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Cultural heritage

Reconciliation Reconstruction Hopes for the Future

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1Cultural Heritage Reconciliation Reconstruction Hopes for the Future

Damage to cultural

property belong-

ing to any people

whatsoever means

damage to the cul-

tural heritage of

all mankind, since

each people makes

its contribution to

the culture of the

world.

Hague Convention, 1954

Shattering peoples sense of pride and

identity is one very effective way to

destroy their cultures common history.

This has now become part of modern

warfare, as seen by the wholesale

destruction of cultural heritage, like

churches, mosques, libraries, historical

monuments, artwork, documents and

museums.

Cultural heritage issues have theirrightful place in the rebuilding of a state

that is based on peace and human rights.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in

countries that have been ravaged by inter-

nal conflicts. Mutual respect for cultural

heritage is a condition for a societys

peaceful development.

An active involvement with cultural

heritage issues is one way of minimising

the risks in the future of people being

victimised or even killed because of their

cultural identity and therefore of decisive

importance in ensuring that respect for

human rights is upheld.

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2 Cultural Heritage Reconciliation Reconstruction Hopes for the Future

A question of feeling at home

The right to ones own cultural heritage isan integral part of human rights. In todaysworld where a large number of people livesin another place than their original home,working with cultural heritage offers a

daunting challenge.Time after time we have witnessed

the way war, political conflicts, naturalcatastrophes, climate changes and neglectdeprive different ethnic groups of their cul-tural heritage and history. Modern warfarehas become all the more brutal in its at-

tacks on civil population, brazen examplesof which have been the desecration anddestruction of cultural monuments of theenemy. This has been seen in the Balkans,the Middle East and Asia. However, there isconsiderable evidence that working with theconservation and development of historicenvironments can help promote the process

of reconciliation, strengthen self-belief, con-tribute towards growth and fight poverty.

Cultural Heritage without Borderswas founded in 1995 as an independentSwedish non-governmental organisation towork in the spirit of the 1954 HagueConvention for the protection of cultural

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property in the event of armed conflict,natural catastrophes, neglect, poverty orpolitical and social conflicts. Rebuildingand protection of cultural symbols is viewedby Cultural Heritage without Borders as

one of the conditions for people to feel athome and secure, especially after a war orconflict waged on ethnic grounds.

So far most of the work conducted byCultural Heritage without Borders has beenin the former Yugoslavia with building

restoration, museum developments andwork exchanges. In addition, CulturalHeritage without Borders has participatedin the restoration of a Tibetan monasteryin Gandze in the province of Sichuan inChina.

In all these projects priority has beengiven to use the same material and techniques

as was used in the original building and toensure that most of the work was imple-mented by local and national partners.

Since working with cultural heritage helpsvictimised groups strengthen and regain theirsense of pride, the aim has been to integraterestoration and development of cultural

property into the normal emergency reliefwork and development co-operation andtherefore to improve the conditions for re-conciliation and poverty reduction. A long-term hope is that several more international

organisations will be able to collaborate to-gether in such a concrete and practical way.

We would like to extend our warmthanks to our supporters, individual donorsas well as Swedish International Deve-lopment Cooperation Agency (Sida) andEU, without whose help none of our work

would have been possible.We hope that the presentation of someof our projects in this brochure will beseen as an invitation to join with us in themuch-needed work of international co-operation.

Stockholm, November 2005

Bengt O. H. Johansson

Chairman

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Cultural Heritagewithout BordersThe foundation Cultural Heritage without

Borders (CHwB) was constituted in April1995 as a reaction to the acute and mass-ive aid that was needed due to the war inBosnia-Herzegovina. Destruction of cul-tural monuments was quite extensive andsystematic, which made the world realise

the urgent need for development assistanceand protection. When a group of architectsand conservation workers in Sweden gathe-red to protest, discussions were held to findways to take concrete action and to suggestproposals for financing Swedish emergencyaid in this area within the framework for

Sidas development co-operation.Within this group of founding membersthe appropriate documents and statuteswere drawn up for a foundation whose aimswere broadened to include not just urgentaction in the former Yugoslavia but also topromote conservation of cultural propertyin areas ravaged by armed conflict, cata-

strophes or otherwise endangered as well asstimulate appropriate research.

Because of the special importance ofthe 22 founding members involvement,professional experience and occupationalpositions, the Foundation could nurturefrom the very beginning close relations with

various parts of Swedish society and cul-tural life. It was considered a great honourthat the then president of the Swedish RedCross, Princess Christina, wanted to standas head of the founders, thereby clearlyunderscoring the sense of a common causewith humanitarian work in general. Other

founders included three former Ministers ofculture, two members of Parliament, headof the National Heritage Board, chairmenof both the Swedish National Commissionfor UNESCO and the Swedish Museums

Association, presidents of the Royal Aca-demy of Fine Arts and Royal Academy of

Letters, History and Antiquities, theArchbishop of Stockholm, chairmen of theSwedish National Associations of ICOM(International Council of Museums) andICOMOS (International Council onMonuments and Sites) as well as secretarygenerals for the Swedish Association of

Architects and the Swedish World Wildlife

Fund.Members of the board and the auditors

are appointed by four public bodies andorganisations, which are the Swedish Natio-nal Committees of ICOM and ICOMOS,National Heritage Board and Swedish

Association of Architects.

