, actually after I finished high school, I thought that something wasn’t right with me, this isn’t enough. I went there and while practicing to make the working tools as a Technical High School assignment, I even have the drawing here, you’ll see the technical drawing from when I made the tool, when an engineer saw me, I used to draw on wood pieces.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Where did you work?

Hysni Krasniqi: I was at Ramiz Sadiku.22 And someone said to me, “What are you doing here, why don’t you go where you belong?” And I went to the High School of Pedagogy to apply. But, I said, before this, Xhemail Xhema discovered me, he was, he was, I don’t know if he was a professor, he taught art, he also taught the basics of technical education. He was the first to discover me.

Then, as I said, I went to the Technical High School, from there to Ramiz Sadiku as a worker. I was qualified, that’s how it worked then. That engineer told me, “Go, get out of here, you don’t belong here.” I went straight there… when I entered the exam, I passed the exam successfully. I successfully passed the exam because then it was both four years and three years, but you had to take the entrance exam. I was accepted, I started and I graduated from the High School of Pedagogy.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Of art?

Hysni Krasniqi: Of art, yes. Figurative art, yes. The late Muslim Mulliqi taught me painting, Gjelosh Gjokaj23 taught me graphic arts. I chose graphic arts. Then, at that time, it was ‘63, ‘64 because I finished it in ‘65. I finished those, but I started to go to my village. After I finished it in ‘65, in ‘66, I went to teach in my village. Of course, I taught art, but also the basics of technical education. I was content. The professors and students were both content, they learned a lot, I knew many things and to tell you the truth, polytechnics gives you a range that’s useful in life. Oftentimes, I rarely call the handyman, I do things myself, I only don’t work with electricity, because it has no noise, no color, it can kill you just like that (laughs). That’s how it is. After I finished it, I paused for a while.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: For how long did you teach there?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How…

Hysni Krasniqi: Only a year, only a year. Then the government announced that they would make a sports field for the Faculty of Physical Education, “Who wants to participate in the work actions?”24 I said, “I will come for Kosovo, not any other place,” I never went. When I went there, I stayed for a month and they made me play on the offense, they gave us rewards and stuff, but…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Where was it held?

Hysni Krasniqi: In Pristina, in Pristina, the Faculty of Physical Education’s sports field, we worked on it, as brigadiers, we stayed, there was also Vjosa Nimani. Maybe you’ve heard of her; she was a woman, she is a lawyer now, we were there with her and many others. And since then, I noticed that I wasn’t content with myself. I prepared [a portfolio of] my work and went to Belgrade. But staff from Belgrade often taught in Pristina as well, and they noticed who was talented, who could continue, and who couldn’t.

And they told me, “You just have to get the ticket and go.” I took my work because first, you have to prepare your portfolio, no name, no last name, just a code. My code was “Teuta,” Albanian, “Teuta.” They accepted my portfolio, they said “Teuta” could take the exam. I took the exam, I passed it, and it was done.

When I came to Pristina, I said, “Father, I passed the exam,what do I do?” He said, “I don’t know.” Because he didn’t have any income, we went to the Municipality to ask for a scholarship; there was a Xheladin Topxhiu, I will never forget it. I said, “Sir, this and that…” I went with my father, “They accepted me into the Academy of Arts,” I said, “to continue my education.” “You know what?” He said, “We don’t need people for the Academy.” This was the level we were at. I didn’t have anything else to say. When I went, I had two brothers in France at the time. One of my brothers helped me a lot. He helped me a lot.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How did your brothers go to France? Was it common?

Hysni Krasniqi: Back then?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: To move, yes.

Hysni Krasniqi: The only place we couldn’t go to was America. Listen to me, with an ex-Yugoslavia passport, we could go anywhere we wanted, except America.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: I mean migrating, was it common?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Was it common to migrate at that time?

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, of course. Listen, girl, you couldn’t get a job here, only those with ties to the state were hired, you know who they are. Let’s not mention their names, let’s not go there… only them, none of them were unemployed, they were all employed. The most profitable factories, they were all there, they were all there, you can see it, the textile factory, the wood factory, the factory… Electric Motors, all of them. In Pristina, the textile factory, what was it called…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Vartex?

Hysni Krasnqi: No, not Vartex, another… The Textile Factory Predionica in Kosovo, but they took the raw material, cotton, somewhere in Arabia. Among other things, but let’s not go there because I don’t know… so, this is how it worked.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Your brother was in France, he helped you?

Hysni Krasniqi: My brother was in France, he helped me a lot. I went and read in the notice of the Academy of Arts, it said the students could apply for a loan, Republički Krediti it said, Republički Krediti, Republic Loans, I said, why not? I’ll tell you the conditions, it was written, “If you pass all exams in time, you don’t have to pay it back, if you don’t, you have to pay it back.” And I studied day and night to pass all my exams. I would pass them in time, sometimes I couldn’t pass them the first time, but more importantly I finished them all within the year.

Then, I started, I started doing graphic arts. I received the first prize for New Year Greetings at the Academy of Arts, the first student prize for May 4. I started selling my prints and putting money on the side. I also started saving money in the bank. Yes, yes, I learned that as a student, I didn’t smoke, I never drank alcohol, I still don’t. And so, things like this.

1 Pleqnar has the same roots as pleq, elderly, traditionally the mediators in a blood feud reconciliation. In the wider context, they are also the elderly of the village, who held a decision-making position.

2 Agricultural tools made from iron, with large and wide plows, pulled by tractor, horse or ox to plow the land or to open drainage lines.

3 Similar to pllug.

4 The Shkolla Normale opened in Gjakova in 1948 to train the teachers needed for the newly opened schools. With the exception of a brief interlude during the Italian Fascist occupation of Kosovo during the Second World War, these were the first schools in the Albanian language that Kosovo ever had. In 1953, the Shkolla Normale moved to Pristina.

5 Ganimete Tërbeshi (1927-1944) was born in Gjakova, Kosovo. As a fourteen year old, during the Second World War, she joined the Anti-Fascist Movement. She was hanged in 1944 by the Germans in Gjakova.

6 Men’s chamber in traditional Albanian society.

7 Colloquial: used to emphasize the sentence, it expresses strong emotion. More adds emphasis, like bre, similar to the English bro, brother.

8 Qerep is a traditional earthenware, usually unglazed and fired below 1,200 celsius. Qerep was used to bake bread and was placed directly in the fireplace.

9 Saq is a lid on top of which ember is placed. Saq is used for traditional cuisine, such as fli. Fli is a traditional dish consisting of crepe-like layers cooked with cinders under a lid.

10 Similar to moccasins, made out of rubber or bovine leather, mainly used by the villagers.

11 A loom with which were weaved traditional textiles and carpets.

12 Tur.: günlük; in Albanian pronounced xhymlyk, was a daily city tax that the farmers paid for selling their produce in the city.

13 Magjup is a racial slur. The term usually denotes racial inferiority, uneducation and “backwardness” and is used by many cultures in the Balkans against members of the Romani community.

14 Tur.: Kerpiç, qerpiç, is a traditional type of clay tile that has not undergone any firing process, but is left to dry in the sun.

15 Alb.: Xhamia e Çarshisë, the Bazaar Mosque, the Stone Mosque or the Sultan Murat Mosque (1393) is a cultural heritage monument in Pristina, Kosovo.

16 Alb.: Xhamia e Madhe, the King’s Mosque, also known as the Big Mosque or the Mosque of Sultan Mehmet Fatih the Second, is located on Nazim Gafurri Street in Pristina, Kosovo. It was built by order of Sultan Mehmed II in the year 865 AD (1460-61).

17 The former Union Hotel is a cultural heritage monument in Pristina and was built in 1927 under the supervision of Austrian architect Andrija Kremer.

18 Llokaç Mosque was built during the period 1455-1551, and since it was located in a part of the city that was full of mud and dust, the citizens used an expression, “Lokac, tükür de kaç,” which in translation means, “Llokac, spit and flee”.

19Hotel Božur, a landmark in Pristina, was the first hotel in the city. Today, it has been transformed into the Swiss Diamond Hotel on Mother Teresa Boulevard.

