On our first session of MemoryLab creative writing workshop, we welcomed participants from the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United States, Albania, and Kosovo.

As StoryLab, we are super excited to have such a multi-disciplinary group that includes architects, linguists, video game designers, law students, artists, sociologists, psychologists, healthcare professionals, computer scientists, technologists, culture workers, and even a very talented high-school student.

During our first writing exercise, we used our own memories as raw material, which resulted in numerous great ideas that could be further developed into full stories.

On our second session, photographer Jetmir Idrizi led the “Photography and Memory” lecture.

Through discussing their previous works, projects, and exhibitions Jetmir tackled topics such as first impressions through photography, the importance or research in photography work, ethics in photography, the issues of follow-up in photojournalism, and more.

During our class exercise, each participant presented a personal photo and a memory associated with it. Each of the stories were worthy of a longer text.

An amazing start to exploring memory through nonfiction and the arts.

Jetmir Idrizi’s previous project “Museum of Bad Memories” served as an inspiration for an idea that workshop participants could possibly implement in our upcoming zine.

Special thanks to Fondacioni 17 for the cozy environment at Rezidenca 17.