Kosovo. Easter under siege


  • Photographer
    Daniel González Acuña
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Company/Studios
    Daniel Gonzalez Acuna
  • Date of Photograph
    May 2013

This work deals about the situation of the last Orthodox monasteries in Kosovo, until now, protected by KFOR (the NATO troops deployed in the area) because they are located in the West of the Kosovo territory, a albanian-kosovar majority area, and conserve inside what they consider the main elements of Serbian identity of the region. These religious places are catalogued as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO and, since 2006, inscribed in the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Orthodox Easter is a main celebration in these monasteries, although there are not Serbs around, only the monks and their relatives.

Story

In 2004, due to systematic destruction of churches and monasteries by the Albanian-Kosovar side, UNESCO declared the Visoki Dečani monastery as World Heritage Site; in 2006 this statement was expanded to three religious sites, and also inscribed them into the List of World Heritage in danger.

At the end of last April (2013), the governments of Serbia and Kosovo have signed a normalization agreement that excludes these small monastic communities, relegating them to a real danger.

Their safety depends on the protection offered by international NATO troops in Kosovo (KFOR). For that, and to obtain access to the monasteries and their celebrations, I reached to be embedded in the Multinational Battle Group West, directly responsible of these enclaves.

The Easter is a great night at Dečani monastery. At 12 p.m. monks, their relatives, a few pilgrims from Serbia and even some KFOR officers want to live it with all the solemnity of this magical place. After some initial prayers, the procession goes outside the church to walk the perimeter.

"Christ has risen", people screams. The monks open the door and the darkness, that enveloped everything before, becomes a wonderful moving luminary candles. From this point, the ritual includes prayers and chants, comings and goings of the monks, dressed in white, that run bearing censers to every corner of the church.

At 3:30 in the morning the ceremony concludes. A new cycle begins in these enclaves. Perhaps it could be the last Easter under siege.

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