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At UNESCOs General Conference in 1993there was great concern that the war in theformer Yugoslavia was in the process ofdestroying large parts of the areas culturalheritage. As much as 75 per cent of thecultural heritage in Bosnia-Herzegovina

was damaged according to UNESCOs ownestimates. During the conference a series ofproposals was put forward on how to pro-tect and save cultural property. The Swedishdelegation realised the need for a follow-upmeeting that was arranged in Stockholmin the following year, focusing on informa-

tion as a means to protect cultural heritagefrom war damage. Those participatingwere specialists on heritage conservationand international law, military experts and

journalists from Sweden and internationalagencies.

The war demonstrated strong ethnic

dimensions: the devastation in the westernBalkans was part of the campaign of ethniccleansing where atrocities against peopleand cultural monuments had the sameaim, namely to violate human dignity anderase all traces of the enemy. As the eventsin the western Balkans clearly revealed the

War and cultural heritage

close links between man and his culturalheritage, it was very important to emphasisethat the 1954 Hague Convention was anintegral part of the international humani-tarian law. There was, however, a lack ofknowledge about the Hague Convention,

at both a national level and within the UNpeace-keeping forces and humanitarianrelief agency. In a strongly worded resolu-tion directed at UNESCO, the conferencein Stockholm called for special experts,heritage monitors, to be appointed towork alongside UN peace-keeping forces

in regions of conflict and for protection ofcultural heritage to be integrated, as a mat-ter of course, into all the humanitarian andemergency relief aid administered by UNagencies.

ICOMOS proposed a plan to establish aBlue Shield Organisation (the blue shieldbeing the emblem of the Hague Conven-

tion), which would be a national and inter-national heritage equivalent to the World

Wildlife Fund in regard to nature conser-vation and the Red Cross in the area of hu-manitarian aid. The draft proposal won thesupport of the conference and in the finaldocument of recommendations UNESCO

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was urged to work for its implementation.In Sweden, the conference had one very

tangible result, namely the establishment ofthe Foundation Cultural Heritage withoutBorders. From an international perspectiveand after more than ten years experience, it

can be shown that Cultural Heritage with-out Borders is one of the most long-lastingattempts to create an all-embracing organi-sation for direct emergency relief aid in thearea of heritage conservation.

Part of Cultural Heritage without Borders work in the Balkans has been to restore so-called Kulla

buildings, fortified stone houses which look like towers.

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CROATIA

ROMANIA

SERBIA

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

HUNGARY

MONTENEGRO

KOSOVO

BULGARIA

ALBANIA THE FORMER

YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC

OF MACEDONIA

Sarajevo

Belgrade

Podgorica

Pristina

Cultural Heritage without Borders

project locations in western Balkans

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Cultural heritage and the diversity of cul-tural symbols can be used as a means toconsolidate differences and idiosyncrasies.

After the cessation of ethnic hostilities inthe Balkans, it became clear that the issuesconcerning cultural heritage needed to begiven greater attention if a long-lastingpeace and reconciliation was to be achieved.

Not only did the scars and reminders thatthe war-damaged monuments repres-ented have to be taken care of, but also theintertwined historical past of the Balkanshad to be faced. The Balkan heritage mayin this way exert an influence that cansymbolise the reality of co-existence and a

common past. We must never forget canbe seen painted on a stone near the bridgein Mostar, so an important task is to laya sound base for the future by identifyingeverything that is common in the region.

Within the museum and restoration sectorsit is quite obvious how intertwined thevarious ethnic groups in the Balkans have

been with each other throughout history.An emphasis on the common features ofcultural heritage can help create a platformthat is based on mutual respect. In order toprevent conflicts from being cemented andpassed on, it is naturally important to findsolutions to these problems. The prevention

Work in the Balkans

of conflicts is also one of the most funda-mental ways to fight poverty. Moreover,cultural heritage is one of the pre-requisitesfor a peaceful and democratic developmentin the region.

Through the support given to culturalheritage, several other aims can be achievedalso, for instance, an increased administrati-

ve capacity and harmonisation of legislationwith the rest of Europe. In addition to thedemocratic and environmental gains, workopportunities can be created for local arti-sans and small businesses. Cultural heritageis important for sustainable development asthose traditional building techniques that

are used in restoration work are often envi-ronmentally sound and profitable for localindustry and craftsmen. An economic app-roach is encouraged and small businessescan demonstrate the quality of their work.

Since cultural heritage usually impliesworking at a local level, this can stimulatelocal democratic structures, especially where

cultural heritage is publicly owned. In suchcases, organisations and authorities canexert considerable influence over the work.Cultural Heritage without Borders hashelped to initiate local development plansin several places, involving both men andwomen.

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Cultural Heritage withoutBorders has set upthe following goals:

To safeguard for future generationsthe unique cultural heritage deva-stated by catastrophes.

To work for the involvement ofcultural heritage in the process ofreconciliation. To contribute to capacity buildingin accordance with internationalprinciples within the area of heritageconservation and protection. To support the development ofnetworks and co-operation between

ethnic and religious groups acrossentity and nationality borders. To encourage local initiatives toutilise heritage management as agenerator of economic development. To support the growth and renewalof civil society within the sector ofcultural heritage. To increase gradually localownership and participation from

both women and men.

