Kosovo:Culture Ministry focus on heritage protection,youth
Il Museo nazionale del Kosovo a Pristina
6/12/2011
Country trying to protect ‘shared heritage’ with small steps.
(ANSAmed) – PRISTINA,DECEMBER 6 – Protecting Kosovo’s cultural heritage through urgent interventions and supporting the youth, who represent the country’s future, are the two very complex missions that Kosovo’s Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry under the young Memli Krasniqi seems to want to focus on despite the difficult economic circumstances. This year the Culture Ministry’s budget was at 13 million euros, while for the next, the minister noted to ANSAmed, ”we should have 18 millions available”. It is a rather limited sum, he admits. But the top priorities, as can easily be imagined – in a country finding it difficult to consolidate its borders and strengthen its institutions – are above all those of ensuring all of its citizens enjoy decent living standards. And so there are attempts to gradually put in order even the cultural sector since, as is often heard in Pristina, ”this heritage belongs to everyone and should be protected”.
In addition to Orthodox churches and monasteries – which are heavily weighed down by the tense political situation between Belgrade and Pristina – and the oldest mosques (already partially restored thanks to the help of Turkey and Saudi Arabia), the heritage to protect is manifold, including the important archaeological site of Ulpiana(ancient Roman city dating back to the II century A.D.) and Prizren (nicknamed ”The Florence of Kosovo” due to such gems as the Sinan Pasha mosque, the madrasa, the Gazi Mehmnet Pasha Hammam and a number of Orthodox churches, some of which damaged). ”In this important centre,” said the minister, ”with the help of the US embassy, we are creating an ethnological museum like those of Pristina and Gjakova.” And in Prizren a restoration team (three Italians, a Serbian and two Kosovars) are working on the restoration of the Orthodox church of the Holy Virgin of Ljeviska. ”It is s project funded by UNESCO and coordinated by the NGO Intersos,” said Chiara and Marco, two of the three Italian restorers from the Superior Institute for Conservation and Restoration (ICR). Despite the fact that there are very few resources for this campaign, they noted, the positive thing ”is the team work engaged in by Kosovar and Serbian restorers”. ”There are many steps to be taken,” said Minister Krasniqi.
”With Italy, for example, last year we set in motion a project to draw up an inventory of all the goods included in our cultural and landscape heritage, and we are in contact with the ICR to understand how to start new projects to improve the professionalism of our experts.” In addition to the issuing of new regulations for the country’s museums (15, so far), an open issue is the bringing back of finds taken away before the war by Serbia from Kosovo’s National Museum in Pristina, which currently holds little or nothing.
”Overall the latter include 1,246 artifacts,” noted Krasniqi, while another 50,000 are still lying in the museum’s store rooms and have not yet been catalogued. And then there are the younger generations. The minister himself – who at 28 and with a degree in Political Science and a Master from the London School of Economics is among the young representing the majority of Kosovo’s population – is known above all for his past as a rapper. ”My group (‘Ritmi i Rruges’, Ed.) was against the profound injustice suffered by our population,” he said, smiling. The ministry supports youth organisations, financing projects and educational campaigns against drugs, sexually transmitted diseases and smoking. The true bane of Kosovo’s existence, however, is unemployment, ”which nearly 50% of those under 35 suffer from”. (ANSAmed).
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