After 1991 there was a constant flow of Albanian refugees through these difficult mountainous passes. Albanians fled in large numbers into Greece everyday and it was not uncommon back then to encounter them tired and exhausted on the Greek mountains near the border. Facing freezing temperatures, snow and craggy terrain with light clothing, lack of food and the uncertainty of seeking a new country, they often encountered groups of mountaineers in their paths.  

Moving borders and crises, the common history of the Balkans through different narrations: the issues of closed or open borders  haunt this project as unsolved questions. Mountains are considered a terrain of freedom, of struggle, but also a place of common ground and common cultural history that goes way back in time.  

Passing Lines is an elliptic visual fragment of a common struggle against hostile terrain  and a projection of an imaginary forum of exchange and mutual aid created on those  mountains. The identities are merged: mountaineers and refugees could not be separated, they are struggling shadows in a world of ice and snow. In the evening they gather  together to cook and regain strength but also to reflect, communicate and discuss. This imaginary open assembly, a place of discussions and collective processes is a field of new beginnings, a common ground.  

In the near future, the Passing Lines project seeks to approach the Albanian communities and  include their narrations of their passage into the research. The aim is to investigate the relationship between the mountain area and the local communities in which they navigated, in order to rethink the closeness and dividends of recent history, as well as the barriers/borders between people. A future sequence of the project could be the collaboration with these communities or individuals, to visually represent their own version of their experiences of crossing the border on those mountains.