From the 8th to the 13th of March 2025
Kelmend, Albanian Alps (AL)
Field Research
Organized by GO2Albania, as part of the Creative Europe Tramontana IV project.
Livestock droving, water use cultures and rights are two of the main themes around which a series of interviews with residents of the western part of the Albanian Alps are being recorded in audio and video. From seasonal springs to the inexhaustible Cem River, Kelmend has a rich water network, which has enabled the spread of settlements at different altitudes.
The presence of water has determined the location of villages and mountains, on which the life of the mountain people has depended throughout history. And the highlanders have then oriented and transported water according to their daily needs, freshwater and their livestock, to wash and cook, to irrigate the lands and to grind bread grains, for fishing and in rare places – even for transport.
As the last witnesses of a rapidly changing traditional way of life, Lan, Luka, Leke, Lina, Luigj, Dod and other mountaineers recount with sincerity and beyond nostalgia, details from childhood to modern times. Hours of conversations have already been catalogued and are being processed to serve the future as evidence of a time when man was closer to nature. That is, to himself.
Realized with the support of Prespa Ohrid Nature Trust – PONT.
