Besa Luci in conversation with Erëmirë Krasniqi and Milena Prevelić.

Historical memory is shaped by what is documented. What we remember or celebrate, what we overlook or forget, is a result of the narratives we choose, or which are chosen for us.

The official historical record is always subject to attempts to reveal or conceal different facts or narratives. They often also serve as a site of power-plays, where the strong choose who to glorify (often themselves and their ideological forebearers). 

Women, ethnic minorities, and other marginalized groups are often excluded or misrepresented. This peripheral or superficial inclusion of the marginalized creates a collective memory that is fragmented and incomplete. Moreover, such erasure is never an innocent omission, it is a deliberate act that aims to perpetuate exclusion into the future. 

But there are a number of grassroots initiatives working to challenge official histories by documenting and disseminating a wider range of historical experiences and narratives. Through oral history, film, photography and exhibitions they are documenting and sharing the stories and events that did not make it into the official narrative about the past. 

In this episode, we talk in more detail about two such initiatives. The first is the exhibition “A Site of Political Struggle: Trepça Mine 1989,” a collaboration between Oral History Kosovo and forumZFD. The second is "They Live: Student lives through context-based art practices," a collaboration between several public institutions, universities and NGOs from Montenegro, Serbia and Croatia that documented the experience of student dorm life across the generations.

We are joined by the two of the researchers behind these projects. 

Erëmirë Krasniqi is a researcher and curator and the executive director of Oral History Kosovo. She recently curated the exhibition on the Trepça miners strike of 1989.

Milena Prevelić is a cultural worker and member of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Montenegro. Recently, she was the Montenegro coordinator for “They Live.” 

Other Talking Points is produced by Besa Luci, Aulonë Kadriu and Gentiana Paçarizi. 

Music and sound mix by PUG musik.

This podcast is part of the Human Rightivism project, which is funded by the Embassy of Sweden in Prishtina, implemented by the Community Development Fund through its Human Rightivism Program. The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Embassy of Sweden in Prishtina.