I was standing in the main square in Skopje when I received an email informing me that I had won the Marc Grosset Audience Award 2021 at the Promenades Photographiques festival in Vendôme, France. A feeling of euphoria overwhelmed both my body and mind when I learned that it was precisely for the photographic series Zajdi, zajdi, portraying North Macedonian society, that I was being awarded. I jumped with joy and began to dance when I suddenly noticed black smoke covering the sky.
Flames of fire
The source of the fire did not seem very far away. I quickly regained my composure and headed in its direction. About fifteen minutes later, I arrived near the central park, where a wooden barrack had caught fire. The police were already securing the area, the firefighters had just arrived as well, and people were gathering around to watch the spectacle.
Inside this barrack was the misdemeanour court, which was going up in flames. The wooden structure in question was part of the temporary solutions put in place after the 1963 earthquake, which had reduced a large part of the capital to rubble. At that time, a strong wave of international solidarity emerged to help rebuild the city, but also to provide temporary facilities that could ensure emergency functionality. Barracks of this kind were installed throughout the capital thanks to Finnish and Polish donations. Fifty-eight years after their installation, some of them were still in use, until moments like this one, when an aging electrical system had most likely caused the fire.
I feel that this example speaks volumes about the way Macedonian society functions.
Sometimes, I believe that nothing can truly change in this land unless an accident happens first.
