On a Quest for Salomon Sneakers at the Car Baazar

These recordings serve as a soundscape of the car bazaar of Prishtina, located on the transit to the city of ‘Fushë Kosove’. This very well-known bazaar in Kosovo has barely any written information such as its origins, what it offers, where it is – kept alive by mere word of mouth. In the absence of any documentation of the market, this sound map can act as an unconventional recording for this unconventional place.

The name of the project “On a quest for Salomon shoes at the car bazaar” alludes to the reason I went to the bazaar, to find this very sought-after item of late fashion trends, Salomon sneakers. On the quest of finding these sneakers – which I did find plenty of – it all felt a bit absurd. The bazaar, which is more typical of market places of the last decade in Kosovo, has one of the most trendy fashion items to offer right next to a stand that sells tableware among many other predominantly second hand items “shipped” from Germany, Switzerland and other western countries. I see this place as symbolic of Kosovo itself – while the demand matches those of more developed countries, the system doesn’t, so we make do with what we have.

In the accompanying sound recording, you can hear my journey through the car bazaar as I bargain for Salomon sneakers amidst the chatter of various other bargaining sessions, funny conversations amongst other visitors, a mix of different music genres playing, ranging from Kosovar folklore to 2000’s pop, and an abundance of other sounds that capture the essence of the car bazaar.