20 Muslim Mulliqi (1934-1998) was an impressionist and expressionist painter from Kosovo. Born into a family of artists, Mulliqi attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade under Zoran Petrović’s mentorship, where he also continued with his postgraduate studies.

21 A European type of secondary school with emphasis on academic learning, different from vocational schools because it prepares students for university.

22 Socially-owned construction company, named after a Second World War hero.

23 Gjelosh Gjokaj (1933-2016) was an Albanian painter and graphic artist. He was born in the village of Miles in Tuz, Yugoslavia. After receiving his fine art degree from the Art Academy in Belgrade in 1963 he started teaching in Pristina, Kosovo until 1969.

24 In the Socialist Yugoslavia it was common for the youth to do voluntary work. An organization such as Omladinske Radne Akcije [Youth Work Actions] was one way to contribute to the so-called building of the country, where youth from all over Yugoslavia camped and worked on massive construction projects similar to what the speaker is describing, building of a stadium.

Part Two

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What was Belgrade like for you? Was it a big change?

Hysni Krasniqi: Well, look, Belgrade was a big city, going from a province, if you don’t have a strong character, it absorbs you. But I had a goal, I knew why I was going there, it could be whatever, I adapted fast. I adapted to all the rules of studying, I had to wake up early in the morning, take something [to eat], we’d get pastries, a hot dog with mustard, my drawing notebook under my arm, get on the train, and go. It was called Puškinova, the studio was in the middle of the mountain, I swear. We went there, we worked, until the guard came and said, “Will you leave bre?1 It’s enough.” We sometimes would buy him wafers, or beer, or something so he would let us work longer (laughs). What can you do, bribes work everywhere.

I worked a lot then, I did all the techniques of graphics, woodcarving, linocut, linogravure, copper smelting, aquatint, mezzotint, also stereography and lithography. Lito on stone is the most difficult technique, it is worked on stone, it is drawn, but the stone must be well prepared to draw on. That’s how it was at the Academy of Arts at the time, we had no problems. I myself had a problem once with a student, he was problematic, he started [to cause problems], I said, “Look, I don’t have anything to do with you. You don’t have to talk to me. Go away, go away!” I told my professor, Boško Karanović,2 he was a very good man. He called him [the student], he said, “Don’t you dare even look at him. Are we clear?” I never had a problem again, I never had a problem with anyone, tak {onomatopoeia}.

The professors were nice, seriously. We had a professor who could speak seven foreign languages, he taught art history. When he began to teach us the history of nations because there was the question of which nation is the oldest, “Albanians,” he said, “Albanski narod je najstariji narod” [ Albanians are the oldest nation]. All the students turned to look at me, I was cold blooded, I looked at the topic, I knew. This is how it was, we passed the exams, we learned.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did you go to exhibitions? Did you take advantage of the cultural life there?

Hysni Krasniqi: Well, look, there’s the Contemporary Art Museum, there near Sava. The art is there, there’s everything there. There is the People’s Museum in Belgrade, near Puškinova, I would go there often. Why did I go there often? Because I saw many Illyrian things, they stole the main ones from us. They can’t do anything because they’re not capable. Listen, a tree that was planted in this ground should come [back] here. This nation developed here, this nation was created here. We are ancient people.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What kind of a collection did that museum have?

Hysni Krasniqi: Rings, small sculptures, everything, there was everything, amber, all from our ground, all. I looked at them, there’s nothing else you can do but look. In the museum, listen, in the Contemporary People’s Museum were drawings from Altamira [cave], Picasso, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, all of the most important painters in the world, all original creations. But do you know how much security was there when they arrived? They were surrounded by armed forces until they were inside. I saw everything, even though I saw them in the Louvre, I was in the Louvre in Paris often, I was in London, I saw everything, I saw the originals.

So, I want to say, when it comes to the Balkans, Belgrade was the Mecca of Culture, now Belgrade is the Mecca of chauvinism, I’m very sorry to say that. Why? The culture there, I went to ballet, I went to dance shows, in different concerts, at operas with friends, we didn’t pay for anything, in theaters, we would just show them the indeks3 to let them know we’re students of the Academy, so we saw everything.

There was Bekim Fehmiu,4 Faruk Begolli,5 both very famous Albanian artists in Belgrade. We were proud of them, honest to God. This is what Belgrade was like. We had food, there was the canteen, it was called… Knez Mihajlova, yes. When I finished the Academy, I finished the Academy of Arts in ‘69.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did the protest of ‘68 find you there?

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes. I wrote in Albanian with my own brush in Knez Mihajlova, trak trak trak {onomatopoeia}…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What did you write?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What did you write?

Hysni Krasniqi: We would write…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What was the slogan?

Hysni Krasniqi: “We want freedom,” we said, “Independence” (laughs), it read, there were many people, a mess, honest to God, this is how it was.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How long did it last?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How long did the protests last?

Hysni Krasniqi: They lasted for about a week. I, they left me and some friends in the Secretariat of the Academy to answer the phone {coughs}. We stayed there. They brought us a sandwich so we wouldn’t starve, this is how it was. There was Halil Muhaxheri, Esat Valla, Bashkim Paloja. I have pictures, you can see, I have them all (laughs). This is how it was.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: When you came back in ‘69…

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: When you graduated and came back to Kosovo in ‘69…

Hysni Krasniqi: We came back in ‘69, but when the protests happened in ‘68, do you remember?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: I am much younger (laughs).

Hysni Krasniqi: In ‘68, we knew that there would be demonstrations.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: There were some here as well, yes.

Hysni Krasniqi: Here in ‘68, listen to me, from Belgrade we came here in front of the Theater, Pushkolli talked about… he said, “Freedom, democracy, republic,” we were asking for our flag. It was chaos. In front of Avalla, do you know where Avalla is? My brother was wounded around those buildings, they were all buildings of shkije,6 the ones up there, do you remember? They shot my brother there, “Hysni, your brother was wounded.” We took him, we didn’t have anywhere to go, we didn’t dare to send him anywhere, but we could see it was serious. To this day, he has the bullet in his thigh {shows with his hand}.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Why did you go to the protest? Was it clear to you?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Were your political aims about why you were protesting clear?

Hysni Krasniqi: Of course, we knew. We knew it very well. They would say anything, [that] Russians have organized this, but it wasn’t true, we asked for what we have today. We took our brother to the doctor, an Albanian, they checked him and everything. They said, “It isn’t dangerous, cover it with grease because it’s deep, we can’t cut into it.” They left him like that. This is…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How long did they last here? So, you came…

Hysni Krasniqi: Again, listen. Starting from ‘68, we were never at peace. Can you believe that since ‘88…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: ‘68.

Hysni Krasniqi: Actually, since ‘68, sorry. Since ‘68, neither Pristina, nor Kosovo was at peace, we were always tense. We would have party meetings, look, you had no choice but to be part of a party. If you weren’t in the Communist Party, you couldn’t get a job, or get an apartment, or any other benefit. They kept us there, they talked, they repeated everything, only so they could crush our spirits, they talked until the morning. I got angry in one of the meetings, I said, “Look, can you bring us some beds here? At least we can sleep.” They started laughing, there were people from the Committee, all kinds of people. That’s how it was.

After I finished that, I got employed. It’s a very long story to tell you about when I got hired at the Academy of Arts…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Why not, tell us because it probably also is the beginning of the University…

Hysni Krasniqi: First I worked at the gymnasium, from ‘70, I worked there until ‘74.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: At which gymnasium?

Hysni Krasniqi: Ivo Lola Ibar, Sami Frashëri now. I’m talking about how it was… how it was, that was its name. I worked there for four years. After four years, the department I was working at opened in the Academy of Arts here in Pristina, I applied, I was admitted. First I was admitted as a lecturer, but I wasn’t in the group of those who… Syria Pupovci was a representative in the establishment of the Academy of Arts and they canceled the vacancy. Now they were looking for an assistant once again, so I applied again. They took two people, one from Peja, one from Gjakova (laughs) and they took them to Sarajevo to take the entrance exam. They tested them for the units in lithography, it was as if they would say to a beginner, “Fly the plane,” none of them passed. None of them passed, they returned, they returned to Pristina. They had power, they started working either way, they worked as lecturers, I was an assistant. I wasn’t anyone’s assistant, I just signed things, I graded them, no one’s assistant. I had the salary of an assistant but did the work of a lecturer. It was like this. I have the documents, I can show you… there’s nothing I could do. Look, you have to fight, when you see that the wall is strong, you just look at the wall, and one day, it will fall. This is how it was, honestly.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How long did you work as an assistant?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How long did you work as an assistant?