Bosnia-Herzegovina

The significance

of cultural heritage forthe rebuilding of Bosnia-Herzegovinabecame quite clear in connection with theDayton Peace Agreement, where an annexdealt with issues of cultural heritage.

Cultural Heritage without Borders has,with support from Sida and others, imple-mented about twenty projects throughout

the whole of Bosnia-Herzegovina in coll-aboration with the Federal Institute forthe Protection of Cultural, Historical andNatural Heritage in Sarajevo and the Insti-tutes for Heritage Conservation in BanjaLuka and Mostar as well as the Universityof Sarajevo (as part of a postgraduate

course). All the projects and objects havebeen selected after consultations with andproposals from these institutes and theMinistry of Culture. The selection criteriafor the restorations have been a combina-tion of: the objects historical significance, the possibilities to complete the restora-

tion with limited resources, the restorations educational and trainingcapacity, and the potential to stimulate reconcilia-tion and resettlement.

The work has meant that buildings ofgreat cultural and historical significance

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have been safeguarded for future genera-tions. Furthermore, a whole corpus ofknowledge has been collected with com-plete documentation of restoration andconservation methods and project manage-ment plans, which can be very useful fortodays architects and students. This know-ledge may be profitably applied in trainingcourses as study examples of restorationsthat have been implemented in accordancewith international principles and conven-tions. Cultural Heritage without Bordershas been given great recognition for its

work in the country, when it received aspecial prize awarded in connection withthe re-opening of the old bridge in Mostarin July 2004, and when it was asked to takeone of the places on the commission tomonitor the Dayton Commissions Annex8 which is concerned with the protection ofthe multi cultural heritage of the country.

What follows is a description of some of thelarger projects in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The National Museumin SarajevoThe National Museum Zemaljski Muzej

in Sarajevo was in a terrible state when thesiege of the city was ended in 1995. Themuseum is situated on the main thorough-fare between the centre and the airport, theroad that was called Snipers Alley duringthe war. It had been damaged by heavymortar attacks, many of which had gone

The National Museum, Zemaljski

Muzej, in Sarajevo was damaged byheavy mortar attacks during the war.

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through its roof and some of the walls sothat the sky-lights and masonry had beendestroyed. Because of widespread damage

it had rained and snowed into the exhibi-tion halls. Problems were aggravated evenfurther because the buildings had been re-plastered wrongly in the 1980s so that thewalls could not be dried out properly.

The museums staff performed heroicwork during the war, moving large parts ofthe collections to safety and guarding the

museum every night to prevent plundering.Books from the library were taken down tothe cellars. The most valuable pieces werehidden away and only three staff members,one from each of the three larger ethnicgroups, knew their exact location. Despitepeace and new recruitment during the last

ten years there are only half the number ofemployees today as there were before the war.

The National Museum has been the

prime object for the aid and developmentwork undertaken by Cultural Heritagewithout Borders in Bosnia-Herzegovinafrom the very beginning in 1996. It hashad a strategic significance on several levels:firstly, besides the Historical Museum, it isBosnia-Herzegovinas only museum with anational profile for all the different ethnic

groups in the country which can give it akey role in the future; and secondly, fol-lowing the destruction of the National Lib-rary, it is now the countrys most importantlibrary. And thirdly, it has overall respon-sibility for the other museums in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Because of its central location,

The National Museum, Zemaljski Muzej, in Sarajevo after restoration.

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the panorama of the city has generally be-nefited by the restoration of its faades.

One of the first tasks was to renovate themuseums pavilion of natural history whichhad been the worst affected by the shelling.The greatest threat, however, did not comefrom the shattered parts of the faade, roo-fing, sculptures or display cabinets but fromall the snow, rain and damp that had seepedin through holes in the roof and walls. Newroofing was laid and those parts damagedby damp were repaired. New hardwearingglass was put into all the sky-lights. When

the faades were restored, care was takenin choosing the appropriate materials andmethods, which set a precedent for thework on restoring the other buildings.

Although none of the original documentswere found concerning the colour, the ori-ginal formula for the plaster was used, andsilicate paint was selected, after several trialswere conducted in situ together with manu-facturers from Croatia.

Next was the archaeological pavilion,which housed the museums foyer, officeand archaeological collections. Even herethe faade, which looks out onto the mainroad, was badly damaged but has now after

its restoration greatly improved the wholeappearance of the museum. Just as with thedepartment of natural history this buildingwas also given new plaster, new roofing andnew glass in the sky-lights. The two otherbuildings that housed the museums libraryand department of ethnology were restored

with the same methods, partly with supportfrom EU.

Equipment

Many lorry loads of material, donated andsponsored by Swedish museums, culturalinstitutes, large and small businesses, havebeen transported from Sweden to theNational Museum, everything from sewingneedles to computers, display cabinets,chairs, drying machines, work-clothes,cleaning trolleys, curtain material, sewingmachines, lighting, bicycles and scalpels.

Although needs have been tremendous,Cultural Heritage without Borders has triedto make the museums workshops as self-sufficient as possible and better equippedto conduct its outreaching activities. Onceagain there are workshops for conservationand exhibition work as well as furnishedlecture rooms and hall.

