WatchThrough Festival 2nd Edition – 16.-18. May 2024 - Center for Balkan Cooperation

May 14, 2024 In Events, News, Projects By CBC LOJA

WatchThrough Festival 2nd Edition – 16.-18. May 2024

LOJA announces the second edition of the Watch Through Festival, from 16. – 18. May 2024. The festival takes place in Skopje, Tetovo and Sharr Mountains.

WATCH THROUGH is a festival that brings together writers, peacebuilders and activists, and aims to create a synergy that can stimulate positive change in society and inspire others to act toward a better future. By focusing on education, literature, civic engagement, and environmental protection, it is intended to promote understanding, empathy, activism, and critical thinking, which are essential for peaceful coexistence and sustainable well-being. Besides the above-mentioned issues, it is also focused, from the perspective of our region as part of Europe, on the topic of war and other pernicious phenomena that have appeared or have been accentuated in the recent years.

The whole program can be found here: WatchThrough 2024 Program

The artistic director of the festival is well known writer Mr. Bashkim Shehu (Spain)

The program starts with:

16th of May – Opening Ceremony

Topic: Literature in Troubled Times – War, Authoritarianism, Climate Crisis
starting at 18:00h
National Gallery – Daut Pasha Hammam, Skopje

– Andrej Nikolaidis – novelist, columnist, and political adviser (Montenegro)

– Ben Blushi – writer, journalist, politician (Albania)

– Nihad Kresevljakovic – historian, producer, screenwriter, and director of the Sarajevo War Theatre (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Moderators: Ms. Annedore Smith – journalist, media consultant of BBC – Associated Press (DE-UK), and Bujar Luma (LOJA)

After the opening of the festival on the 16th of May, the second day (17th of May) will follow with panel discussions on Education, Culture, Literature, Art and Civic Engagement.

17th of May – Panel Discussions

Panel discussion: Education and Culture – Communicating Vessels
Time: 10:30h – 11:45h
Center LOJA, Tetovo

– Maja Muhic, professor at South East European University (North Macedonia)

– Ylljet Aliçka, writer, former diplomat and professor (Albania)

– Amjad Mitri, Regional Coordinator of K. Wustrow in Western Balkans and Human Rights Lawyer

Moderator: Annedore Smith

Panel discussion: Brain Draining in the Western Balkans
Time: 12:00h – 13:15h (Center LOJA, Tetovo)
Center LOJA, Tetovo

– Gudrun Steinacker, former German Ambassador, diplomat and activist (Germany)

– Eda Gemi, Professor at the University of New York Tirana (Albania)

Moderator: Enver Abdulahi

Panel discussion: Literature and War – Artistic Representation and Civic Activism
Time: 16:30h – 18:00h
Center LOJA, Tetovo

– Elizabeta Sheleva, literary critic and professor (North Macedonia)

– Salajdin Salihu, writer and journalist (North Macedonia)

– Iskra Geshoska, art historian and director of the NGO Kontrapunkt (North Macedonia)

Moderator: Bashkim Shehu

Cafe Europa – Castigat ridendo mores (Laughing Corrects Customs) –
Poetry reading and performances, discussions
Time: 19:30h – 22:30h
Proficio, Odri, Tearce Municipality
Nikola Madzirov, Krenar Zejno, Julijana Velickovska, Andrej Nikolaidis, Ylljet Aliçka,
Nurie Emrullai, Perica Sardjoski

18th of May – Nature walk

Walk to Leshnice – Introduction by Ibrahim Dehari, Director of Sharr National Park Discussion:
The Human Being: Lord of the Nature, or Mother Nature’s Son?

Time:10:00h – 17:00h
Sharr National Park – Leshnice

The Watch Through Festival coincides with the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation event that will take place from 14 – 19 May 2024, in Skopje, Tetovo, and Sharr National Park. The “Watch Through Festival” will start on the 16th of May, creating synergies with the cooperation meeting. This Euro-Mediterranean cooperation is supported by the French-German Youth Office and the European Erasmus+ program.

WATCH THROUGH festival is organized by Center for Balkan Cooperation LOJA and its partners in the frame of EU funded project Regional Network for Cultural Diversity – READ and the K. Wustrow – Civil Peace Service project – CPS, supported by BMZ – Germany.