Hysni Krasniqi: I worked for almost, because every three years you’re supposed to… around seven-eight years. I have all the documents there, you can see them.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Then how did you…

Hysni Krasniqi: Then, Fadil Hysa became a dean. Have you ever heard of him? A very good director.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Yes.

Hysni Krasniqi: He became dean and took my file. He took it, looked at it. He used to be my student, I taught him in Ferizaj. He said, “What happened, Hysni?” I said, “Ask them.” And immediately he announces me as a docent. From there, from an ordinary docent, the titles progressed. You can’t get titles if you don’t have exhibitions, merits, or writing. Now no one writes or has exhibitions, it’s all through connections.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did you have exhibitions at that time?

Hysni Krasni: Excuse me, well…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did you have the chance to have exhibitions, because the Gallery happened in ‘79. Can you tell me what kind of exhibition spaces…

Hysni Krasniqi: In ‘79?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Yes, the Art Gallery in Boro Ramiz7 was opened in ‘79, but before that, what happened?

Hysni Krasniqi: Before Boro Ramiz? We had exhibits, of course.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Where?

Hysni Krasniqi: In other cities…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Were there galleries in other cities?

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, there were. In Ferizaj, in Peja, in Gjakova, there was one in Gjilan, but also here, private galleries. There was a small gallery, I remember where Armata is today, at the Ministry of Culture down the street.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: BVI.8

Hysni Krasniqi: BVI, yes, it has changed now. I opened an independent exhibition there. This was in ‘65, ‘65-’66 if I’m not mistaken. There I had, a writer actually wrote, a very good writer, but I forgot his name, I don’t remember his name. He was the first to write about me, yes. Vehap or I don’t know what his name was.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Vehap Shita?

Hysni Krasniqi: No, no, I know Vehap Shita. He also wrote about me, he translated a catalog of mine, he was a very good translator. His son was a student of mine at the Technical Faculty of Civil Engineering, they also had drawings that weren’t technical but more creative. I taught there for a few years, I realized I couldn’t afford to anymore, the pay wasn’t good.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What did you paint? How did you conceive your work?

Hysni Krasniqi: Where?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: At that time, I am interested to know when you painted, when you did your first print…

Hysni Krasniqi: Look…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What kind of topics did you address?

Hysni Krasniqi: There was the Association of Figurative Artists. We had a secretary who followed the rules by the book. The association, the head of the association was Kadrush Rama, there was Hivzi Muharremi, they invited us to open exhibitions. We took our work there, and they decided the number of works we could show, two, three, five, ten, it depends. That’s how we took them all over the world, we had exhibitions in every country, collectively. Some wanted to work individually, work on their solo shows. I had exhibitions in Paris, in London, three in Paris, one in Niš, in Zagreb, Ljubljana, I had solo shows in many countries. I have my biography here.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Tell me in more detail because biographies are quite… What was cultural life in Kosovo like?

Hysni Krasniqi: Cultural life, look, you could not, for example, enroll in the Academy, in the Association without first having the Academy [degree] and without having works, but there were also cases when they didn’t go to the Academy of Arts, but they were talented, many of them. They were talented, a commission was formed, the commission of experts accepted them and they could enroll. There were many cases like that.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: They were active…

Hysni Krasniqi: Active and talented, they had merits, they could be independent artists. To tell you the truth, at the time of the former Yugoslavia, it was good for artists, it was very good. Why did we have it good? We had a resort in Deçan, we had a resort in Batllava, we had a resort in Paris, we had rooms of our own. Actually, the last time I received the Moša Piada Award, Kadrush and I and Muslim Mulliqi went there. We worked there, we hung around, we had everything, we had the benefits they gave us. So, their negligence, the others took everything from us. It was in Grožnjan, in the Municipality of Buja, do you know where it is? In Istria, Istria on the border with Italy, twelve kilometers away from Italy. We went to Italy to get the material. We only needed our IDs to cross there, there was never any problem.

So, there was a lot of money. Whoever wanted to work there had the opportunity to advance a lot and we worked hard there. When we went to Grožnjan, we took our works, we opened an exhibition, there was a special place only for exhibitions. Honestly we came back from there with a thick pocket, we sold our work and had fun. It was great for artists, they gave studios to some, we knew how it went there, they gave the studios to whoever they were closer with. They didn’t give them to whoever deserved it most, but still, it wasn’t bad. So at that time, culture was at its peak, the Theater worked.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Here, or in Yugoslavia?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Here, or in Yugoslavia in general?

Hysni Krasniqi: Here and all over Yugoslavia. Here and all over Yugoslavia.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What was going on here?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What was going on? Can you give us more details about what was happening, can you describe it?

Hysni Krasniqi: Of course. There were concerts, Okarina Art [Ocarina Art], there were ballet [shows], there was everything when it came to culture, sport. You can see even in sports, we could never achieve what we’re achieving now. Why? The moment they noticed someone was good, they hindered their talent. Now? If you’re capable, you can present yourself anywhere. You see what Majlinda9 is doing. Majlinda Kelmendi is the most powerful ambassador for Kosovo. Kosovo is more recognized because of Majlinda rather than our leaders. Can you see that even those who recognized our country are taking it back?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What was happening at that time?

Hysni Krasniqi: At that time?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Yes.

Hysni Krasniqi: Football, football was important. Karate wasn’t that important. There was football, basketball, and handball. These were at their peak, but also boxing. Boxing was, there was a trainer called Lah Nimani, he was amazing. I don’t think there will ever be a better trainer in Kosovo. We won wherever we went, he knew how to train. When he saw boxers were losing, he called them to come and rest, on the chair, he would do something to their ear, he would bite their ear xik {onomatopoeia} and make them crazy. Then they(laughs) would win, this is what Lah did.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Do you remember the sports in the city…

Hysni Krasniqi: There were, there were foot races. There was Hashim Kolovica, sadly, if he was Italian or something, he would have achieved a lot. He was the best runner to ever exist, he was amazing, he was born that way.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did he win any awards?

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, he did. Now look, he was poor. If he lived elsewhere, who knows what he would have done. Hashim Kolovica, he was from Kolovica. He was of the Krasniqi [fis]10 as well. There were bicycle races. I was a cyclist myself, I raced, sports kept me like this still. I raced around Kosovo and a part of Serbia. We went to Kragujevac, Niš, we came to Pristina, then through Prizren, actually in Peja, in Prizren up the mountains there and we came back to Pristina by bicycle.

1 Colloquial: used to emphasize the sentence, it expresses strong emotion. Bre adds emphasis, like more, similar to the English bro, brother.

2 Boško Karanović (1924 – 2009) was one of the founders of modern graphics in Yugoslavia in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

3 ​​Indeks were personal booklets issued to students under the old university system. It was used both as a student ID and grade register.

4 Bekim Fehmiu (1936 – 2010) was an Albanian theater and film actor. He was the first Eastern European actor to star in Hollywood during the Cold War.

5 Faruk Begolli (1944-2007), was a prominent Kosovo Albanian actor. He graduated from the Academy of Film in Belgrade (1966), and played in more than sixty films and theater productions.

6 Shka (m.); shkinë (f.), plural shkijet, is a derogatory term in Albanian used for Serbs.

7 The Palace of Youth and Sports is a multipurpose building located in Pristina, Kosovo. The complex was completed in 1977. It was originally named Boro and Ramiz after two Yugoslav Partisans and Heroes of the People of Yugoslavia, Boro Vukmirovic and Ramiz Sadiku to symbolize the brotherhood and unity between Serbs and Albanians.

8 BVI for Culture was the Bureau of Self-Governing Interests that dealt with the cultural sector in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo during the Yugoslav times. Today, the Bureau would have been equivalent to the Ministry of Culture.