Development of activities and new ways

of working

War, poor finances and lack of contactswith west European museums are some ofthe reasons why there was no change inthe way the museum functioned for a long

time. The management of the museumpresented a long list of needs and propo-sals to Cultural Heritage without Borderswhen our collaboration started, and thesuccesses during the duration of the projecthave been remarkable. Cultural Heritagewithout Borders has supported the staff to

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give priority to the museums relation tothe general public on the basis of resourcesavailable. Now children and youth also visitthe museum regularly.

New ways of working have been deve-loped with the help of courses, exchanges,seminars, workshops and modern technicaldevices. Today there are computers and adigital camera to help document the collec-tions. Staff members have attended coursesin English, outreaching and exhibitiontechniques, internal and external informa-tion, teaching methods and management.

In addition to facilitating contacts with sis-ter organisations in Sweden, Swedish speci-alists have held seminars and several groupsof personnel have made study visits tovarious museums in Sweden. Swedish sup-port has also enabled a national committeeof ICOM to be formed, with participantsfrom every part of Bosnia-Herzegovina, in-cluding the Republic of Srpska.

As collaboration continues, part of itwill concentrate on developing tools tomake use of contemporary history. Themuseum has, like most of the museums inthe Balkans, so far focussed on older folkculture. Therefore, a challenging assign-

ment will be working with modern ethno-logy. Funding: Sida, National Museums of World

Culture, Swedish Institute, Swedish Museum of

Natural History, Soros Open Society Foundation,

Archaeological Museum in Stavanger and EU

amongst others.

The medieval town of MaglajCultural Heritage without Borders under-took its initial visit to Bosnia-Herzegovinain April 1996 to assess the devastation afterthe war and consult with local authoritiesand institutions about the emergency dis-aster measures that were most badly needed.The medieval town of Maglaj was singledout as it lacked its own resources tocope with the restoration of the severelybombed core of its oldest town centre.

After consultations with the municipal aut-horities, Minister of Culture and the Fede-

ral Heritage Institute, the medieval mosqueKursumlija Dzamija was selected as apilot project. The work of projecting wasassigned to the Heritage Institute in Sara-

jevo and carried out in collaboration withthe project manager appointed by CulturalHeritage without Borders. Local builderswere engaged.

The mosque is from the early 17thcentury, although its architectural style isderived from the smaller Ottoman cubicmosques of the 15th century with a domesupported by an octagon. The minaret isplaced, as is tradition, to the right of themain entrance. At the front of the mosque

there is a loggia with four pillars, whichsupport three small domes. The upper partof the minaret had been shot down and thedomes had been damaged by shells andcollapsing parts of the minaret. Workinvolved protective covering, reconstruc-tion of the minaret, new lead roofing for

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the domes. A tinsmith from Sweden wasbrought in to share his experiences withBosnian colleagues.

Since this was a pilot project, manyquestions and problems were raised andsolved during the course of the work.Oneimportant lesson learnt was the dire need

for developing skills, not just on an antiqu-arian level but also in regard to projectingand implementation of qualified measuresof conservation. On-site problems becamealso very clear for Cultural Heritage withoutBorders which helped to facilitate a dialoguewith colleagues in Bosnia-Herzegovina,

not only on issues concerning conservationof damaged cultural property but also onquestions of a more general nature aboutmeasures, methods and material to be usedfor conservation and restoration as well asabout the need for good relations with thegeneral public.

In the vicinity of the mosque a traditio-nal guesthouse from the 19th century wasrenovated to be used as a school and leisurecentre for the towns youth.

Another important lesson from thisfirst year in Bosnia-Herzegovina was thatthe damage to cultural heritage, in both a

The mosque Kursumlija Dzamija in Maglaj, before and after restoration, Cultural Heritage without

Borders initial project in the Balkans.

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material and technical sense, had not onlyits causes in this latest war but was also aresult of earlier cultural policies that hadnot taken serious responsibility for heritagemanagement. Funding: Sida.

MostarThree projects have been implemented inthe town of Mostar. Two bazaar buildingsclose to the old bridge have been restored.From the beginning only the stonewalls

from the 16th century remained standing,but with the help of drawings from the1960s and photographs those parts thatwere missing could be reconstructed. Thebazaars are used as shops and cafs, whichare rented out by their owners, the townauthorities or local religious communities.The third project was the building that hadearlier housed the local heritage institutebut which after the war had been used bythe City Museum, though now it is plannedto house the authority for the old town ofMostar that is inscribed on UNESCOs

World Heritage List. Funding: Sida, Mostar City Council and

Mr. Hugh McColl.

The monastery church in ZavalaThe monastery church in Zavala has someof the most remarkable frescoes in Bosnia-Herzegovina that are from 1617. Prior to

The work in the monastery churchin Zavala has attracted a lot of

interest. Frescoes from the early 17th

century have been restored.

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the restoration there was an acute situationas one of the arches was on the verge of col-lapsing due to subsidence in the soil. Thefoundations needed urgent reinforcementto avoid any collapse. Work was aggravatedby the absence of electricity and because ofthe roads to the church had been destroyed.

