Cities and Memory - remixing the world

Many wouldn't think that Albania would become a great tourist destination one day and that these bunkers would have played a role in that. The major question that pops into our heads is why there are so many bunkers everywhere?

Well, it was due to national propaganda perpetrated by the communist regime. Fearing invasion during the Cold War, Albania’s leader Enver Hoxha forced his country to build tens of thousands of bunkers. Long after the regime’s collapse, many still remain and are now overgrown and left alone in the landscapes of Albania, lined like unearthly statues in deserted environments.

There are plenty of intriguing bunkers to visit around the city and this soundscape reflects just one of these abandoned lonely hulks standing throughout all weather conditions eroding grain by grain. If you listen to this haunting recording while looking at the photograph you can feel what the photograph cannot: a living presence across a duration of time.

Recorded by Rafael Diogo as a city sound guide for Cities and Memory - see more at https://citiesandmemory.com/city-sound-guides 

To understand Albania's history it is imperative to visit t​he ​giant bunker built to protect Enver Hoxha and his inner circle in the event of an atomic attack, the museum and contemporary art space Bunk Art museum.

The bunker was built between 1981 and 1986 as a shelter for top interior ministry officials and was big enough to easily hold hundreds of people. Now The museum and art space reflect the city initiative to use culture to celebrate the birth of a new era, whilst remembering its intense past.​ ​The​ underground long and reverberating dark corridors are ​accessed along a creepy 200-metre tunnel that blasts out eerie soundscapes, almost ​resembling a dark movie. A lonely walk through the ​subterranean labyrinth ​tunnels makes you ​descend into ​a musty five-storey bunker that feels like it was abandoned the day before.

It intends to ​unearth the memory of tens of thousands of people who were imprisoned and executed by the communist regime as an acoustic experience of intrinsic value.​ ​An excellent re-imagining of a Communist-era nuclear bunker scenario through sound installations that can inspire the work of a sound designer like myself.

So whether you're spending a day or a week in this city, now you have a glimpse of the best places to go and be immersed by the multitude of surrounding sounds that Tirana has to offer.

Recorded by Rafael Diogo as a city sound guide for Cities and Memory - see more at https://citiesandmemory.com/city-sound-guides 

Albania is a secular state, and therefore does not have an official religion. Albanians are known to be highly tolerant towards the religions of others, and therefore believers of various faiths peacefully coexist in the country.

Arabs who raided parts of the region in the past introduced their religion to the area and gradually, Islam grew in the country and Albania became one of the two countries in Europe that has a Muslim majority. I stayed in a major Muslim neighbourhood and fortunately was able to capture the moment of one of their five daily prayers.

The call to prayer ringing from the minaret of the mosque echoes in my ear each time I attempt to describe an experience in Tirana. The loudspeakers can be heard as far as 5 km away. They are used to empower the muezzin's voice to transcend a modern city's noises and so dominate this recording.

Recorded by Rafael Diogo as a city sound guide for Cities and Memory - see more at https://citiesandmemory.com/city-sound-guides 

The grotesque communist-era buildings are one of the main attractions in Tirana and inspire me to go looking for new intriguing sounds and exquisite reverberation textures.

My first stop was the infamous old soviet pyramid. The pyramid is right in the middle of the city and personally was one of the buildings that attracted me the most, ​resembling an enormous UFO that’s broken down in the city centre.

The pyramid was primarily built as a museum devoted to Enver Hohxa but after communism ended, it became forgotten. The soundscape highlights a soundwalk around the pyramid, mainly capturing the sounds of debris and different materials that reflect the state in which the pyramid was left or in its current vandalized state.

Recorded by Rafael Diogo as a city sound guide for Cities and Memory - see more at https://citiesandmemory.com/city-sound-guides 

Driving in the centre of Tirana can be a frustrating experience. Heavy traffic jams can leave you stranded for hours.

The Albanians also have a reputation for being quite eccentric drivers who like to throw the rule book out the window. In conditions like this and because the city is small, it often makes far more sense to walk.

It is easy and quite safe to wander the city streets and this also allows you to be immersed in the unique soundscape of the city, seeing and hearing all that it has to offer.

For some sights however you will need to get a bit further out of town and this is where a taxi ride can come in handy. Although my trip to Tirana took place right in the middle of the pandemic and the streets were far emptier than would usually be, which added a unique and special quality to the city’s atmosphere. I think this comes across when you listen to the sounds that have been captured. Like a unique fingerprint these sounds are unique to this city and tell it’s story to those who know how to listen.