9 Majlinda Kelmendi (1991) is a Kosovar-Albanian former judoka and judo coach. In 2016, she became the first Kosovar athlete to win a medal at the Olympic Games when she claimed gold in the women’s −52 kg category at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

10 Fis is the Albanian exogamous kinship group that, like the Latin gens, includes individuals who share an ancestor. Fis can be defined as a patrilineal descent group and an exogamous unit whose members used to own some property in common. Membership in a fis is based on a common mythical male ancestor.

Part Three

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How were the departments constituted?

Hysni Krasniqi: The main base, the main man of figurative arts, the one who formed art was Muslim Mulliqi. Muslim Mulliqi was a wonderful painter. He was the first, then there was Gjelosh Gjokaj second. Gjelosh Gjokaj was also a painter and a print artist. Gjelosh was a very good person, very democratic, and very close to the students, very close to the students, but he didn’t know the language because he was from Montenegro, from Vuthaj. He had lived somewhere in Vojvodina, he lived there, because his brother was a pilot or something. But I can say that it was very (intense), only sleep separated us, he was my professor as well. I learned a lot from him. I am very thankful to that man, very, very thankful, honest to God, I wish his bones don’t rot. He was a very good man. He was able to hang out with the students, to study, to work, to talk about everything, Gjelosh Gjokaj. Muslim was a little more stiff (laughs). Muslim was more stiff. He worked in his studio, when he came, he checked on the students, he said “Have a good day!” It was done similar to the Academy of Belgrade.

This is how it was in Belgrade. There were cases when we didn’t see our professors for weeks and then they came and checked our work, gave us feedback, “This is good, this is bad, fix this.” Boško Karanović was my professor in Belgrade and Milo Milunović, he was more strict. Boško Karanović was a very good pedagogue, very professional and a very good person. He was from Bosanska Krupa in Bosnia. Like this…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: In Belgrade, you also did prints all the time, did you decide there?

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes. I only did graphics and paintings. I studied painting in Mladen Srbinović’s class. He had a Macedonian origin, but he lived in Belgrade. So, in general, we organized with other students when we came to the Academy of Arts. We organized joint exhibitions with students to elevate students.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Where did you open them? In what spaces?

Hysni Krasniqi: In classrooms, in corridors, in theater, mostly in theaters, in the foyer of the theater, the theater’s foyer, that was our gallery. I remember once in ‘77, we used to give out the awards with these joint commissions, so they once said, “Let’s take a commission from abroad.” “Okay!” They took people from Ljubljana, from Zagreb, from Belgrade, we took Zoran Kržnik, the most popular critic in the Balkans and I started that cycle Grunaja [Grainfield] and I put them out there. Some Albanians got in there, three things will destroy Albanian people: nepotism, localism, and jealousy. Zoran Kržnik said, “This one will get the award,” for my prints. He didn’t know who I was, he had never seen me, he just saw my work. Now, what did they do, “No,” they said, “He got the award last year.” “What?” He said in Serbian, do you speak Serbian? “Svake godine ima da dobije ako je dobar.” “He will get it every year if he is good.” And they didn’t dare say anything anymore. He was a good critic. This is how it was.

In Slovenia, I opened an exhibition with 80 small prints. I bought a Renault 4 from Slovenia, brand new, I just got the key in, with 80 graphics. So, Slovenians and Germans appreciate the work of an artist, here they don’t. They don’t know… they don’t know what art is.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did the salons exist back then?

Hysni Krasniqi: What kind of salons do you mean?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Spring, autumn…

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, there was the spring salon, autumn salon, before there was even a drawing salon, there were prizes there, and so on. We made catalogs, posters, the invitations and everything {coughs}. Wherever we had exhibitions, we also had invitations from abroad, we had catalogs, everything, we had everything. There was an order. Now there isn’t any order, now they try to…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Let’s not go there because we all get sad.

Hysni Krasniqi: You can continue.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: I mean you worked in the Academy, what did you call it then, Faculty of Arts…

Hysni Krasniqi: Listen, it was called Academy until late…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: In the meantime, you were creating new generations of artists. Did the cultural life become more dynamic after this art scene…

Hysni Krasniqi: It is true.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How was life happening at that time when you already had the university in Kosovo, there weren’t just people coming from Belgrade, Zagreb…

Hysni Krasniqi: It’s true, it’s true.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Was something happening locally? What was the situation like then?

Hysni Krasniqi: Back then, we had the Association… we didn’t have an Association of Figurative Artists, but the Association of Figurative Artists was Serbian, it was in Belgrade. We separated, me, Engjëll [Berisha], what was his name, Anton…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Gllasniqi?

Hysni Krasniqi: Anton Gllasniqi, bravo, Anton Gllasniqi, yes. Anton Gllasniqi and I were in that meeting and we separated from the rest of them. We said, “We are autonomous, we want our own association, we want to have our own gallery, we want everything.” Since then everything started to go well for us. We got a gallery, the association, ahead of the association, everything. The Gallery in Boro Ramiz, in the Youth Palace, because we still call it (laughs) Boro Ramiz. The Gallery was founded in the Youth Palace, then from there, people were complaining, it was sort of a trade center, they took that and they opened the Gallery where it is today.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: That happens in ‘95.

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, ‘95. I don’t know the dates, I just know how it went.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: I mean there was a period of time when we didn’t have access to the Gallery.

Hysni Krasniqi: No, we didn’t.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What happens before that? You were part of the…

Hysni Krasniqi: Of what?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Of the first exhibition when the Gallery opened. Do you remember how they approached you, how they took your work…

Hysni Krasniqi: Look, at first, when the Gallery opened, it was massive, it was great. All artists came there and were part of the opening, everyone, journalists, they came to record, talk. All of them came, all art critics that we had. So, since then there was some kind of order, when you wanted to open an exhibition, you first had to present it, the commission had to see your work, the commission came to your studio, saw your work and so on. They said, “You can come on this date.” The date would be appointed by the artist or the Gallery, sometimes the schedule would be full and you couldn’t grant everyone’s wishes. This is how it was.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: And…

Hysni Krasniqi: Every artist, sorry, every artist that had an exhibition had benefits. From 50 to one hundred euros, marka,1 dinar.2 They were paid, at least it [Gallery] paid for the materials you used, color, paper, oils. At least it paid for the material, because no one can pay for an artist’s time, an artist can work for weeks and months on a print until they finish it. So, it’s doable, paintings, prints, sculptures, everything, yes.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did the associations organize…

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, the associations organized those. .

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Here and abroad.

Hysni Krasniqi: The association, yes, here and abroad. We had some in Germany, Metalip Qosaj was like a representative at the Embassy of Kosovo. He told us how many artistic works there should be, and how many artists. We prepared them, we didn’t have to go, we used to send our work, and they sent them back, those who sold the works would get the money, yes. They opened the account, bank account, we got it [the money] there. I said, the association was very well coordinated.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Was it connected to other associations in Yugoslavia?

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, yes, there were also international ones. Then at some point, we started connecting to the association in Albania, I have the documents there.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Were you part of the exchanges with Albania in the ‘70s?

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, I was in Albania for the first time in ‘73 as a gymnasium teacher, because I started working at the gymnasium in ‘70, I was in military service before that, the moment I came back, I was accepted to the gymnasium. They welcomed us greatly in Albania when we went there.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Why [were you invited as] a gymnasium teacher? What kind of collaboration was it?

Hysni Krasniqi: There was collaboration back then. Collaborations with galleries, in general with culture and education began. They started sending teachers and professors here, in the Academy, to the University of Pristina, in the Philosophy Department, Albanian Language and all of them. I went, a group of professors went to Albania. They welcomed us, we stayed and had a good time. We went to see the factories, we went to their university to see what kind of university they had, and their high schools. There was a lot of work.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Do you remember what Albania looked like then?

Hysni Krasniqi: Then (laughs) it’s not good to say it. In the beginning, I had a brother, we all loved Albania, but there should be a limit. When I watched an action movie once, I was 15 or 16 years old, those red handkerchieves, working in the field and in the railroad. I saw women breaking up soil clods in the fields.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What were they breaking up?

Hysni Krasniqi: I saw them breaking up soil clods. Do you know what those are? In the fields, those clods. We don’t send women to work on the field here. Men there would just stay in cafés (in Albania), while women worked.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: The city, what did the city look like then?

