“Skopje was not [a] beautiful town…but it was [an] authentic town.”
These words expressed by Zaneta Trajkoska, The Director of the Institute for Media in Macedonia, describe a general feeling that Macedonians have towards the newly built structures that stand tall in the city center of Skopje, Macedonia.
A statue of Alexander the Great, complete with a water fountain, overlooks the city. A closer look at the statue reveals something that wasn’t in the original plan for the statue; splashed of red paint . Citizens in protest launch paint balls at the government funded statues as well as at a select number of government buildings.
In what has become known as the Colorful Revolution, the people of Macedonia are displaying their anger towards the government in an artistic way. What started as a protest over leaked conversations secretly recorded by the government has come to represent a variety of problems facing their society. One of the bigger issues is trying to create fair elections and hold those who took part in governmental scandal accountable under the law.
These statues endure the brunt of the anger because they represent the government failing to act in the interest of its people. the citizens were shown a digital version of what the city would look like after the building, but were angry as they felt the statues were unnecessary and overly expensive. Without consent of the people, the government began building. Now, the people stand in solidarity to show that they have a voice that needs to be heard.
“It is not about that they are improving the quality of living, but they are just putting on ugly makeup,” said Trajkoska. “It’s completely ugly.”