THE MULTIPLE VALUES OF KINO RINIA
My first presentation regarding the idea of this project has been very fruitful. This is because of the fact that the idea behind it has been fundamentally adapted to my personal principles as a student of anthropology. We are talking about an abandoned building, which served many purposes from many institutions. Where each institution has attempted to leave their mark, and I can confidently say that they have failed.
Illustration: Argjira Kukaj
“This technology didn’t exist back then, nowadays they are making all kinds of movies”, said Ismajl Uka in an interview conducted in May of this year. Someone may ask why this article begins in this sentence, the answer can come out very accurately if this article was only read by the interviewees, who are now aware and try to recognize their personal memory on the building of Kino Rinia. But, for the wide audiences this sentence can appear as lacking, due to the fact that they haven’t had the chance to live through the tremors of this building. As a researcher in Metamorphosis IV, this experience taught me to unite with these times, and I am very aware why Mr. Uka expresses himself this way. This sentence has great retrospective importance and it shows many aspects of these times which we have only heard from other people but have never had the chance to experience on our own. Each time I had a new day at work, it felt like I was losing the start point of the memory of this building, for the fact that each interviewer would bring their own personal memories. And these memories aren’t similar to all.
My first presentation regarding the idea of this project has been very fruitful. This is because of the fact that the idea behind it has been fundamentally adapted to my personal principles as a student of anthropology. We are talking about an abandoned building, which served many purposes from many institutions. Where each institution has attempted to leave their mark, and I can confidently say that they have failed.
Kino Rinia as a historical representation is known by different generations and for each generation it has had different concepts of value. It is one of the first cinemas of the city after the second World War. It was built during the beginning of the 50’s and it still stands on its “feet” with all the strength it has left. Shtatembedhjete together with its researchers have had the goal of documenting the oral stories, materials from archives and every kind of help that and then make it available for the public and citizens. Last year, in June of 2020, Kino Rinia was in risk of becoming a supermarket. A building, with such a powerful cultural backstory, which has served its citizens for years with screenings of movies from the whole world, local and international concerts and different conferences, to be turned into a supermarket! This building’s value goes beyond movies, just like Mr. Uka emphasizes. While trying to hold his emotions he says: “We didn’t have much, youth back then was very restricted. Movies were when we would turn that discontent into content”.
After many years of Kino Rinia’s doors being closed, they opened on the days of September 7-8-9 to reveal to the public the site-specific artistic intervention from artist Maksut Vezgishi. Throughout the entire time I was in the building, I was trying to make myself one with the memory of the cinema. The curiosity to enter those walls has always been present. I was also looking at the reaction of those persons who had the chance to talk about this building and how they were feeling in these abandoned spaces of the cinema. To me as a student of anthropology, it is very important to inform people who do not have much information about these forgotten and beaten-up spaces. I believe Metamorphosis IV has managed to raise awareness about the values of these forgotten buildings.
Today, we are celebrating the news that after all those months of research, organizations of culture, together with institutions have managed to halt the re-destination of the cinema into a market. I believe this news concerns all citizens and especially those who have not lost their personal memories of the building. Though I should state that other than positive achievements, it is often valuable to reflect as a society on the damage we cause around us. For me, this building has played a magnificent orientational role for many old narratives of Prishtina, especially as a person who hasn’t grown up in this city. I can say with full confidence that this building has gotten me closer to the point of understanding the architecture of the city, different cultural and artistic activities, the division of social classes throughout different periods and much more knowledge related to the city of Prishtina. This is why it is sad to see that this building has been used and misused by different people. Above all it is even sadder to hear informants and their baggage of memories, being disappointed because of the situation of the building. Mr. Uka says:
“When I went inside, I didn’t feel the content I did in the past, I looked around, I tried to imagine being in those times, but I just couldn’t”
I am concluding this article with this citation, so that the readers can reflect on this specific topic. All I can say to end this, is that the period of researching Kino Rinia has been one of the sweetest periods of working on terrain and at the same time it was one of the most fruitful periods regarding the new knowledge and information I gathered.
About the author: Besjana Rrahmani from Ferizaj, has finished her studies for cultural anthropology in the University of Prishtina.
This grant is supported by Municipality of Prishtina
