Rolf Killius

Troubadours, Storytellers and Treasure Troves - Slow Tour Balkan

A green journey through Albania, Greece, North Macedonia and Kosovo.

The sound recordist and exhibition/museum curator Rolf Killius (London) is on the road in an ecologically sustainable way. In May/June 2023 he started visiting smaller selected towns and regions in Albania, Greece, North Macedonia and Kosovo. In these places he interacts with local museums, musicians, performers, storytellers, culinary artisans and craftspeople. He was especially interested in learning from them, connecting them to each other and eventually featuring them in radio programmes, exhibitions and social networks. In museums – the treasure troves – he likes to connect collected objects with the intangible culture still alive in the local area.

He travels by bus & train and stay overnight in communal facilities, private apartments or small guesthouses. In this "sustainable" way of traveling he meets special people and learns about their cultural environment and natural surroundings. Rolf not only wants to have time to know the people, but to give them a chance to understand his intentions and to be involved in the project itself. Here the term 'sustainability' is used to refer to the way he travels: the food/gastronomy and accommodation encountered as well as closer contact with the people of these regions.

On this trip, Rolf creates an alternative to organized and fast travel. He embarks on a path away from the prevailing tour business, which is usually based on visiting hotel chains, fast food restaurants, superficial small talks and fleeting encounters. In summary: he wants to use resources consciously & sparingly, as well as tour in a minimalistic way.

Before and during the trip Rolf gets in contact with local museums and NGO’s to involve them in the tour and the resulting artistic actions. Since museums are accessible to everyone and represent the cultural heritage of the people, they are an ideal place to accompany and carry forward this sustainability approach.

In the first trip the tour comprises some of the following places/regions: