Workshop 2: Arts and Crafts and the Revitalization of Historic Cities

Narrative Report Workshop 2: Arts and Crafts and the Revitalization of Historic Cities September 16, 2011 Congress Hall Hotel Sileks, Ohrid The workshop was opened with opening remarks of the president of the Macedonian Artisan Trade Association (MATA), Mr. Zoran Todorovski, who was the chairman of the Workshop. Mr. Todorovski welcomed the participants and presented the agenda of the workshop. (Annex 01: The Agenda of the Workshop, Annex 02: List of Participants). Also Mr. Stephan Doempke, EVAH Project Manager, Mr. Milco Jovaneski from NGO Kult Dam Ohrid, (representative of Ohrid Municipality), Mr. Nikolaos Tsompikos, Metsovo Municipality - Mayor and Ms. Tanja Paskali-Buntaseska Director of The National Institution for the Protection of Monuments of Culture and Museum Ohrid, welcomed the participants of the Workshop. The workshop started with a presentation delivered by Ms. Olivera Miseva, Ethnologist at National Institution for the Protection of Monuments of Culture and Museum Ohrid entitled Handicrafts and Ohrid Old Bazaar in the past and in nowadays. Ms. Miseva presented the historical background of the Ohrid Old Bazaar and also delivered a comprehensive study of the constraints and threats that endanger the sustainable development of the craftsmanship in the Old Bazaar of Ohrid. In the second presentation that followed entitled Linkages between the Traditional Ohrid Handicrafts with Tourism and Local Economic Development, Mr. Antonio Baleski, from the Sector for Tourism and Local Economic Development - Municipality of Ohrid, discussed the role of the local government in enabling the business environment for growth of traditional craftsmanship in Ohrid. Mr. Fisnik Saraci General Secretary of the Crafts Chamber of Debar presented the topic Organization of Craft Sector in R. Macedonia. Mr. Saraci presented the mission and objectives of the Craft Chamber of RM in preservation and revitalization of the handcraft sector in RM. After the coffee break, the workshop continued with a presentation entitled The Center for Traditional Handicrafts of Ioannina - Case Study of Public-Private Partnership" delivered by Mr. Sotiris Xorevas, President of the Traditional Center of Silversmith of Ioannina. Mr. Xorevas presented the case study of The Center for Traditional Handicrafts of Ioannina as utilization of the PPP model in revitalization of traditional silversmith in Ioannina. After the short movie Ioannina silversmith presentation, Mr. Nikos Golas, council member of the Municipality of Ioannina and responsible for tourism delivered a presentation entitled Digital room/museum presentation. Mr. Golas presented the work of the Association for the Promotion of the Art of Silversmith of Ioannina, emphasizing the model of Interactive EVAH Project-Workshop 2 Ohrid 1

room as one of the possible tools for the revitalization of the silversmith traditional craft workshops and for support of market activities related to traditional silver products. Ms. Elenita Roshi, from GCDO - delivered the presentation entitled Revitalization of a Historic City Center through Arts and Crafts - the Case of Gjirokastra". Ms. Roshi presented examples of restoration projects in the city of Gjirokastra in and their link to the revitalization of the Arts and Crafts. Mr. Srgjan Dimitrievik, Project Manager for cultural tourism from the Italian NGO OXFAM delivered the presentation entitled Cultural Tourism in the Cities of Saraevo, Mostar and Skopje. He delivered an overview of the program SeeNet-Vertical Action and the role of the donor s intervention in this regional project. Finally, a short documentary Balkan, Balkan (produced by the New Moment Video House with financial assistance of the EU Comission and CARDS Programme) was shown. During the workshop, all presenters delivered concise and to the point answers to the questions posed by the participants following their presentations. After lunch, the participants held extensive discussions in the context of the Round Table planned. The issues raised in the speaker presentations as well as the questions that followed were further analyzed. The discussion, comments and conclusions drawn per theme were recorded by Stephan Doemke, Zoran Todorovski and Ms. Tracy Sparks (Peace Corps volunteer). (Annex 3: The Conclusions of the Round Table Discussion) Round Table discussions were structured around the following themes: 1. The role (importance) of Municipalities in supporting Arts & Crafts 2. Self organization of artisans and their influence on local and national authorities. 3. The Role of tourism, marketing, design, favorable sales environment, history and special events necessary to raise awareness of visitors, delegates, politicians. 4. Maintenance of Tradition and importance of formal and informal education and trainings. Main conclusions: Summarizing the Round table comments and discussions in relation to the proposed four aspects of the relationship of historic city centers and handcrafts, following conclusions for preservation of traditional handcrafts and their incorporation in the process of protection, preservation and restoration of cultural heritage, could be highlighted to local and national authorities: 1. Legal Economic Social aspects Creation of business environment that will stimulate establishment and preservation of craft businesses, Establish legal and financial mechanisms which protect authentic arts and crafts as part of national culture against overwhelming competition through cheap imports, Increase public awareness of economic social values/benefits of craft sector, establishment of governmental measures of support such as subsidies, Establishment of strong and professional craft association and chambers, Utilization of Public private partnership as a possible measure for support EVAH Project-Workshop 2 Ohrid 2

2. Technical-material aspects Adaption and adjustment /and utilization/of cultural heritage sites for commercial craft (production trade) activities. Involvement of craft sector in planning process what content would be most appropriate and utilization of expertise and knowledge (through suggestions and recommendations) from the craft sector in the process of creation of urban planning and solutions. 3. Educational aspects - Creation and adaptation of educational system and training programs /formal/vocational/informal/ that will enable: Training of craftsmen offering the possibility to gain understanding of conservation issues. Training of conservation professional on craft skills from simple use of tools to specialized trainings. Creation of curriculums for missing and lacking craft skills essential for preservation of culture heritage. 4. Marketing and promotional aspect New product development, new market driven designs, etc. activities that will enable better market positioning, Connecting craft with tourism underlining the importance of craft as a tourism product. Connecting craft with other forms of intangible culture heritage such us traditional dance, customs, carnivals, traditional food etc. Minutes of the Workshop 2 are included on the EVAH project website at: www.euheritagevalues.org EVAH Project-Workshop 2 Ohrid 3

Annex 01 Workshop Agenda European Values in Heritage - EVAH Project Workshop 2: Arts and Crafts and the Revitalization of Historic Cities Congress Hall, Hotel Sileks-Ohrid September 16, 2011 9:00-9:30 Registration 9:30 9:35 Chairman s Opening Remarks Mr. Zoran Todorovski, MATA- President 9:35-10:00 Welcome and Introduction Mr. Stephan Doempke, EVAH Project Manager Mr. Milco Jovaneski- Kult Dam Ohrid Mr. Nikolaos Tsompikos, Metsovo Municipality- Mayor Ms. Tanja Paskali-Buntaseska Director of The National Institution for the protection of monuments of culture and Museum Ohrid 10:00-10:40 Handicrafts and Ohrid Old Bazaar in the past and in nowadays 10:40-11:00 Linkages between the Traditional Ohrid Handicrafts with Tourism and Local Economic Development Ms. Olivera Miseva, Ethnologist National Institution for the protection of monuments of culture and Museum Ohrid Mr. Antonio Baleski, Sector for Tourism and Local Economic Development- MUNICIPALITY OF OHRID 11:00 11:30 Organizing of craft sector in - R. Macedonia Mr. Fisnik Saraci President of the crafts Chamber of Debar 11:30-12:00 Coffee Break 12:00-12:30 The Center for Traditional Handicrafts of Ioannina - Case Study of Public-Private Partnership". Mr. Sotiris Xorevas, Traditional Center of Silversmith of Ioannina, President EVAH Project-Workshop 2 Ohrid 4

Ioannina silversmith presentation - short movie Digital room/museum presentation 12:30-13:00 "Revitalization of a Historic City Center Through Arts and Crafts - the Case of Gjirokastra" 13:40-14:00 Program SeeNet-Vertical Action Cultural Tourism in the Cities Saraevo, Mostar and Skopje Mr.Nikos Golas- Municipality of Ioannina, council member, responsible for tourism Ms. Elenita Roshi, GCDO representative Srgjan Dimitrievik Project Manager for cultural tourism OXFAM Italia SeeNet Program Office Skopje 14:00-14:30 Balkan, Balkan - short documentary Produced by the New Moment Video House with financial assistance of the EU Comission and CARDS Programme 14:30-15:15 Lunch 15:15-16:30 Round Table Discussions & Closing Remarks Annex 02 List of participants Name Organization Country Contact Details/E-mail 1 Anna Director anna@assimakopoulu,gr Assimakopoulou 2 Clara Puech Head of the EU cpuech@epcon.gr Programmes Unit 3 Anastasios Karras Support staff 4 Elena Averoff EGNATIA EPIRUS eef@forthnet.gr Foundation, Board member, former president of WCC International 5 Barbara 8 th Ephorate of Byzantine papadopoulou@culture.gr Papadopoulou Antiquities, Director 6 Argyro Karamperidi 8 th Ephorate of Byzantine karampa@nol.gr Antiquities 7 Gerasimos Papailias Development Agency of papailias@epirussa.gr Epirus A.E, Director 8 Nikos Golas Municipality of Ioannina, council member, nikgolas@gmail.com EVAH Project-Workshop 2 Ohrid 5

responsible for tourism 9 Giorgos Kontaxis National Tourism Organization, Branch of Ioannina 10 Nikolaos Tsompikos Municipality of Metsovo, mayor 11 Christos Zarkadis Municipality of Metsovo, 12 Sotiris Xorevas - SPEAKER council member Traditional Center of Silversmith of Ioannina, President 13 Ilias Charitos Traditional Center of Silversmith of Ioannina 14 Petros Xenikos Photographer for Travelling Exhibition 15 Mariela Hoxha State Institute for Cultural Monuments 16 Lonik Ҫuedari Regional Directorates for Culture (of the Institute for Cultural Monuments) / Director Berat 17 Spartak Drasa Regional Directorates for Culture (of the Institute for Cultural Monuments) / Director Gjirokastra 18 Eugen Kallfani Municipality of Berat, Director of Urban Planning Department 19 Eva Dhima Municipality of Berat, Specialist on Foreign Affairs & Tourism 20 Vangjel Muco Municipality of Gjirokastra, Deputy Mayor 21 Mustafa Devolli Municipality of Gjirokastra, Head, Chamber of Commerce 22 Sadi Petrela Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organization, Director 23 Stephan Doempke Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organization, EVAH Project Manager 24 Enkeleida Roze Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organization, Programme Assistant 25 Lubjana Baoja Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organization, Artisan kontaxis@dilofo.com Olimos3@otenet.gr kepavi@freemail.gr Arch.i.charitos@gmail.com pxenikos@gmail.com Hoxha.mariela@gmail.com lonikç@yahoo.com Kallfani2007@yahoo.it Eva_dhima@yahoo.it mdevolli@gmail.com spetrela@gjirokastra.org sdoempke@gjirokastra.org erore@gjirokastra.org lboaja@gjirokastra.org EVAH Project-Workshop 2 Ohrid 6