Hysni Krasniqi: The city was clean. We lived in Hotel Dajti,3 in front of Hotel Dajt, there was Stalin, Stalin’s statue, but further on, there was Skanderbeg’s4 statue. It was very clean, there were many small huts around Tirana. So, Tirana had wide, clean streets. You wouldn’t see a car anywhere there.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did anyone accompany you?

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, of course. They accompanied us. Bicycles, old buses that took us to different factories. People were all dressed in blue. You didn’t see something like this, rarely we went out in the evening and saw these. But, we… I noticed how they looked at us. We were dressed well, I felt bad to be honest. But what can you do, that’s how Albania was, someone who went there earlier, someone who goes there now, now it’s like Paris, do you believe it? That’s how much Albania has advanced, Tirana, Shkodra and all of them have advanced, Durrës. You can’t, you can’t make sense out of how much Durrës has developed as a city, it’s unbelievable.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How long did you stay there?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How long did you stay there?

Hysni Krasniqi: What?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How long did you stay there in the ‘70s?

Hysni Krasniqi: In the ‘70s, listen, in 2007 we bought an apartment. Where we bought there were no other buildings, there were just pine trees. Do you know what pine trees are? It was all pine trees, they said that no one could pluck even a leaf there from the regime. You can’t see pine trees anywhere now, it’s all buildings. This is how Albania is.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How long did you stay for back then?

Hysni Krasniqi: Back then we stayed for a week or two, a week I think. We stayed for a week and we came back. But they really welcomed us, they took us to the factory where they made spoons and umbrellas and so on, that’s what they had. They made spoons with… what can you do, those were their capabilities. The good thing about Enver [Hoxha]5 is that he never owed money to anyone, you know that? He had enemies around him, Greece, Italy, Serbia. They say, “Why all those bunkers?” He didn’t have a choice but to build them, to protect his country.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Was Albania the way you expected it to be?

Hysni Krasniqi: What?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Was it, did Albania look the way you expected it to? Was it worse or better?

Hysni Krasniqi: No (laughs), we didn’t expect it to be like that to tell you the truth. One of my brothers asked me, “What was Albania like?” “Do you want me to tell you the truth, or to lie to you?” “No,” he said, “tell me the truth.” I told him and he said, “You are a Belgrade spy.” (laughs). I said, “You are wrong,” I said, “you will be able to, because you’re young,” I said, “you will go and see for yourself.” He went and came back, “What was it like?” “Come on, brother.” (laughs) And I said, “What did I tell you, I asked you if you wanted the truth.” “No,” he said, “tell me the truth.” And I told him (laughs). That is how Albania was. To tell you the truth, Albania has all the resources to develop, to become better than Switzerland. Why? It has the sea, it has a very long shore, they have such a clean sea, it has mountains, ore, it has the roads. It has developed a lot. But people need to become more civilized, they need to become civilized like here.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: (laughs) Let’s go back to…

Hysni Krasniqi: Do you see? Like this… in the association the artist was always privileged at that time, I mean before the war. Now they’re not privileged at all.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Can you tell me about these privileges you had before ‘89? What was that life for artists like?

Hysni Krasniqi: Well, artists had the right to open exhibitions in the Gallery, to have a catalog prepared, an invitation, a poster, and then the Municipality bought one or two works. The Gallery kept in their collection one or two, the Ministry of Culture as well. So, this was a privilege. It was also a privilege that we went to associations for free. We had food, drinks, accommodation and material to work with, whether drawing, painting, sculpting, anything, these were the privileges. You could go wherever you wanted, you had the Yugoslav passport, except America, you could go to any country.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did you used to go anywhere? Did you travel…

Hysni Krasniqi: I went, I only went to France, I went to France…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Because of your brothers, or what?

Hysni Krasniqi: Because of my brothers too, I wanted to see them, but also because of the material. Because I didn’t print works on paper like some other people do. What’s that about, on a 20-cent paper. I made them on woodlock, and it is expensive. I buy La Grange, or Fabriano colors. So when I print, it’s proper art, not nonsense. This is how it is, because the moment it is in the sun, it takes on another color.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Can we go back to that, when the first exhibition happened, I’m interested to know about that.

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: You have some works exposed there. How did it come…

Hysni Krasniqi: In the Gallery?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: No, the first exhibition that was opened in Boro Ramiz.

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, yes…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Some of your works are also exposed. Do you remember how they communicated with you? How did they let you know it was being opened?

Hysni Krasniqi: The news, it happened like this, for example, you wanted to open an exhibition in the Gallery of Arts in Pristina, when it was in the Youth Palace.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: You don’t understand. When the Gallery first opened…

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: When the first exhibition ever was opened, and there were no solo exhibitions, but there was a collective exhibition and they invited you because your works were there.

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Do you remember what was it like? Can you tell us about the first announcement that the Gallery was opening?

Hysni Krasniqi: The first announcement, before the gallery opened?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Yes.

Hysni Krasniqi: Before the Gallery opened, first, they either announce a competition or they call you on the phone, they tell you how many works to bring and you tell them the date when the work was done, a year or two, it can’t be older, and you apply with that, submit it there. The commission gets it, another commission evaluates it and the exhibit opens, they put them…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Do you remember the first exhibit in the Gallery?

Hysni Krasniqi: Of course, as if it was today.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How many works did you have there?

Hysni Krasniqi: Look…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: One, two?

Hysni Krasniqi: No, in the collective one? Or individually?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Do you remember the day when the Gallery opened?

Hysni Krasniqi: Two, three, I don’t remember the day exactly, but I know how it happened. There came…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: It was opened with an exhibit.

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, with an exhibit. They sent us the invitations, or the press notified us, now there are many newspapers, back then it was Rilindja,6 and nothing else. They announced it there. We knew when it opened, what time and we all went. The director of the Gallery first opens…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Do you remember Pajazit Nushi’s speech when the Gallery opened?

Hysni Krasniqi: I don’t remember. Pajazit Nushi was a very good professor, a wonderful lecturer, a very good lecturer, there was no better person than him, at all, because I worked with him in the gymnasium. He taught in the gymnasium, Pajazit Nushi. I don’t remember, to tell you the truth,because it’s a long time ago, and I was traumatized during the war.

I mean, when that exhibition opened for the first time it was very festive, with pieces of flute music, recitations, everything. Yes, yes, they were organized {cough}, we organized them. Now, they rarely practice it, because back then there was always a flute, piano, someone would recite, no exhibit opened [without them]. Now exhibits are opening without any of it, but the simpler, the better. Look, they’re not doing a concert there, but they are presenting works of art, let the work speak, not you. I was in Paris, at the opening of a very famous painter, Francis Bacon. Have you heard of him? When he opened the exhibit, I saw a ten meter long table with a white tablecloth, some drinks. No one spoke a word, they just looked at the work. I have the prospectus, his catalog, which he signed for me with his own hand. He gave me the catalog, because someone told him where I am from and that I would appreciate it, so he signed it for me. Only here it gets boring, they lecture. Why are they lecturing? The work is there, the work speaks for itself, not… people get bored, standing and I have often noticed them going out, they leave the exhibition, they leave. Did you notice?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Yes.

Hysni Krasniqi: There’s nothing to say, people came to see the exhibit. Everyone sees the exhibition through their own eyes. That’s what an exhibition is. But here they want to promote themselves or what do I know.

1 Albanian: Marka; German: Deutsche Mark was the basic monetary unit of West Germany from 1948 to 1990 and of reunited Germany from 1990 to 2001. It was used as a stable, non-official currency in various Yugoslav republics as a result of hyper-inflation of the dinar.

2 Dinar was the Yugoslav currency. Now it is the basic monetary unit of Serbia.

3 Hotel Dajti was a hotel in the center of Tirana, Albania. It bore the name of nearby Dajti Mountain, was the main center for international visitors and diplomats during the socialist period of Albania, was purchased by the Bank of Albania and currently does not function as a hotel.

