To achieve the maximum from this workshop, we decide to extend it from one day to four days. We thought of building a workshop that included various areas of our culture in a single process spread in 4 days. We appointed Mr Elton Koritari, an experienced professional in the culture field, as the leading component of the workshop. Mr Koritari is the brain behind the artistic installation on 17th February 2023 in Spaç Prison, titled “Fraktura”. [FRAKTURA Spaç 2023 | EJAlbum]
There were 47 participants that took part in general.
Day 2 – July 12. Mr Lekë Tasi led this day. L. Tasi is a politically persecuted artist during the dictatorship regime in Albania. This day included insights about his past, personal history and his art. Participants learned not only ways how creativity can be used to escape pressure, they also worked on ways to use art to fight political oppression that dangers cultural heritages.
Day 3 – July 13. Mr Kreshnik Merxhani, architect and expert in cultural heritage, presented his research and work in cultural sites with special focus on Spaç Prison. This day offered learning around various aspect of the architectural, historical, cultural and perceptual values of Spaç Prison that influence real happenings and the life of people in that prison. Also, this workshop explored the importance of preserving this cultural site specifically.
Day 1 – July 11. Started with presenting the documentary “Fraktura”. The participants engaged in open an discurssion about the importance of the past in visual arts and vice versa, brainstorming, critical thinking, and how to find new ways to use our history in the best for social transformation.
Day 4 – July 14. Albanian music in to vinyl. The Scholar and ethnic musicologist Mrs Mikaela Minga explored the old music related to past historical and social events, and songs recorded in vinyls decades before 1990. Participants learned about aspects of polyphonic songs, song that were sung in families and neighborhoods, the different types of recording of music, and the importance of this kind of cultural heritage that can be used to develop further our traditional music. This method of preservation of the local music plays a crucial role in emphasizing lost elements of our culture, nowadays.
“The project is supported through the EU4Culture programme, which is funded by the European Union and implemented by UNOPS in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation. The project is realized by Tek Bunkeri, Tirana.