"If you didn't have a Fiqa, you will never have Mercedes"

(acrylic on canvas, 150x110), 2008

"When I saw his work, this little car wrapped with a ribbon, I noticed that our society was very clearly reflected. Our small country was so similar to that car, which he wrapped as a present. Well, our country was a present to our neighboring countries but after long time it became a present to itself.

For the first time a big part of the population embraced "luxury" when they took to the road as emigrants. This road wasn't traveled for the sake of luxury. We were a poor country without any idea of what luxury was and for most of us Hollywood was just a dream within a dream. This road was traveled to find work, which, for so long, was denied to us.

After the development of other countries was revealed to the eyes of Kosovar emigrants outside of this black hole, those of us who remained behind got to experience the idea of luxury vicariously.

This vicariously enjoyed luxury was initially presented in the forms of large buildings, much larger than we were used to, extravagant dresses and luxury cars. Those memories come to me as a clear image every time I hear the Janis Joplin song Summertime, in particular when she sings one line: "Your daddy is rich and your mama is good looking."

This was a sort of transition that our society was experiencing. Our society was embodied by greed.

From the big squeeze that our society had, a 'paradise' was found abroad by our brothers and sisters, far from our denied country. It's like they touched the dream there.

However, our country is still poor even though we see a lot of Mercedes in the city. But, are we willing to accept the reality we're living? That is a totally different story.

The summer months are when a lot of emigrants come to visit their families in Kosovo. The city, for three months, is full of luxury and joy. In cafe bars, where I go every night after work, I see a lot of new faces, much happier that those that I see everyday. The extravagances that wrap the city these days make one part of the city feel so different.

That feeling of being estranged from our returned diaspora was experienced by a friend of mine. We were sitting in a cafe bar and she was wearing All Stars athletic shoes that were ripped.

One young girl was staring at my friend and her shoes. The girl's eyes stopped at my friend's shoes for a few seconds. My friend was feeling a little offended and she made an arrogant gesture by stretching her leg and mocking, "Do you want me to sell you my shoes?"

The girl was surprised by the gesture and replied to my friend with a scared "no".

My friend turned to me and said, "She probably wishes for my shoes only because they are so simple and also because she might walk freely in them."

That little car that Bekim presented was so simple and so real. For some time most of our families dreamed to have one of those simple cars. The work is so real because we cannot get the bigger things without having the small ones first.

But, are we touching the small things first?

Do I need a big Mercedes to be a part of society, while I have a small car that is so similar to Lieutenant Mambli's?

Do we need the greed of luxuries when we don't have the essentials yet?"

Text by Trinity Little (writer & journalist)