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Former Republics and other
Political Issues
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The border between Bulgaria and Macedonia appeared
to me as one that still deserves its name. Passports are collected
and distributed. Everyone lines up with their luggage beside
the bus. The contents of my suitcase arouse little interest.
A disparaging chin movement informs me that I can pack up
my booty again. The bus is searched in a specially constructed
bus examination shed. A member of the US army takes photographs
of the nice view of the mountains.
The Macedonians are like us, said the Bulgarians. They
speak the same language as us. We share the same culture.
Let them dream, says Hristina. She and Oliver lead the Macedonian
office of a Swiss cultural foundation. There are issues that
need to be resolved with all the neighbours, says Oliver.
With the Bulgarians about culture and the nation; with the
Greeks about the name, and with the Albanians anyway.
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Because of the problems Greece has with the
name Republic of Macedonia, the country is officially known
as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, FYROM for short.
In Skopje T-Shirts and badges are sold with "Don't FYROM
me" printed on them.
The presidential elections are of remarkably
little interest to anyone. The only people who mention the
election are the staff of the Swiss and Germany embassies.
I have lunch with Zarko Trajanoski, a philosopher
and human rights activist. Until recently he led a counselling
centre for citizens who felt their rights had been violated
in some way. Zarko eats pancakes. In Zarko's opinion, the
supposed ethnic and religious conflicts between the Macedonian
Albanians and Macedonian Macedonians are conflicts resulting
from the divergent development of urban and rural regions,
from neglected villages and high unemployment. Unfortunately,
it has to be said that West European organisations and the
media did not make a useful contribution in this respect.
On the contrary, they created many more problems by placing
such an emphasis on ethnic identities in the Balkan and thus
encouraging people to think in terms of ethnic groups. For
him, there are just the citizens of Macedonia, the rest is
not important and is a private matter.
So it just remains for me to say that Mother
Teresa was born in Skopje.
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What will represent Macedonia?
Asked what should represent their country
in the exhibition in November sixteen Macedonians
chose the following:
- a red Gjezve from
the household supply for the preparation of turkish
coffee and
a glass of Ajvar, given to
me by Makdeonka Andonowa
- drawings made for an ethnographic map
of Macedonia by her grandfather
Mihajlo Sojlev, given to
me by Kamelia Šojlevska
- Ajvar, given to me by Bojan
- Ajvar, given to me by Gordana and Jan
von Vogt
- the CD swinging MACEDONIA by dd SYNTHESIS
and a bottle of macedonian Cabernet
Sauvignon, given to me by
Petar Gjorgjiev and Nataša Zafirova
- macedonian wine named after the poem
T`Ga za jug (Desiring the South)
by Konstantin Miladinov, as
well as a text about worker's migration from
Macedonia, given to me by
Dijana Tomik Radevska
- a story about her familiy written by
Slavica Janešlieva
- dried peppers, given to me by Tamara
Simonovska
- paste of eggplant and marinated peppers,
given to me by Hristina Ivanovka
- an empty plastic bottle, given to me
by Matthias Vollert
- the detergent Biljana and cigarettes
of the trademark Partner, combined with the
instruction to do the laundry
in the exhibition while smoking, instructed and given
to me by von Oliver Musovik
- the statement that Macedonians are friendly
and frank people,
by request of Zoran Petrovski
- paper handkerchiefs Paloma, given to
me by Aliye Useinova
- the recording of a request radio show
with a song for me
in the tv-channel of the macedonian
Roma, by Yane Calovski
- a map of 1913 that shows the areas inhabited
by macedonian people,
given to me by Oliver Musovik
and Hristina Ivanovka
- a joke, told by Zarko Trajanoski
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What will represent Macedonia?
Sixteen Macedonians made their choice (more)
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On the other side is Albania (more)
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Map (large file!)
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In November every family
is preserving Ajvar. I do miss this smell in
the streets when I am not in Macedonia in November says
Gordana. The Slowenians tried to get a patent on the
term Ajvar, sly and enterprising as they are, says Oliver.
Macedonia sued and won the suit; the judges decided
that the word Ajvar is patentable as much as the word
potato salad, for example.
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In front of the Swiss embassy in Skopje japanese cherry
trees are in blossom. I present the content
of my suitcase in the gallery of their cultural foundation.
The briquette of brown coal is examined. The book published
by the Federal Ministry of Finance is well-known by
to the two translators in the audience: it inspired
the revision of the macedonian income tax law.
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Interpretive
Center
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In the early evening in Dracevo
I accompany Oliver and his girlfriend on their customary walk.
Oliver insists that I take photographs, as this is my job
as a correspondent. As I take photos of a house with a light
blue fence, a small truck stops outside. The owners of the
house are in the truck. The man wants to be photographed too.
He has been to Hamburg and Stockholm! He transported asylum
seekers.
Oliver shows me a car of the brand in which the owner of the
house with the light blue fence took the asylum seekers to
Stockholm. It is a Zastava 101, produced in a Yugoslavian
factory called Red Flag. Zastava 101 means Flag 101.
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With Tamara Simonovska and her
son on the Ochrid-Lake - it is splendid and Albania
is on the opposite lakeside.
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