4 Gjergj Kastriot – Skanderbeg (1405-1468) was an Albanian nobleman and leader. Taken hostage as a boy by the Ottomans, he served the Empire until 1443 when he became the Chief of the League of Albanian People in the League of Lezhë. He led a resistance to the Ottoman Empire for the next 25 years until his death, and is considered a model of Christian resistance against Ottoman Islam throughout Europe. He is the greatest Albanian national hero.

5 Enver Hoxha (1908-1985) was the leader of the Albanian Communist Party who ruled Albania as a dictator until his death.

6 Rilindja, the first newspaper in the Albanian language in Yugoslavia, initially printed in 1945 as a weekly newspaper.

Part Four

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Do you remember ‘89 or ‘90, when you were fired?

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, I remember very well.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Can you tell us how it happened?

Hysni Krasniqi: I was fired on the date 13, 1989, something like that, I have written down. When they fired me, I didn’t want to leave, “Why should I leave, you didn’t hire me,” I said, “You didn’t hire me, we know who hired me, not you.” Kradrush Rama and I stayed there and they brought a cleaning lady. She cleaned the rooms of professors, students, and she said, “Professor, sign here,” I said, “Sign what?” And I said in Serbian, “Idi uzmi metlu i čisti.” Take the broom and clean, get out of there. And she left. I went to the professor’s classroom and a postman came, he was Albanian, “Professor?” “Yes?” He said, “You have to sign.” I said, “Sign what?” I said, “Go deliver mail, this doesn’t concern you sir. I will not sign it.”

Now another one comes, he used to be my student, sculptor Zoran Karalejić.1 I called him Kërle, meaning “stump.” He said, “Profesore, treba da potpišete” [Srb.: Professor, you have to sign]. I said, “I will never sign it. Is it clear? Firstly, I don’t understand what it is.” “You don’t understand?” “Yes.” They take our former secretary, Ballata. They wrote it in Albanian, they translated it to Albanian. I said, “Ballata, look at the state you’re in. You’re selling yourself for five marka. I will not sign it!” I said, “Do you not know me at all?” I will not sign it.” I went home, then came back there with Kadrush, the police came, five or six men with guns and they tooks us out by force. We left. What could we do? I didn’t sign it. They brought it to my apartment to sign, I still have it, without a signature. This is how it was, I swear.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What was the beginning of the Faculty of Arts like, if you can tell us…

Hysni Krasniqi: So the Faculty was organized, we had the rector Ejup Statovci, the only one in the university, our faculty, the only one in the university that worked with the Republic of Kosovo, with the rule of the Republic of Kosovo. Enver Statovci, I mean…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Ejup.

Hysni Krasniqi: Ejup Statovci, Ejup Statovci said that we have to find a solution. We made a solution, each one of us worked in our own studios. I had my studio in my apartment, in a corner. I worked there, we took our students there. With my own supplies, my own paper, colors, oil, my own heating, my own lighting, no one gave me any money, I didn’t even ask. I worked there for four years. I have three certificates of achievement, the secretary didn’t give one to me, he was arrogant, but it’s no problem. When the students used to come, first when they came, I told them, “Don’t come too many at once, not in groups like that, but come one by one and don’t tell people where you’re going. We’re going to my brother’s, two or three people. That is how they came.

There was a huge hallway there, so I made a big desk. So those who came early wouldn’t be cold, it was warm, they all sat there. When they all got together, I opened the door, they came in and worked like they were in the Academy. They worked there, I gave them everything, materials, I had textbooks, I feel bad saying this but the students also took some of my books (laughs). They didn’t take anything else, they liked books. Anyway, we worked there all the time. I worked twice a day, in the morning and evening. Why? Because there were too many groups, they didn’t fit. I had to divide them. Actually Ibrahim Kadriu, journalist, writer, he came and wrote a very nice article, I have it all there. This is how it was.

Sometimes I had problems, there were all kinds of students. There was a student from Gjilan, I forgot his name. I went to, I left my students working, I went in and my wife said she’d make a coffee for me, “I’m working, no coffee.” And then I heard a noise, “Hysni, I’ve never heard such noise,” said my wife. I went there immediately, and I saw a student had put a girl in a headlock like this {puts his arm around his throat}, he wanted to choke her. Fuad, his name was Fuad Islami, I remember now. “Fuad?” He immediately stopped it, the girl’s name was Teuta. I said, “Why are you doing this, Teuta?” She said, “Eh, Professor.” I left it. When we finished, I told Teuta and two other students to stay, “Tell me what happened?” She said, “Well, Professor, I slapped him. “I said, “Why did you…” who knows what happened, “But you shouldn’t have slapped him,” then he had her in a headlock. This was the only problem I had, I never had problems with them again.

Then I said, “Look, I have the right to never let you in my lecture again.” They started crying and said, “Professor, it won’t happen again.” I said, “Be careful how you behave,” I said, “Can you see the issues we have? We are in danger from our enemies, how do I know what your issue is? My family is here.” This is how it was. I worked there for four years. I have all the work, all of them. I will open an exhibition one day and if the Academy of Arts establishes a print studio, I will give them back, if not, I will take them to the museum. I won’t leave those to them, they sell them, give them to people and so on.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Why four years, when the crisis lasted for nine years?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Why only four years?

Hysni Krasniqi: This is why, you’re right. We went to Pejton, do you know where it is? There was a space for music there, we used it for lectures. We held most of the lectures there, then slowly we came to where the army used to be, UÇK.2 We worked there for a long time. Then they got us out of there, then we came back to our jobs, because we were liberated.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How did the war come about? How did your family experience it?

Hysni Krasniqi: Very badly, our family experienced very badly. Why? First, my brother and cousins were executed in the street of Kolovica. There were five people, four of them were executed, one probably was a young man, and he jumped the fence and ran. This is how it was and it was very hard for us.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: You were at home in Pristina or…

Hysni Krasniqi: We were in our apartment. We couldn’t dare to go anywhere. No, not then, because we left Pristina in April, if I’m not mistaken. They beat me and one of my friends on March 16, in front of the District Court, there was a tank there, there were soldiers and undercover cops. There they frisked us to see what we have, “What would I have?” I said. I had around a hundred, 50 dinar, my friend had 120 marka. They took it from him, they said, “You have no right to have marka.” But everyone had marka then.

They took it from him, he said, “Give it back! Why are you taking my money?” He had it in his pocket, he was a great designer, his name is Osman Cakiqi, he also had the KLA emblems in his pocket which he made. He had his own private printing house. Thank God they didn’t search us. He told me, “Take this,” so they saw my university card, that I’m a professor at the Faculty of Arts.. He said “Are you a professor?” I said, “Yes, I am. Why?” I taught in both languages, Albanian and Serbian. “Ah, let’s see. You” he said “You are against the state.” I said, “No, you are wrong.”

They beat him up, broke his teeth and two of his ribs. They beat me up until they got tired. They wanted to break my arm {touches his left arm}, I still have the scars here, you can see in the pictures. They broke it, they wanted to break my leg, I have pictures, I took the pictures after twelve days, because we couldn’t go outside, we were inside. Then I barely got to my apartment. Two of my neighbors saw me at the entrance of the building, I couldn’t walk, they grabbed me by my arm and took me to my apartment.

There I noticed that I was in a bad condition. My whole body was black, blue and red. They took some salt and onions and covered my wounds, I don’t know how long I stayed like that. The ones who took me [to my apartment] were named Mybera and Magribe, Magribe, if I’m not mistaken. Her husband wasn’t there at all, he was in Germany. They took and covered me with onions. I told my wife after a few days, “It smells. I can’t take it anymore.” I removed them and I cleaned up. We stayed for a few days like that. After two, three, or four days some Dragan came, he was head of the police.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: A neighbor or…

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Was he your neighbor?

Hysni Krasniqi: He was my neighbor. He said, “I don’t want to see anyone here after six in the morning.” All the people from the building gathered and we left {coughs}. We went to the train station, you know, the small one in Pristina. We got on the train, my wife held me on one side, my son on the other, only one of my sons was here, two of them were in London. I didn’t see one of them for six years.