Restoration of the church, its clock-towerand vaulted entrance and drainage of itsgrounds have been implemented. Themonastery and its community continue towork on its exterior and are trying to startsome agriculture that can bring in incometo the monastery.

The work has aroused a lot of interestand the monastery attracts visitors fromother parts of the Balkans. Even thevillage of Zavala has been affected by therestoration since Serbian families who hadfled during the war have now returned and

more are gradually following their example.The local council has installed water andelectricity. Funding: Sida.

The town centre of JajceIn Jajce Cultural Heritage without Bordershas conducted several restorations of buil-dings with a view to re-create parts of thehistorically important town centre, whichbefore the war had been so admiredthroughout the whole of the former Yugo-slavia. The project has included threeprivate houses, two mosques, the roof on

the gatetower which belongs to the fortressand town walls, as well as the Omer Begovahouse which in future will house the localtourist office and a small exhibition hall onlocal history.

The work in Jajce has been a pilot pro-ject to formulate a method of how heritage

The restoration of houses to re-create parts

of the historically important town centre of

Jajce.

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conservation can be integrated into a huma-nitarian reconstruction project, and as suchable to prevent the disruption of the urbansetting by the insensitive design of replace-ment housing and the total destruction ofhistorical buildings. On the contrary, a po-sitive development could be achieved whenthe towns leadership became all the moreconvinced about the importance of culturalheritage as a significant asset for the townsfuture tourist industry. Prior to the outbreakof hostilities about 300,000 tourists visitedthe town every year and a fifth of the inhabi-

tants made a living out of tourism. Funding: Sida and Mrs Amanda Sebestyen

plus funding made available through the British

Embassy.

The Handanija mosque in PrusacThe Handanija mosque in Prusac was builtin 1617 and has been a traditional holyshrine for pilgrims from the whole ofBosnia-Herzegovina. The mosque belongsto an interesting rural style in which theminaret and actual mosque is built of stonewhereas the roof construction and insideof the dome is made of wood. Almost all

the wooden parts had been burnt duringthe war and their reconstruction entailed amammoth task since no documentation wasavailable apart from a few recently takenphotographs.

The villagers and imam became veryinvolved in the work, for instance by helping

to obtain some of the necessary materialsand by opening up their homes to architectsand students. The strong support given bylocal people offers hope that the manage-ment and protection of the mosque willhave a secure future. The work also caughtmuch attention of the media.

The Handanija mosque in Prusac was re-

inaugurated in the autumn of 2005 after

extensive restoration work.

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The restoration of the Handanija mos-que in Prusac has mainly been an educatio-nal project for newly qualified restorationarchitects and architects with postgraduatetraining in restoration at the School of

Architecture. Work has been completed andthe re-inauguration took place in October2005. Funding: Barakat Trust (UK) and Sida.

Support to archives

The Franciscan monastery at KraljevaSutjeska, similar to other Franciscan monas-teries in Bosnia-Herzegovina, has extensivecollections of books and archives of histo-rical value. During the war between 1992and 1995 the monastery was subjected toshelling and the collections were moved to

safety. After the war Cultural Heritage with-out Borders was given a request for financialaid for systematisation, classification andrelocation of parts of the monasterys morerecent acquisitions of books. A smaller con-tribution was arranged together with experthelp from a Swedish archivist. The newercollection is now open to, for instance,pupils from the areas schools.

The Franciscan monastery, St. Anthonyin Sarajevo, which holds the largest archi-ves in Bosnia-Herzegovina and above all

the most extensive and oldest collection ofmanuscripts, has now been provided withaid to purchase fireproof filing cabinets andto document parts of the collections withdigital techniques. Funding: The National Archives of Sweden and

Sida.

The Franciscan monastery Kraljeva Sutjeska has an extensive book collection.

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KosovoThe destruction of cultural heritage wassystematic during the hostilities in Kosovobetween 1998 and 1999. Representativesfrom Cultural Heritage without Borderspaid a visit to the area in early spring of thefollowing year in order to assess the needs.

A request was later received from the UNadministration which had been establishedin Kosovo after the end of the war (UnitedNations Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK) tohelp rebuild cultural heritage.

Advice and co-ordinationSince the autumn of 2001 Cultural Heri-tage without Borders run a local officein Pristina, where a project managementorganisation has been established with localarchitects, engineers and economists. Be-sides managing and implementing projectsfunded by Sida, the office also providesauthorities and other donors with qualifiedrestorations, draw up maintenance plans,offers training courses and information andhas good contacts with interested partieswho can help sustain and develop the pro-

jects. The overall aim is to involve the civilsociety in each project and thereby promotea process of reconciliation so that the com-mon heritage of all groups can be protected.

Cultural Heritage without Borders hasalso helped the Ministry of Culture underUNMIK in the work to establish a modern

administration and legislation of the heri-tage sector. Funding: Sida.

The Kulla projectSome of the cultural monuments that weremost badly affected by the ethnic hostilitiesof the war in Kosovo were the so-calledKulla buildings. About 1,200 existed thathad been built during the 18th and 19th cen-turies but only about 200 were left after thewar. Kulla is an Albanian word meaning

tower house and the building looks likea tower or fortified stone house in whichlarge Albanian families still live. Becauseof their special value for Kosovars they hadparticularly been subjected to consistentdestruction during the worst of the ethnicconflicts.

