Autostrada Biennale has been invited to participate in History Lab Europe, a participatory project of the House of European History, an initiative of the European Parliament in Brussels, bringing together cultural organisations and communities from across Europe to explore new ways of collecting, interpreting and presenting European history.

As part of History Lab Europe’s Decentralised Outreach Programme developed in collaboration with the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) and the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), Autostrada Biennale will develop The Life of a Place, a community-based project exploring the transformation of the hangars of the former German NATO/KFOR military camp in Prizren, today part of ITP Prizren, into Autostrada Hangar, Center for Contemporary Art.

Through oral histories, community storytelling, archival research and audiovisual documentation, The Life of a Place will bring together different generations and perspectives connected to the site, exploring how the identity and meaning of a place can transform over time.

The project will result in two interconnected outputs: a multimedia video work combining oral histories, archival material and contemporary documentation, and a community publication bringing together selected testimonies, research and visual material developed through the process. The project will be developed in Prizren throughout 2026 and 2027, with its outcomes presented as part of History Lab Europe at the House of European History in Brussels in 2027.

For Leutrim Fishekqiu, Vatra Abrashi and Barış Karamuço, co-founding directors of Autostrada Biennale, the collaboration represents an important continuation of the institution’s long-term work connecting contemporary art, education, community participation and the transformation of spaces through artistic and cultural practice.

“The Life of a Place brings the story of Autostrada Hangar and Autostrada Biennale, rooted in Prizren and Kosovo, into a wider European conversation. It is a story of former military hangars transformed into a place for art, education and community, and of the people whose imagination and commitment made that transformation possible. Through a video work and a publication, we will share how a place can carry the traces of its past while opening space for new generations, ideas and encounters. This transformation also opens a wider reflection on Europe, its recent history, and how places shaped by the past can be collectively reimagined for the future. Bringing this story to the House of European History is an opportunity to contribute our experience from Kosovo to that reflection, sharing what we have learned about memory, peace and the future we build together.” - Leutrim Fishekqiu, Vatra Abrashi and Barış Karamuço, Co-founding Directors of Autostrada Biennale.

Through The Life of a Place, Autostrada Biennale continues its commitment to creating cultural infrastructure through artistic practice and community participation, while connecting the particular history and transformation of Prizren with wider European conversations around art, memory, peace, transformation and shared histories.