Then we went, we got into the train, there were many people with disabilities, on wheelchairs on the train. When we got in the train, they came, the controllers, what do I know, searching the train. “What do you have here?” I said, “What would I have?” They searched me, I had a hundred dinars, they took 50 from me, they left 50, that was it. When we got off the train, there were mines on both sides of the train, so we had to walk on the railroad. When I got out there, we went to Bllace.3 In Bllace, it was all muddy, raining, and the river flowed there. What could we do? I told my son, “You are in better condition than me, find some long sticks. My brother and I took them and made them into a kennel. We closed it with plastic to protect us from the rain.

We got in there, I saw my [maternal] uncles, they’re from Gllavnik, they were there. “What’s wrong, Hysni?” I told them. They took me to a team of French doctors. They checked me from head to toe and gave me some pills. We stayed there for one day and one night. That day Fatmir Sejdiu4 came. When he saw me, he said, “You too, Hysni?” I said, “Yes. Along with you.” “Don’t worry,” he said, “It will be okay.”

After a while, a commission from Geneva came, they saw what kind of life we had there. Buses came from Skopje and they got us in there like animals, the windows were closed, the temperature was probably up to 30, 40 degrees. The children used to throw up, so I told the driver, “Open the windows.” He said, “No, no, I can’t open the windows.” They took us to a place called Mojane, it was called Kodrat e Gjarpinjëve [The Snakes’ Hills]. The former English KFOR5 was there with their tent. We went down there. Some wide but short tents. They gave us chocolates, biscuits and milk and water, nothing else and canned bread. The people started to get constipated.

And they see it, what do I know, the European Union. A team from Turkey came, he was called Demir Eli, the leader of the Turks, Demir Eli, came down to our camp by helicopter. He went down there, he saw what the situation was like. After two days, they made a kitchen. We had breakfast, soup and meat and everything, as well as lunch and dinner. Then, {cough} sorry, then it was done, it was very well done, but we didn’t have a place to shower.

What could I do? I went to the city. My wife told me, “Where are you going? They will imprison you.” “Let them do it.” I got dressed, I shaved, I went to an Albanian neighbor there, “Can I take a shower?” “Yes, of course.” I cleaned up, went to the city, Arbën Xhaferi,6 we were friends while studying in Belgrade. I went to his residence. When I went there, I went to Skopje there, I went inside. The guard said, “What are you looking for?” I said, “I want to talk to Arbën Xhaferi.” “Look,” he said, “Arbër went somewhere to the Arab States. What do you need him for?” I said, this is what’s happening, “Oh, okay!” He said, “How many people are you?” It was me, my wife and my son, my brother was with his wife and his daughter-in-law, without children, six people. “Hysni,” he said. “I could find you a place in the city, but just you.” I said, “No, no, I’m with my brother. It does not make sense.” “Okay.”

They took us to a village called Sfillare. We stayed there for about a month. The house owner welcomed us, but he was poor. He said, “Look, I have flour.” I said, “Don’t worry. You know what we need? Water and shelter. Nothing else.” He gave us a room, and we all slept there. We stayed there for a month. After a month, we got the papers from London and… I’m a little emotional (cries).

We got the suitcases ready with clothes, we didn’t have much. We had a lot that the Red Cross gave us, but we didn’t take them. We left them to the house owner, we didn’t take anything. We got our suitcases and got on a bus. The bus took us to the airport, and at the airport they asked, “Is someone sick?” My wife told me, “Don’t say you’re sick, they might not let us leave.” I said, “We’re all good.”

We got on the bus and went to Lic. We went to Lic and they welcomed us so well, the only thing missing was a red carpet for us. When we got into a huge hall, elderly women, 70-80 years old were serving us, I felt bad. They brought us soup, bread, cigarettes, stuff, they gave me a pack of cigarettes. I said, “I don’t smoke.” They were surprised. “You don’t?” Everybody smoked. I said, “I never did.” We waited there until they found us rooms to sleep in. The moment we got in, there was a bag with women’s clothes there. She said, “This is your room.” My wife said, “This is occupied.” “No, no,” she said, “It’s not occupied, this bag is for you.” Then we stayed there, and within two days our children came, yes. (cries)

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Your eldest went to Greece.

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, to Greece.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did he ever receive a letter to go to the military service, or what?

Hysni Krasniqi: No, there was no letter, he finished it [the military service]. But look, I’ll tell you, he finished the Special Unit against the planes, they asked him to be a soldier, but he did not go. I said, “Son, you can’t go as a soldier.” He finished military service in Ljubljana. My Serbian neighbor said, “How could you send your child to Ljubljana?” I said, “I didn’t send him, the state did.” I found a connection there, Xhelal Qehaja, he was an acquaintance and he [my son] went there and finished it. And I told him, “Son, you have to leave.” He went to Greece, went to Greece, back then it was easy. From Greece he went to France, he stayed with my brother for a long time.

They both spoke English fluently. He stayed there for a few days and he took him to the English Channel. He got in there, he took a bag, he got to the other side. When he came out, he said, “I want political asylum.” He was granted asylum and started his life. He knew English, he didn’t want to take the aid they gave, he said, “I want a job, I speak English.” He found a job as a translator for those who came as refugees, what do I know? He still does that job to this day. Now he works from home, he fosters children. He has four children there. He has a house, he bought a house of his own, he has six rooms, yes. That’s right.

My second son went to Germany, we had a good friend in Germany, a very good friend. He got on the bus here, we found a travel agency that took him to Germany easily. He went there. He was a very close friend of ours, our children always hung out together, he took him to the English Channel from Germany. He knew English really well, he still does. An English newspaper hired him…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Which year was this?

Hysni Krasniqi: Well, I swear, before…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Before the war?

Hysni Krasniqi: Before war, way before war.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Not the war of Kosovo, I mean before the war in Croatia or Bosnia…

Hysni Krasniqi: No, Bosnia, before Bosnia, I knew that war would also happen here, he took a small bag, he was very young. You know how old he was? He was 16 years old, not 17 yet. I felt very bad when he had to leave. I took him to the bus station and all his classmates came to tell him goodbye. He got in, then my friend took him on the train to the English Channel. No one asked anything from him, just the ticket because he could speak English. He gave them the ticket but at the border he had to show the passport. They said, “The passport is fake.” “It is true.” “Why?” He said, “I’ve fled from war.”

His brother was there, the older one who went there earlier. He said, “We ask,” actually, he hired a lawyer, a political asylum. And he went to England. He didn’t want aid either, he also started working immediately. He found a job at a cafe. To this day, he still is a manager, manager of a really important cafe. It’s a big cafe, he is responsible for everything, the supply, wages, everything. They work, they’re both good, they’re both married, my three sons are married, they have children. This is how it is, they’re good, they’re very good. They help us a lot.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: So, during the war, you met with your youngest and oldest son.

Hysni Krasniqi: During the war, true. During the war, we met in Lic.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Yes.

Hysni Krasniqi: From Lic, we wanted, they said, “You have to get a house and stay there.” I said, “I want to stay with my children.” The children came to visit us, but it was many kilometers away, they didn’t eat there. They said, “Look, from today, you have one more room, and the children can sleep and eat here. They will stay with their parents.” We didn’t want to be a burden, so I said, “We want to go with our children to London.” We took a bus, and they took us to London to their apartment. We stayed there, I stayed for a month, but I couldn’t stay longer. My wife and son stayed, then it started…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: To normalize…

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, to normalize. Students asked me to go back, I don’t know how they got the address.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: When did you come back?

Hysni Krasniqi: I came back in ‘99, actually in ‘99, end of September. As soon as I returned, I asked the education community there [in England]. I said that I wanted to go back, they said “Where do you want to go? The war isn’t over yet, you have nowhere to sleep, you have nothing to eat, you have nothing to drink, there are mines.” They said, “We have held you for a year. You can apply for five years and continue to stay here. We will give you a house. I said, “Thank you very much, you have given us enough shelter.” They allowed me. They said, “The first plane that goes to Kosovo, pack your suitcase.” And that’s how it happened.

When I came here, they said, “Your building was demolished.” What do I know?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: In what conditions did you find your house?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: In what conditions did you find your house?

Hysni Krasniqi: The apartment was in perfect condition, meaning it wasn’t destroyed, but when I went inside, you can see it in the pictures. They stole everything: televisions, radios, gramophones, cameras, prints, work tools. I had all my working tools stolen. You can even see the shots in the picture, they stole everything. They took my clothes. But they didn’t steal them bre, the Serbs didn’t steal tea cups, nor did they take the coffee cups. They had broken into the apartment four times. They broke into my apartment four times.

