Intro

As researchers in the guise of cartographers, we set out to map the stories of Pristina citizens that capture the history of the city in the past one hundred years. Having conducted twenty-nine oral history interviews, as well as having consulted over one hundred interviews from the Oral History Kosovo digital archive (oralhistorykosovo.org) and other public and privately owned photographic archives, we have secured countless personal stories that take note of key cultural and political events that have defined the contours of Pristina’s contemporary identity.

Pristina Walks is a multilingual interactive map whose architecture was designed to accommodate curated research as video, audio and text. The app consists of four thematized Walks: From a la Turca to a la Franga; Asphalt for Progress; The long ‘90s and Memoryscapes, which altogether contain eighty-four points of interest supported by one hundred and ten short videos which reveal the city from the perspective of its own citizens. Each Walk offers immersive discovery and learning experiences that nurture curiosity about cultural heritage, local history and architecture. Moreover, the Walks encourage walking as a way to create a sense of belonging and a culture of place.

We are aware that the story of our city is larger than these four Walks. Therefore, in line with our methodology, we will continue collecting life stories in the future. For that and other reasons, every section of this mobile app welcomes users’ contributions such as memoirs, stories and photographic archives. We find this collaboration with the wider public to be crucial to initiating new lines of inquiry and curating other Walks in the years to come.

Lastly, we would like to thank Pristina citizens who sat with us to share their life stories and gave us permission to publish their interviews and private photographic archives on the Pristina Walks mobile app.

Research team

Aurela Kadriu, Besarta Breznica, Dafina Tahiri, Donjetë Berisha, Ebru Süleyman, Erëmirë Krasniqi, Kaltrina Krasniqi

Curated by

Erëmirë Krasniqi and Kaltrina Krasniqi

Studio Permanent—Nita Salihu Hoxha (Mobile app design), Urtina Hoxha and Elvira Thaqi (Map design)

Developed by

Frakton—Ndriçim Sadiku (Android developer), Hektor Kastrati (IOS developer), Elvudin Basha – (Backend developer), Edilona Kamberi (QA tester), Edon Sekiraqa (Chief technology officer), Albion Hasani (Project manager)

Produced by

Oral History Initiative

oralhistorykosovo.org

Pristina Walks mobile app is a year-long research project on Pristina and it is part of the “Inter-community Dialogue through Inclusive Cultural Heritage Preservation” project funded by the European Union’s Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP) and implemented by United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) in Kosovo.

These interviews/short videos were produced with the financial support of the European Union’s Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP). Its contents are the sole responsibility of Oral History Initiative (OHI) and do not reflect the views of the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme.