Born in the 1980s, I grew up with the idea that we had put the era of separate cities behind us with the fall of the Berlin Wall. This made it all the more confusing for me to come to terms with several countries, including two in Europe, where life in separate cities is still a reality today. Mitrovica is one of them.

Mitrovica is located in the north of Kosovo and has been a divided city since the war over 20 years ago. The Kosovo-Serbian population lives in the north and the Kosovo-Albanian population in the south. Although there is no wall, there is a river and, depending on political developments, the crossing is more or less blocked. Sometimes the main bridge is – theoretically – open, sometimes walled up, sometimes under strict observation, where every movement is registered. Contact between the population groups has always been and continues to be associated with various risks, including assassinations. The two neighbourhoods have different languages and scripts, telephone networks, authorities and currencies, even though they belong to the same country. This separation, which has become part of everyday life, repeatedly leads to absurd and even dangerous situations. When I was there, there was a forest fire in a nearby forest – still littered with mines – which was almost impossible to bring under control. The reason for this was that the administrative and political process to authorise fire service support and access to water on the “other side” took far too much time and – because people simply could not communicate with each other linguistically.

Despite these numerous difficulties, there are people who believe in an exchange between North and South: Wendy Hassler Forest works for “Music without Borders” and has been pursuing the crazy idea of bringing young musicians from both sides together to form rock bands for 20 years. Crazy, people say, because there is no neutral place where the musicians could meet. Crazy because such an encounter could end in a bloodbath. It’s also crazy because participants in such an inter-ethnic project could be and have been threatened as traitors by their own community.

Wendy is convinced that music can succeed in creating a new identity for the region and its inhabitants. When playing together, ethnic identity takes a back seat and identity as a musician takes centre stage.

In doing so, they build on a long rock tradition. Mitrovica was known for its rock culture long before the war. Rock music also succeeds in attracting radical-minded young people who would not be found at a classical concert and who play a particularly important role in minimising the willingness to use violence against other ethnic groups.

For students and band coaches, participating in the Mitrovica Rock School is not without danger, as it challenges the status quo of ethnic segregation. The school is constantly faced with the challenge of ensuring that the young people arrive safely at the rehearsal rooms and back home. The band weeks take place abroad for security reasons.

For years, it was unthinkable that bands could be formed within Kosovo. But in spring 2018, I was able to witness how a great vision became a reality in a music cellar, completely inconspicuous and unnoticed by the masses: inter-ethnic bands were formed in a place of ethnic division.

I wonder how many such visions come true every day without the world noticing. And I wonder how our view of the world and our role in it would change if we talked more about courage and reconstruction than about violence and destruction.

Wendy and her team have 16 years of unyielding commitment behind them at this point. 16 years of fighting against the harshest criticism and harsh reality. 16 years of believing in something that has never existed before.

How long does something remain normal and how much does it take for it to shift?

Because this example also clearly shows one thing, to use Hermann Hesse’s words:

“We must attempt the impossible in order to achieve the possible.”

Images: Lea Suter

Translated by Deepl, please excuse any misunderstandings.