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, this is how I wrote it down. When they fired me, I didn’t want to, “Why would I leave, you didn’t hire me,” I said, “You didn’t hire me, we know who hired me.” Me and Kradrush Rama 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 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 mails, this doesn’t concern you sir. I will not sign it.”
Now another one comes, he used to be my student, sculptor, Zoran Karalejić. I called him Kërle, meaning “stump.” He said, “Profesore, treba da potpišete” [“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 secretary, Ballata. They write it in Albanian, they translate it. I said, “Ballata, look at the state you’re in. You’re selling yourself for 5 marks. I will not sign it!” I said, “Do you not know me at all?” I will not sign it.” I went home, then come back there with Kadrush, the police came, five or six men and they get us out by force. We left, what would 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: Then 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 solve it. Each of us worked in ateliers. I had my atelier in my apartment, in a corner. I worked there, we took our students there. With my own material, with my colors, with my 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, a secretary didn’t give one to me, he was arrogant, but it’s no problem. When the students came, I, first when they came, I talked to 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. They all got together, closed the door, came in and worked like there were in the Academy. They worked, I gave them everything, materials, literature, I feel bad saying this but the students also go the literature from me (laughs). They didn’t take anything else, they liked literature. Anyay. So, 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. 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 to get a coffee my wife made for me, “I’m working, no coffee.” When I went in I heard a noise, “Hysni, I’ve never heard such noise,” said my wife. I went there, when I saw a student had grabbed a female student by the throat like this {puts his hand on his throat}, he wanted to choke her. Fuad, his name was Fuad Islami, I remember now. “Fuad?” I 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 grabbed her by her throat. 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.” She 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 exhibit one day and if the Academy of Arts forms a graphic cabinet, I will give them back, if not, I will take them to the museum. I won’t leave them 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 [KLA], 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 it come to the war? How did your family experience it?
Hysni Krasniqi: Very badly, our family experienced very badly. Why? First, my brother and cousins were executed in 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 Prishtina or…
Hysni Krasniqi: We were in our apartment. We couldn’t go anywhere. No, not then, because we left Prishtina in April, I think. They beat me and one of my friends on March 16, in front of the District Court, there was a tan there, there were soldiers and civilians. They checked to see what we have, “What would I have?” I said. I had around a hundred, fifty dinar, my friend had 120 marks. They took it from him, they said, “You have no right to have marks.” Everyone had marks 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, “Put this,” so they could see my visitor’s card, 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 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 near 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 for how long I stayed like that. The ones who took me were named Mybera and Magribe, Magribe, if I’m not mistaken. Her husband wasn’t here 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 came the head of the police, Dragan.
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 Prishtina. We got on the train, my wife grabbed 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 onto the train, there were many people with disabilities, on wheelchairs on the train. When we got on 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. I got out there, we went to Bllaca. In Bllaca, it was all muddy, rain, the river flowed there. What could we do? I told my son, “You are in better conditions than me, find some long sticks. Me and my brother took them and made like 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 up on me and gave me some pills. We stayed there for a night. That day Fatmir Sejdiu came. When he saw me, he said, “You too, Hysni?” I said, “Yes.” “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 vomited, 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 Snake Hills]. The former English KFOR[1] 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.
Now let’s see, what do I know, 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 the situation as it was. 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 can 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, Arbër Xhaferi was my friend 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 Arbër 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, 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, in 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, they only hadn’t laid the 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 stuff 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, within two days our children came, yes. (cries)
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Your eldest went to Greece.
Hysni Krasniqi: Yes, to Greece.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did he get the letter to go to the military, or what?
Hysni Krasniqi: No, it didn’t, he finished it. 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 person I know there, Xhehal Qehaja, he was an acquaintance and he 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. From Greece he went to France, he stayed with my brother for a long time.
They both spoke English. 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 spoke 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 had a house, he bought a house, he has six rooms, yes. That’s right.
My second son went to Germany, we had a good friend in Germany, 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 stayed together, he took him to the English Channel from Germany. He spoke great English, 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 put 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. 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 his day, he still is a manager, manager of a really important cafe. It’s a big cafe, he is responsible for everything, material, 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, we 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, I said, “We want to go with our children to London.” We took a bus, 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, 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. 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, you prepare the suitcase.” And so it happened.
When I came here, they said, “Your building was destroyed.” 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, graphics, work tools. I stole all my working tools. You can even see the shots in the picture, they stole everything. They took my clothes. But they didn’t steal them, the Serb didn’t take 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, seven in the toilet. “Don’t be afraid that there is nothing here, work freely, put things in their places,” but I didn’t know where to start first, clothes, or put the atelier in order? Slowly. They gave me 720 marks.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Pounds…
Hysni Krasniqi: Pounds. No, no, marks, not pounds. They said, “Why pounds? You use marks there.” And a pack of food for the road. 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 running away from the people at Sharra, do you know where Sharra is? While she was running away, she had a heart attack and they put her there, there was a pool, you might know. Do you know where the pool used to be? There. When we came 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 said he is 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 his bones, nothing else. A French group then, we weren’t even allowed to open it, it was only 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 gold teeth.” I said. “Yes,” he said. Even they let us go. 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, again we did everything.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: When did you start creating again?
Hysni Krasniqi: Creating began later, because I have trauma, when I get those, I start working 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 happiness is, what sadness is, but I stay cool, it’s better. For example, I don’t go crazy, get out of human frames. One should always be aware of what one does, both on the street and at home, as one should be aware everywhere.
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 comes out of the human psyche, it comes 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 created a lot, 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 didn’t. Back then, the number-one athletes were never allowed to progress, they stopped them. First of all, they gave my student an atelier, but they didn’t give me an atelier. Why didn’t they give me the atelier? Because I wasn’t in their hands. I’m not in anyone’s hand, I’m the hand of myself and my people, not the hand of any bad dogma that works against society, against the people. I’m never in the dogma of anyone seeking anything, because I saw that this is not okay, this is not okay.
I hate selfishness. I hate three aspects of life: lies, theft, and betrayal, for me, these are the worst things that exist, yes. Lies are told, we know when they’re told, for the country, for the country, lies are made and not for everything, for the rich, not to become rich for yourself, 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 had the opportunity to do a lot, but they stopped my burst. That’s what matters.
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, 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 {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 Prishtina. 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, 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 smell. 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]The Kosovo Force is a NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo. KFOR entered Kosovo on 11 June 1999, two days after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244.