I came back, I went inside, what do I see? Ruined. I was scared to go inside, to be honest. I called KFOR and they checked it, they even went to check in the toilet. “Don’t be afraid, there is nothing here, feel free to work, put things in their places,” but I didn’t know where to start first, clothes, or put the studio in order? Slowly. They [the English] gave me 720 marka.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Pounds…

Hysni Krasniqi: Pounds. No, no, marka, not pounds. They said, “Why pounds? You use marka there.” And a pack of food for the road. When I came here, I started to make a living. First I fixed everything. After a while, a month or so, my wife and son came.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How did you get the news about your brother?

Hysni Krasniqi: We got the news, my neighbors…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Yes, while you were here…

Hysni Krasniqi: They were here, but they were originally from Macedonia, they said, “Your brother was killed.” My sister was running away from them at Sharra, do you know where Sharra is? While she was running away, she had a heart attack and they buried her there, there was a pool, you might know. Do you know where the pool used to be? There. When we came back from London, we came and got him out of the grave, two of my sister’s sons and a cousin, it was the four of us, we took and buried him in Mramor, because her sons were in Mramor. This is how it was. They used to call us and say he is in Tetova, we looked on the computer there, the name wasn’t there, it isn’t true then later we found out where he was. It was hard to find him, only his bones, we found them somewhere in Velania…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Are you talking about finding your brother…

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Who did you find?

Hysni Krasniqi: My brother, we found only his bones, nothing else. A French group then, we weren’t even allowed to open it, it was wrapped in a bag. They said, “How do you know he is your brother?” I said, “I know him even as a corpse.” He said, “How do you know?” “His left leg was broken while skiing and he has a golden tooth.” I said. “Yes,” he said. And they allowed us. This is how it was.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Then your wife and son came back?

Hysni Krasniqi: Then my wife came back, we started life again. My wife started working where she used to, she worked in the Post Office, she started working and I started working in the university, that’s how we started life. Gradually we did everything, we did everything all over again.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: When did you start working again?

Hysni Krasniqi: Working began later, because I still have the trauma, when I get those [flashbacks], I start working on something to forget it. All of these, this is how it was. Look, I hope we never forget it and it never gets repeated. I swear! Do you see what kind of a government we have? You see. I hope he can do something.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Do you remember Independence Day?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Independence day…

Hysni Krasniqi: I remember, it was very, it was…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How did you start that day?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: How did you start that day?

Hysni Krasniqi: For me, it was a great burden being lifted, a great joy, it seemed that we were flourishing, we were renewing, a new life was coming for us. This is how I felt, to tell you the truth, but you can see that we didn’t go the right path, one here, one there…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What did you do that day?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: What did you do that day, did you go out or…

Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, we did, we celebrated like everyone else. But look, I’m not a person who loves celebrating, I’m distant in every occasion, the good and the bad, I handle them the same. I’m distant with everything. I know what joy is, what misery is, but I stay cool, it’s better. For example, I don’t go mad, and lose myself. One should always be aware of what one does, both in the street and at home, as one should be aware everywhere.

To some, why are you firing guns? Why are you firing guns? You had a time when you had to use guns, but not in freedom, not in weddings. Celebrate with your voice, not guns. What primitivism is it to shoot with a gun, bim bim bim {onomatopoeia}. What is it, tell me? It is, to tell you the truth, somehow it goes out of the human psyche, it goes out completely.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: I don’t have any other questions, but…

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: I don’t have any other questions, but if you have any questions, not questions, but anything to add about your work. Something I haven’t asked you, a moment you could speak in more detail about.

Hysni Krasniqi: I have the pictures.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: We will look at them after the interview, it’s something we can see…

Hysni Krasniqi: Look, to tell you the truth I could have worked much more, but I was part of a society that didn’t understand me. I had so much energy and I had positive energy, not negative, but people created obstacles. Back then, the number-one athletes were never allowed to progress, they stopped them. First of all, they gave my student a studio, but they didn’t give me a studio. Why didn’t they give me the studio? Because I wasn’t in their hands. I’m not in anyone’s hands, I’m in the hand of myself and my people, not in the hands of any bad dogma that works against society, against the people. I never got into the dogma of anyone seeking anything, because I saw that this is not okay, this is not okay.

I hate selfishness. In life, I hate three traits: lies, theft, and betrayal. For me, these are the worst things that exist, yes. Lies should be told, we know when they should be told, for the country, for the country, but not for just about anything, like for riches, to become rich for yourself, by lying.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Something about you, something about your work I didn’t ask?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Something about your work that I didn’t ask about.

Hysni Krasniqi: My work, look, to tell you the truth I connect to nature, I love nature, I love ecologic nature, not with waste. When I see, when I see on the television, when they show that waste, look, that is the greatest catastrophe of our people.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Where did you find your inspiration?

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Inspiration…

Hysni Krasniqi: I mostly find inspiration in nature. I take fragments from nature and try to live through them, live it with my heart and soul, and draw it on paper or paint it on canvas. For me, that’s what’s important. I’m not the kind of person who makes many images, I make portraits of sufferings, I have some portraits during the war with injured heads. I could’ve done a lot, but they stopped me at my peak. That’s what matters.

For example, I have the Crops Cycle. Why crops? Crops because our people suffered from starvation, suffered from starvation. Then I have the Twig Bundles. What are the twig bundles? It’s a tool which our farmers always used, they used it to level the land, to dry trees, that’s what bundles are, like protecting the country, the yard, that’s what they are. I had those.

Then I have The Fireflies. What are the fireflies? The fireflies are the messengers of spring, the first sign that the crops are ready to harvest. Then this is how we knew that it’s the time of the harvest, and that’s what fireflies are to us. Like a phoenix cik cik {onomatopoeia} sending out the message that somewhere the time has come to harvest. Like that. Then I have The Memory Flowers, the place I was born in, Llukar, though I spent more time in Pristina. The place I was born in is covered in flowers, snowdrops, violets. What a wonderful scent violets have, it’s incredible, as if it were a perfume, I don’t use them ever, only when I shave. Then there is some weed called Elmetum, maybe you’ve heard of it? If you put two leaves under a child’s head, they sleep immediately, they rest. It has a nice scent. These things inspire me, ground, greenery, leaves, these are my inspiration, yes…

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Thank you very much.

Hysni Krasniqi: You’re welcome.

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Let’s end the interview here.

Hysni Krasniqi: Excuse me?

Erëmirë Krasniqi: Let’s end the interview here.

Hysni Krasniqi: However you want, I can tell you whatever I know…

1 Zoran Karalejić (1937) was born in Prizren, Kosovo. He studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Pristina and Belgrade. He worked at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Pristina until 1999. During the Milosević regime, his artistic practice was politicized. Though he was primarily a modernist sculptor, in the ‘90s he was commissioned to do many realist statues of Serbian national heroes and intellectuals, such as the Vuk Karadžić statue placed in front of the Faculty of Philology in Pristina.

2 Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës – Kosovo Liberation Army, was an Albanian guerrilla paramilitary organization that sought the separation of Kosovo from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia during the 1990s.

3 Bllace is the border crossing between Kosovo and Macedonia where thousands of refugees were stuck for a few days in March 1999, at the beginning of the NATO intervention, unable to either move into Macedonia or re-enter Kosovo.

4 Fatmir Sejdiu (1951) is a Kosovar-Albanian politician. He was the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and was the 1st President of the Republic of Kosovo.

5 The Kosovo Force is a NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo. KFOR entered Kosovo on June 11, 1999, two days after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

6 Arbën Xhaferi (1948 – 2012) was a Macedonian politician of Albanian origin. He was born in Tetovo, former Yugoslavia, and died in 2012 at the Skopje Hospital after a cerebral hemorrhage. Xhaferi was president of the Democratic Party of Albanians, an ethnic Albanian political party in the Republic of North Macedonia, and was an advocate of rights for ethnic Albanians in the country. He is best known for calling for a change in the Preamble of the Constitution.

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