May 27 – 31, 2023

Fourteen young artists from Kosovo and Serbia joined the joint journey to exchange experiences and cultures of the two countries and to learn more about creating artworks with the goal of peace building in region.

The “Breaking Intercultural Barriers” program is a comprehensive initiative created to promote intercultural dialogue, cooperation and exchange between Serbia and Kosovo. The first five days of the ten-day adventure, were covered with workshops, lectures and visits to cultural institutions in Prishtina and Prizren. The founder and mentor of the program, Tamara Tomashević, has worked closely with the participants of the program, practicing different artistic and cultural techniques, with psychological support to create a safe space for everyone.

The participants managed to work together, create new knowledge with their peers, have fun but also listen to lectures by well-known personalities who in the background carry prosperous activities in the field of art, culture, human rights, transitional justice, but also in creating bridges with the artists and activists of the countries of the region for a peaceful life.

Artpolis hosted participants from Kosovo and Serbia, where Zana Hoxha, founder and director of Artpolis and FemArt, told about the organization’s activities, activism through theater and social dialogue, the resident troupe of artists and the FemArt Festival; More Raça, assistant professor at the Faculty of Arts, Film Direction department, informed about the process of creating the film, the positive changes in the faculty with an emphasis on the implementation of gender equality and addressing social issues through films; Adea Kondirolli from Orca, as one of the participants of the first edition of the Breaking Intercultural Barriers program, spoke about her experiences and the activity of Orca in monitoring the education system; The lecture of the analyst and politician Shkëlzen Gashi in dealing with the themes of transitional justice, the war in Kosovo, the comparison of the narratives for the victims and survivors of violence during the war in Kosovo but also in earlier periods, aroused a lot of interest among young artists; The visit to the “Once upon a time, may it never be” exhibition at the “Hivzi Sylejmani” library was accompanied by strong emotions of empathy, among the exhibits of personal belongings of 1133 children killed as a result of the war in Kosovo 1998-2000.

The 5-day educational study trip, in Kosovo, of this diverse group of young artists ended with the cultural visit to Prizren, where through the explanations of historical events in a very virtuoso way, the guide Bashkim Fazliu showed a lot about the League of Prizren, the notion of nation and language, but also the old culture of Prizren; Meanwhile, the artistic director of the prestigious DokuFest festival, Veton Nurkollari, spoke about the festival, its achievements and its role in the touristic and economic development of the city.

The program, which has been implemented since March 2015, is led by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia (HCHR), and over the next three years will be developed in cooperation with Artpolis from Pristina and with the support of the European Union.

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