In 2022, Prishtina is set to host the 14th edition of Manifesta, a roving biennial of contemporary art, which has been putting on site-specific three month exhibitions and making artistic interventions in cities across Europe for 25 years.

Manifesta has a long history of conducting extensive research into its host cities to inform its programme, and the same is true in Prishtina. Organisations have already been selected to form an urban vision for the city and conduct consultation workshops with citizens.

Manifesta’s director, Hedwig Fijen, tells Prishtina Insight that the concept behind the biennial is “to focus on meaningful relationships, learn about the environment and its history, and try to help citizens to reclaim public space and rewrite their future.”

To help achieve this aim, an urban vision for Prishtina will be conducted by the Turin-based design company Carlo Ratti Associati, in collaboration with the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with the research conducted informing how Manifesta 14 takes shape.

Meanwhile, the consultation workshops will be led by Studio L A, an architecture studio co-founded by Bosnian-Dutch architect Arna Mackic and Dutch architect Lorien Beijaert. According to a press release from Manifesta, these workshops will seek to explore the way culture is understood and practiced by artistic communities in Prishtina, as well as local attitudes towards urban development and socio-cultural policies.

A local team of coordinators have also been appointed, including Nita Deda, the former director of DokuFest, who tells Prishtina Insight that the biennial will strengthen local cultural infrastructure and reexamine Prishtina’s historical and contemporary context.

“I see Manifesta14 as a project that will address my country’s identity and potential for transformation,” she says. “I am especially enthusiastic about the permanent legacy Manifesta wishes to leave in Kosovo.”

Fijen echoes Deda’s sentiments, stating that Manifesta’s model is based on developing long term sustainable relationships with grassroots organisations and cultural spaces in Prishtina. “Our temporary existence functions more as an incubator, or facilitator, in mobilizing radical local energy,” she says.