Wednesday, November 9, 2011

"See It Now": Skopje in Autumn Blues

An alternate cover for a special
post. On the cover, Tanja St
(Stoimenovska).
Photo by Harald Schenker.
"SEE IT NOW": Skopje in Autumn Blues. Written by Tanja Stoimenovska with photos by Harald Schenker

Skopje doesn't have a straight forward narrative. Its a city where carts pulled by horses and Mercedeses pass along the same streets? A friend once told me that Skopje was 'shabby, but charming!' Let me try to scratch under the surface and maybe reveal one or two things about what makes the city what it is-a place of many intertwined small worlds, different, yet compact. 
Ajvar. A traditional Home-made dip.
Photo courtesy of
Harald Schenker.


Making Ajvar. Photo by Harald Schenker.
As a final spot, walking down the old bazaar one bumps into a bar called 'Damar'. An island in Skopje, of good music, creative people, fancy dress parties. A world of its own giving color and breathing life into the dullness of the routine of everyday life. 
This will have to do for now. I hope I managed to portray a picture in your minds of this place in the Balkans, striving so hard to change, that at times it forgets what it really is. Love it, or hate it, it is my home. 

If you would like to know more: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skopje
"Art is the reason. art is the way" 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post, it looks like a very interesting place, a lot of history and culture. That home-dip looks so good:)
Really good writing and photos.

Elena Morgan, Bklyn

Anonymous said...

I might have to check out Skopje at some point.
I'm wondering if I can get some Ajvar, state side(NYC)
Excellent photos and really good writing.

Laurent, NYC

Anonymous said...

This art-blog is really coming along. I checked out noon:30 and clinical trials, great bands. This was a really informative post. Haven't read anything about Macedonia in some time. Fala:)


Aleksander Ares. Astoria, Queens