During the spring of 2001 CulturalHeritage without Borders was contactedby EUs European Agency for Reconstruc-tion (EAR) in Kosovo, which had learntabout our work in Bosnia-Herzegovina.The request concerned restoration of fiveKulla buildings in the south west of thecountry. Although this type of building had

earlier been singled out in various surveysof war-damaged monuments, hardly anyinternational relief aid had until then beenallocated to their conservation.

The Kulla project became the first ven-ture undertaken by Cultural Heritage with-out Borders outside Bosnia-Herzegovina.

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Besides restoring buildings of great histori-cal value, the aim here was also to increasetechnical knowledge about restorationsand stress the importance of culture in theprocess to achieve peace, understanding andmutual respect. Simultaneous to the workof restoration of these five Kullas, coursesand training in co-operation were held forall concerned parties in the heritage sector,which resulted in capacity building for alllocal institutions. In connection with the

projects training courses on restoration wereprovided for all those involved, also localcraftsmen and suppliers. External informa-tion was issued to local politicians and thegeneral public and the basic legal frame-work for the project was drawn up.

The local office has during the pro-

ject had close contacts with Kosovar massmedia to provide information about theimportance to preserve the Kullas. In thesummer of 2002 a large exhibition washeld about the project, for which one of theyoung architects had made a detailed andscaled model of a Kulla in wood. The exhi-bition and the amount of attention in themedia have significantly helped to influenceattitudes of the authorities, property ownersand public so that support for the preserva-

tion of the Kullas is now almost unanimous.At the opening of the exhibition, one of theheads of the EU mission in Kosovo said,This little project has given us more goodwillthan all the rest of our projects together! Funding: EAR (European Agency for

Reconstruction) and Sida.

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The focus of the work in Kosovo has been to increase awareness of cultural heritage values.

The local population has actively participated. The pictures are from the village of Isniq during the

celebration of the European Heritage Day. The building at the top right is a kulla, which Cultural

Heritage without Borders has restored.

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The cultural centre in the village of

Dranoc is housed in a kulla.

Capacity building to preserve

cultural heritageIn the evaluation study of the Kulla projectall the concerned parties were agreed thatKosovos main problem regarding cultural

heritage was that the country lacked thestructures for heritage conservation, asthe structures that had existed before thewar no longer functioned. The Kulla pro-

ject indicated a way forward that led toa desire not only to single out individualbuildings but also to preserve whole areas.

The initiative came from the inhabitantsand politicians in the village of Isniq andthe town of Dean, where several Kullashad been restored so that people saw howcultural heritage could be used to generatesocio-economic development. The goal forthis conservation is to create methods toidentify, preserve and restore buildings of

historical importance and other valuableproperty that contributes to the overallhistorical setting. The work is being under-taken in co-operation with the Ministry ofCulture in Kosovo, the municipality andlocal businesses and organisations.

The project has resulted in the develop-

ment of local methods to preserve historicalareas, in practical experiences from the fieldfor public authorities and training of skillsin securing a well-functioning collabora-tion between urban planners and heritagemanagement officers. Co-operation withthe School of Architecture in Pristina is also

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part of the project. Skilled local builders,artisans and suppliers have also been trainedin traditional building techniques. Funding: Sida.

Cultural centre in the villageof DranocAfter an initiative from the municipality ofDean, Cultural Heritage without Bordershas been invited to take charge of a Kullain the village of Dranoc, perhaps the onlytraditional Albanian village that avoided

devastation during the war. There the ideais to create a cultural centre with room forarchitectural students, the regions heritageauthorities, seminars organised by CulturalHeritage without Borders as well as manyother activities. The centre is an importantstep forward in promoting cultural heri-tage as a social and economic resource in

Kosovo. The careful restoration has notincurred any great expense that would deterother Kulla owners. Now there are premisesfor meetings and exhibitions, where a greatvariety of activities can be held, as well as aguest room and a large garden. Funding: Sida.

The Council of Europes pilot

project in the Peja regionThe work in Isniq and Dean is part of alarger project that covers five municipalitiesin western Kosovo. The aim is to highlight

the regions multi-cultural values and in thisway contribute to reconciliation betweenthe various ethnic groups. If a vision canbe created of the regions ability to attracttourism to its religious, cultural and naturalsites within five to ten years, it can give rise

to hopes that different forces can unite inworking for this worthy common cause.Cultural Heritage without Borders localoffice has taken co-ordinating responsibilityfor this project that is part of Council ofEuropes involvement in the Balkans. Funding: Council of Europe, Sida and the five

municipalities.

Local Heritage Week

A Heritage Week was arranged in the villageof Isniq by Cultural Heritage without Bor-ders local office in Pristina in the first fewdays of October 2003.

At a seminar organised by CulturalHeritage without Borders the inhabitantsagreed that the villages economy neededto improve if its society was to develop.Cultural heritage was defined as a positiveresource for growth and the conclusion wasthat the Heritage week could be seen as a

first step in a plan for the areas future.Both of the two kullas that had beenrestored were opened and in addition theowners of the other kullas also opened theirhomes for visitors and lunch guests. In thevillage square there were dance and musicperformances, traditional games, lots of

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Photos taken during the restoration of the late

16th century Hadum mosque in Gjakova. The

minaret which was destroyed during the war

has been re-constructed.

exhibitions, handicrafts market, food stallsetc. A special day was devoted to activitiesfor the village children. The local heritageweek has now become an annual event. Funding: Sida. Sponsors: Micro Enterprise Bank

and other local businesses.

