In the courtyard of the former "Rilindja" facility, the sound installation and newspaper "Radhitje ne plumb, germa per germa" by the duo Tringa Sefedini and Elisa Maxhuni, has for a while brought back the spirit of the newspaper and the printing press of old. Confessions of former employees are revealed there, some of whom were present at the presentation, and "Radhitje..." is a call not to forget
Dardan Mirena
Once upon a time, an entire army was taught by the "Rilindja" facility, the publishing giant of the newspaper named after him. On Saturday, a handful of people gathered in her yard at a makeshift kiosk, as it used to be, in the yard of the building that is no longer hers.
Now there are thousands of newspaper issues in the archive, as well as publications, as well as memories and confessions of former employees. Some of them return with "Radhitje na plumb, germe per germe", which, apart from being an artistic expression, is a call not to forget.
This is the title of the sound installation of the duo Elisa Maxhuni and Tringa Sefedini, which also comes with the newspaper with the same title, which resembles the one that started the journey on February 12, 1945, retains almost the same font, on the front page there is the emblematic image of the object with "RILINDJA" on top, inside brings some texts taken from the archive and confessions of former employees.
They are personal stories that have been transformed into collective memory over the years. "Bullet alignment, letter by letter" refers to the work of arranging texts in newspapers and books, completely mechanical, as a testament to the challenge until it reached the hand of the reader.
"Come on, the newspaper came out, come on, take the newspaper that just came out and read the news that just came out", the voice of a riosh is heard and the image that is created is the former employees with "Bullet alignment, letter by letter" in hand. There they can read the stories of some of the colleagues they worked with until 1990 when the Serbian regime stopped its publication. They can smell a bit of paper. There is also the story of Ismete Puka, who started working at the age of 18, a job that was imposed on her to help her family, because the pension her mother received, which she inherited from her husband who had suffered an accident, it was not possible for them to live a normal life. Ismete's account of how she started working in "Rilindja" is more sensitive.
"Back then you had to do 6 months of training and I didn't have the luxury of waiting that long without pay, so I started learning earlier and after 2-3 weeks I started working. The schedule was eight hours. During the summer we started work at 6 am and finished at 14 pm, while during the winter we worked from 00 am to 7 pm", said Puka, a former technical worker in a printing house.
In "Radhitje ne plumb, germe per germe", the doyen of journalism, Zenun Çelaj, recounts how he started working for the newspaper, going through some difficulties that the then Yugoslav regime had imposed on him.
"After I finished primary school in Guci, I continued my studies at the Normal School in Pejë, but after a while it was closed and we were forced to go to Gjakovë, where the regime also closed it and I was forced to continue the Normal School in Pristina. After finishing Normale, I was offered to work in 'Rilindja', which at that time was published 2-3 times a week", is written in the confession of Çelaj, former journalist and editor in "Rilindja".
Everyone has their own story about "Rebirth", and "Radhitje..." evokes them. This is also the aim of the project supported by "HeritageSpace" implemented by "CHwB Kosova", financed by the Swedish Government, with the support of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Idila Ibrahimi, coordinator of the "Heritage Space" program at the opening ceremony said that this is the third presentation of the five projects as she thanked the installation duo "Radhitje..." for the achieved result.
Tringa Sefedini, who studied cultural anthropology, with a focus on visual anthropology, archival research, oral history and collective memory, after thanking all those who helped her, appreciated the willingness of those who shared their stories with them.
"Most importantly, I thank all the workers of 'Rilindja', some of whom are here today, whom we interviewed and who opened their doors to us with their personal archives. Also their hearts with confessions they made about the 'Rebirth'. In fact, I want to believe that they did this project, not the two of us, because without them we will never be able to realize the project", said Sefedini.
He said that the workers of "Rilindja" are the ones who made it possible for "Rilindja" to be created and developed. Regardless of the political repression that existed at that time, regardless of the censorship, regardless of the fact that the newspaper was closed and still you held the meetings... You often published the books in your own homes and I am very proud of the great work you have done in 'Rilindja' and for the entire scope of 'Rilindja'", she said.
During the interviews, Sefedini said that he noticed that there were many feelings of happiness, joy, anger and boredom.
"And we have often emphasized that the 'Renaissance' no longer exists. If it does not exist in a physical and concrete form, it actually exists, and will exist because it is an inseparable part of the modern history of Kosovo. Thank you very much for articulating all those aspirations that we are living today and I hope that you will enjoy reading the newspaper and the interviews that we have conducted together...", said Sefedini.
Elisa Maxhuni, an architect by profession, but with a special interest in combining sound with architecture in urban public spaces, has appealed to young artists to make projects always thinking and bearing in mind the context of the past and all those who have worked to get where we are.
"So, let's not rewrite history by ignoring the past and we must always find a connection between the past and the present", said Maxhuni.
"Line by bullet, letter by letter", as the installation is described, through "the accounts of journalists, writers, technicians and logistics personnel who worked on 'Renaissance' at different times, offers a new perspective on the common memory and collective identity of a key era for Kosovo".
Mirsad Krasniqi was present at the installation presentation. His confession is also in "Radhitje...". He worked for a long time in the company of the graphic publishing house "Rilindja", in the editorial office of the publications. Today he sells books in the square.
"The publishing house had the duty to publish books. We have mainly published school lectures, poetry and all genres of literature, in fact, if we can even praise ourselves, we are proud, because everything has passed through our hands, the editors, the writers who have had the editorial office of the publications", he said. Krasniqi.
He recalled that "Rilindja" was composed of six units, within it was also the editorial office of the publications or the short edition.
"The closing of 'Rilindja' was difficult, not that the problem was that we were stuck without work, but it was the fear that we will no longer have books in Albanian, we will no longer have newspapers in Albanian, we will not have magazines in Albanian. But no, we mobilized and started to resist in the form of continuing the publication, specifically with the publication of books and novels, but not in the facility where we were, but in private houses and in some rented facilities. We resisted as much as the conditions allowed us", he said.
And, "Bullet alignment, letter by letter" is a bit of resistance to not forget the "Renaissance", those who created it, who worked there and kept it alive.