Recorded by Rafael Diogo as a city sound guide for Cities and Memory - see more at https://citiesandmemory.com/city-sound-guides 

The Balkan identity has an interesting history. The origin of the word Balkan is obscure; it may be related to Persian bālk 'mud', and the Turkish suffix a 'swampy forest' or Persian balā-khāna 'big high house'. Related words are also found in other Turkic languages. The term was brought to Europe with Ottoman Turkish influence, where Balkan means 'chain of wooded mountains' in Turkic languages. Once you arrive in Sarajevo and look around, you’ll see houses rising from the surrounding hills. The hilly landscapes enchant with Orange roofs contrast with blue sky and green hills, with a minaret announcing the call to prayer. These are Sarajevo’s oldest residential areas. People have long lived in small hillside neighbourhoods, only coming down to Bascarsija to trade. These neighbourhoods often have a mosque. This is so that residents didn’t have to go up and down five times each day for their prayers. Here I walk through steep roads and lose myself along old streets to record this glimpse of Sarajevo's daily life. 

Recorded by Rafael Diogo as a city sound guide for Cities and Memory - see more at https://citiesandmemory.com/city-sound-guides 

Marsala Tita street is a great place to start your walking tour of the old city. The people of Sarajevo would undoubtedly agree that the city is like that one friend with whom you always have something to talk about. So, if you want to make friends with Sarajevo, here are a few 

sights that you simply have to see and immerse yourself in and be guided by the intricate and mysterious sounds that emanate from such an old town. 

The sounds of the passing recognisable city trams are one of them much and much more than just a means of transport. Some of the stops are meeting places and favourite gathering places for youth, like the stop at the Central Bank in the centre of town, known as “Čeka” (wait) to Sarajevans. Those who would like to have a glimpse of the trams and traffic noise can immerse in the soundscape recorded in a balcony on Marsala Tita street. 

Recorded by Rafael Diogo as a city sound guide for Cities and Memory - see more at https://citiesandmemory.com/city-sound-guides 

The city is sometimes affectionately called ‘Little Jerusalem’ or the ‘European Jerusalem’. Here you will find mosques, Serbian Orthodox churches, Roman Catholic churches and synagogues all nestled within close proximity to one another demonstrating the myriad of different faiths and beliefs that exist in this special city. Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque is located in the Baščaršija neighbourhood and has the locals say it become an imperial place in the renewal of the Islamic faith after years of Communist rule during which religion did not play a prominent role in the daily lives of Bosnians. As more mosques and other Islamic structures are built-in Bosnia, it will remain critical that Bosnia, and Bosnians, retain and build their own “Islamic identity” through these endeavours.

Recorded by Rafael Diogo as a city sound guide for Cities and Memory - see more at https://citiesandmemory.com/city-sound-guides 

People from Bosnia themselves are very diverse and different with many influences and it is difficult to stereotype these people. But when travelling across Sarajevo, you’ll notice that there are certain features that you encounter again and again, no matter what street you’re in. Bosnians are friendly people. Bosnians generally have a pretty relaxed sense of time and that’s why they easily start conversations in cafes offering their help to confused travellers. Popular places to meet among locals are "kafanas" (traditional cafes) and "kafiches" (modern café-bars) According to them, coffee is poured three times, and each serving even has its name: "Welcome coffee", "Talk coffee", and the third portion, "Farewell coffee", politely signalling that it's time to say goodbye. This soundscape was recorded while having a cafe in one this "kafiches" (modern café-bars), capturing the essence of the city among the music of a street artist playing the santur. 

Recorded by Rafael Diogo as a city sound guide for Cities and Memory - see more at https://citiesandmemory.com/city-sound-guides 

"A lifetime is short for Sarajevo." Walking around the neighbourhoods is like travelling through time, especially ​Bascarsija​, Sarajevo’s old town. Bascarsija was Sarajevo’s centre of trade and commerce back in the days where each cobblestoned street had its own unique artisan sellers during the Ottoman era. These days Bascarsija has gone from fine artisan sellers and traders to become the cultural centre of Sarajevo and home to many alternative bars and restaurants and also many tourists sites like Gazi Husrev-beg’s famous mosque. 

In the courtyard of the mosque, there is a beautiful Islamic fountain. As is customary in Islamic tradition, the fountain is used to cleanse oneself before entering the mosque. This soundscape is much more than an ordinary fountain in the centre of the old town but the sound of water dancing to the rhythms of the city in the background. 

Recorded by Rafael Diogo as a city sound guide for Cities and Memory - see more at https://citiesandmemory.com/city-sound-guides