The Hadum mosque in GjakovaThe late 16th century Hadum mosquestands in the heart of the old town ofGjakova and is the only mosque in thetown with a dome. It is also unique since

it was built as a single entity with the mos-que, library and school together. Duringthe war in 1999 the library was comple-tely destroyed and the mosque was badlydamaged by mortar attacks. The Americannon-governmental organisation KosovoCultural Heritage Project (KCHP) took theinitiative as early as 2001 to arrange fund-

ing of the restoration through the PackardFoundation. However, because of problemsdirectly after the war, work had to cease butsince the autumn of 2003 Cultural Heritagewithout Borders has been commissioned byKCHP to take over responsibility for therestoration. The top of the minaret, which

had been shot down, has been rebuilt, leadroofing has been laid down on the domeand extensive stone conservation has beencarried out. The Hadum mosque was re-inaugurated in October 2005.Funding: Packard Foundation (USA) through the

Kosovo Cultural Heritage Project and Sida.

Support for a local womens

organisationJeta (Life) is an organisation whose mem-bers are Kosovar women in Dean muni-cipality and it hold courses in traditional

handicrafts for about 200 women with helpfrom Cultural Heritage without Borderslocal office in Pristina. These women aregiven an opportunity not only to becomemore skilled and develop contacts with theoutside world but also to maintain the oldtraditional handicrafts techniques and earn

some income. Funding: Sida.

The Serai in Velika HocaThe Kosovo-Serbian enclave Velika Hocahas for a long time been famous for itswine, but production collapsed during the

war. The area is rich in buildings of histori-cal and cultural interest, a number of whichare medieval churches. Today, however,most of the buildings are in bad need ofrepair and unemployment there is about 70per cent. Cultural Heritage without Bordersis restoring a communal building in the

village, called the Serai. In the long termit is hoped that wine production can be

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restarted in collaboration with the villagesAlbanian neighbours. Cultural Heritagewithout Borders is also working with a localwomens group in the village and helpingwith courses and activities that can generateincome in connection with the Serai.

Funding: Sida and EAR.

Seminars and workshopsAfter a request from the concerned autho-rities to help strengthen the heritage insti-tutions administrative capacities Cultural

Heritage without Borders held in 2002 itsfirst workshop in Kosovo on the theme ofIntegrated Conservation. The historical towncentre of Prizren was chosen as a suitablestudy site that had been legally protectedsince 1956, although only 30 per cent ofit remained. Systematic negligence and theevents of the war had taken a heavy toll on

its built heritage.Two ideas lay behind the choice of

this theme. Firstly, heritage conservationneeded to be taken beyond the narrow andstatic confines of monuments. Secondly,different authorities needed to learn aboutvarious models and skills of collaboration.

The workshop brought together local plan-ners, architects from the heritage institutesand architectural students to solve com-mon problems so that the planners neededto deal actively with conservation issuesand the institute architects had to concernthemselves with economic and social prob-

lems as planning instruments in their work.Results from this work could be brought

to good use, when Cultural Heritagewithout Borders was given responsibilityin the spring of 2005 to co-ordinate thereconstruction of Prizren, now a World

Heritage candidate, after the ethnic hosti-lities in March 2004. Cultural Heritagewithout Borders is working in this projectfor an active international involvementfrom UNESCO, the Council of Europeand European donor countries. The aimis to promote co-operation across borders

with specialists and students from all overthe Balkans to save the historical centre ofPrizren. Funding: Sida, the Ministry of Culture in Kosovo

and the town of Prizren.

A seminar to develop tourism relatedto heritage and natural sites was held in

December 2003 in Dean in co-operationwith the University of Turin in Italy. Theaim was to raise the interest in conservationissues of the councils politicians and thegeneral public.

A workshop during the summer of2004 in the village of Isniq resulted in a

conservation plan with the involvement ofthe different stakeholders. In collaborationwith the University of Turin fifteen youngarchitects from Italy and Kosovo surveyed900 houses, streets and squares, intervieweda cross-section of the inhabitants, digitalisedmaps and analysed the material and then

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the results were presented in digital formand as a poster exhibition. The villagersstressed the need for a functioning centre,which can highlight the villages heritagesites, and the need for a tourist centre. Themunicipality of Dean will finally ratify the

conservation plan. A similar conservationplan was drawn up several months later forthe town of Dean in collaboration withthe council. Funding: Sida.

SerbiaThe National Museum, Narodni Muzej,in Belgrade has initiated through contactsmediated by Cultural Heritage withoutBorders collaboration with the UppsalaUniversity LibraryCarolina RedivivaandUppsala University MuseumMuseum

Gustavianum and the National Museum inStockholm. Swedish delegations of expertshave been in Belgrade to share experienceson systems of security, storage and conser-vation, areas which Narodni Muzej hadidentified as weak. Two groups of staffmembers from Narodni Muzej have been in

Uppsala and Stockholm for capacity buil-ding. And representatives from the Institutefor the Protection of Monuments in Serbiahave also participated in workshops onbuilding conservation in Sweden.

