Ismail Myrseli is a cultural researcher, music booking agent, and social activist. He holds a degree in archaeology from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Prishtina and works as a cultural worker, artist, and booking agent. His work spans art mediation, production, booking, and promoting bands across the region, as well as film and ethnomusicological research. His career in the arts began with Manifesta, where he worked on various mediation topics related to art and urban space. He is also a booking manager for experimental and alternative acts from Western and Central Europe travelling to the Balkans. In 2023, he joined the education department of the National Gallery of Kosovo as both a project manager and a mediator. His research focuses on the alternative music scenes in Prishtina and Belgrade. This research explores multiple layers to provide context for the alternative scene, starting with the historical record of the first collaborative anti-fascist music festival, BOOM. It covers both personal and collective experiences from the 1980s to the present day. The study traces the evolution from 80s collaborative projects to the 90s apartheid state, post-war clarity, and the memoirs of musicians and music professionals today. The research method employed in this journal is unconventional and personal, utilizing techniques such as visual arts, photography, and personal memoirs from his residency period in Belgrade.
You can download his research HERE.