Skopje- A City Interrupted

How are democracy and identity renegotiated in the design and use of public space and cultural heritage in Skopje? Arriving from the very different context of Denmark’s capital Copenhagen and from the field of architecture, this film examines Skopje and the issue of freedom and agency from a spatial perspective. From the Greek agora to Lefebvre’s question of the right to the city, we know that the design, planning and use of public space and cultural heritage are always embedded in various discourses of politics, democracy, identity, culture and - indeed – freedom and agency. In Skopje, this seems particularly apparent and poignant. First, with the demolitions and modernist rebuilding after the tragic 1963 earthquake and subsequently during the historicist-nationalist makeover of Skopje 2014. The film is, among others, investigating ongoing renegotiations of what to do about the new cultural layer of Skopje 2014 and the ambivalent relationship to the rest of Europe and the World, but also the everyday life experience of the city. Together with the Danish-Macedonian architect Daniel Serafimovski, who is familiar with both Skopje and Copenhagen, the film is revisiting different cases of public spaces and cultural heritage through interviews with local experts, archival footage, on-site registrations and voxpops with citizens of Skopje, a city aspiring to become European Capital of Culture in 2028.