The regional co-operation betweenthe larger museums in the Balkans is in a

constant process of development, and thisimportant function is supported throughthe seminars and contacts Cultural Heritagewithout Borders has arranged. Funding: Sida.

MontenegroThe Montenegrinian volunteer organisa-tion Expeditio has for several years arrangedcamps for building conservation together

with the Swedish Association for BuildingPreservation in the village of Perast near thetown of Kotor. The majority of Expeditiosmembers are young architects, of whichseveral have participated in similar campsin Sweden. Kotor, which is inscribed on theUNESCOs World Heritage List, was neveraffected by the wars but earthquakes dama-

ged some of the buildings. During 2005a specific restoration plan for a medievaltown gate has been implemented togetherwith the Institute for Protection of Culturaland Historical Monuments in Kotor. InSeptember of the same year an internatio-nal conference was organised on different

approaches to securing older buildings inthe case of earthquakes. Moreover, CulturalHeritage without Borders plans a smallerregional restoration project to show howvoluntary organisations can work togetherto protect cultural heritage. Funding: Sida.

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Other activities andsome future plans

Cultural Heritage without Borders haswith the help of Sida participated in therestoration of the Tibetan Beri monasteryin Gandze in the province of Sichuan in

China, responsibility of which was taken byTibet Heritage Fund (THF). The buildingsoldest parts are from the 17th century. Afterthe Cultural Revolution the monastery wasrepaired and later re-opened in the 1980s.However, because of a badly leaking roof,invaluable wall paintings from the 17th and18th centuries were seriously threatened. In

order to carry out the work, a workshopwas established for the use in the restora-tion of traditional building skills. Work hasmainly consisted of repairing the timberstructure and roof and installing a functio-nal drainage system. The projects overallsignificance for the Tibetan culture has been

the training of younger craftsmen in tradi-tional techniques.The Ministry of Culture in the former

Yugoslav republic of Macedonia has takenthe initiative to contact the Foundationwith a view to co-operate in the attempt tosave parts of the cultural heritage destroyed

during the conflicts of 2001.The Chairman of Cultural Heritage

without Borders has visited the Palestine inorder to make an assessment of the cultural

heritage situation in the view of futureengagement from Sweden.In future work undertaken by Cultural

Heritage without Borders will be focusedon the development of institutions andcapacities from a regional perspective.

After decades of dictatorship and war,

the central role of cultural heritage in theprocess of reconstruction has been tangiblyproven by the work conducted in the Bal-kans by Cultural Heritage without Borders.The experiences so far gained not leastthe massive involvement and appreciationshown by people in the area serve only to

strengthen the insight into the significanceof cultural heritage for raising the level ofsocial cohesion and promoting dialoguein society. Therefore by safeguarding cul-tural heritage a contribution can be madeto peace, ideas about reconciliation canemerge and doors to the future opened.

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Abbreviations

BiH: Bosnia-HerzegovinaEAR: European Agency for ReconstructionICOM: International Council of MuseumsICOMOS: International Council of Monuments

and SitesKCHP: Kosovo Cultural Heritage ProjectSida: Swedish International Development

Cooperation AgencyTHF: Tibetan Heritage FundUNMIK: United Nations Mission in Kosovo

The board and secretariat

The board of Cultural Heritage without Bor-ders is comprised of nine members all withvarious specialised qualifications and expertisein cultural history and administration, six of

which have been appointed by the NationalHeritage Board, the Swedish Association of

Architects, International Council on Monu-ments and Sites (ICOMOS), and Interna-tional Council of Museums (ICOM). Theother three have been appointed by the

Foundations board, which also chooses itschairman and vice-chairman.

Board

Chairman:

Bengt O. H. Johansson, professorVice-chairman:

Andreas dahl, ambassadorTreasurer:

Sven-Erik Khlin, civil engineerSecretary:

Per Kks, special expert

Board members:

Andreas Heymowski, architect SAR/MSA

Birgitta Hoberg, senior international officerChristian Laine, architect SAR/MSAIng-Marie Munktell, Ph.D,

museum directorJohan Mrtelius, architect SAR/MSA,

professor

Co-opted members:

Margareta Birnstad, former head of theNational Heritage Board

Jan-Krister Boman, architect SAR/MSA

Secretariat

Cultural Heritage without Borders

Box 6204,102 34 Stockholm.

Tel: +46 8 32 20 71E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.chwb.org

Office in Bosnia-Herzegovina

www.chwb.org/bih/Office in Kosovo

www.chwb.org/kosovo/

Secretary General:Per Arne Strberg

Text and pictures: Cultural Heritage without Borders (original text by Margoth Sonnebo). Translation: Nigel Moore. Picture onthe cover in the middle: Pressens bild. Picture on p. 5: Jens Olof Lasthein. The decoration on the inside covers has been takenfrom the Handanija Mosque and the illustration has been made by Lejla Hadzic. Map: Andreas Lindgren. Graphic design: Thomasstlund Produktion. Printing: Norra Skne Offset, November 2005.

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Address Box 6204, 102 34 Stockholm, Sweden

Tel +46 8 32 20 71 E-mail [email protected] Internet www.chwb.org

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