Center Manager 26 Elenita Roshi Heritage specialist eroshi@yahoo.com eroshi@gjirokastra.org 27 Bariu Zenelaj ATTA Kosovo bari@atta-ks.org 28 Erkan Vardari ATTA Kosovo erkan@evirc-ks.eu 29 Arben Shala Young artist nominee / Kosovo arbenia@gmail.com Legatum 30 Jusuf XHIBO IPM Prizren Kosovo jxhibo@yahoo.com 31 Fikret Tikves IMM-Kosova Kosovo fikrettikves@yahoo.com 32 Shpresa Osmanollaj Municipality of Prizren Kosovo Shpresa_o@hotmail.com 33 Xhemil Luma NGO-Kosova Kosovo cemlum@yahoo.com.tr 34 Raif Vermica Kosova-KTAD Kosovo raifvermica@hotmail.com 35 Dafina Ukallo Municipality of Prizren Kosovo dafinavu@hotmail.com 36 Kujtim Gashi Municipality of Prizren Kosovo Kujtim81@hotmail.com 37 Driton Kastrati Green Art Kosovo Greenart.kosovo@gmail.com 38 Zana Belloda Municipality of Prizren Kosovo zanashb@hotmail.com 39 Fatuni Kantarxhi SHZAP Kosovo fkomot@yahoo.com 40 Olivera Miseva Museum of City of Ohrid Macedonia Misevao@t-home.mk 41 Fisnik Saraci ZKRM Macedonia debar@zkrm.mk 42 Olivera Dzrtovska Museum of City of Skopje Macedonia oljadz@yahoo.com Tachevska 43 Ivan Marinov Artisan-marinov Macedonia Marinov_oh@gmail.com 44 Goran Patchev N.I. Museum of City of Macedonia patcevg@yahoo.com Ohrid 45 Srgjan Dimitrijevik OXFAM ITALIA Macedonia Srgjan.dimitievik@oxfamitalia.org 46 Naumovska Vesna N.I. Museum of City of Macedonia Naumovska.vesna@hotmail.com Ohrid 47 Mirka Iloska National Institute for Macedonia Iloska_mirka@yahoo.com Protection of Monuments of Culture 48 Milco Jovaneski Kult Dam Ohrid Macedonia Milco.jovanoski@yahoo.com 49 Zoran Todorovski MATA - President Macedonia Zoran.t@matacraft.org.mk 50 Vesna Avramovska MATA-creative director Macedonia Vesna.a@matacraft.org.mk 51 Dragan Todorovski Craft specialist Macedonia Dragan.t@matacraft.org.mk 52 Suada Statovci Craft specialist Macedonia Suada.s@matacraft.org.mk 53 Aneta Petrovska MIA- news agency Macedonia Aneta.petrovska@gmail.com 54 Antonio Balevski Ohrid Municipality Macedonia 55 Tracy Sparks Peace Corps volunteer/ community development specialist Macedonia lilboutlot@aol.com, tracy.sparks.tas@gmail.com 56 Lupco Panevski Artisan handmade paper Macedonia panevski_2001@yahoo.com 57 Jana Aceska Photographer for Travelling Macedonia acevska@hotmail.com Exhibition 58 Anastas Dudanovski Artisan metal and Macedonia dudan1@mt.net.mk ironwork 59 Konstantin Dimitrovski Macedonia National Institute for Protection of Monuments of Culture EVAH Project-Workshop 2 Ohrid 7

Annex 03 Round table discussion Discussions (recorded by Tracy Sparks) for Closing and Closing Remarks Roundtable European Values in Heritage September 16, 2011 - Ohrid Stephan Doempke: Handcrafts' historical role over the centuries is that they build the town and account for the business and economical growth of the town and the establishment of guilds and associations. Let's structure our comments and conclusions around four aspects of the relationship of historic city centers and handcrafts. 1. The importance of municipalities in supporting handcrafts. 2. Self-organization of artisans (i.e. MATA) can be a strong influence and force that as оrganizations can work with municipalities and state governments. 3. Tourism, marketing, design, favorable sales environment, history and special events that аre necessary to raise awareness of visitors, delegates, and politicians. 4. Maintenance of tradition and the importance of formal and informal education. Threats, i.e. copying of designs, cheap imports, training issues, the informality of the sector (i.e. not registered masters, home based villagers that are the most authentic and how do we support?) Ljupco Panevski (Artisan, Ohrid): Ten people working in these rare crafts with 150 in Macedonia total. Possible solutions: Local level authorities could support craftsmen, by providing financial support and tax relief in addition to seminars and workshops. Our work and sales depend on our location. Being in the center of the city of historic Ohrid for example, takes personal investment and the expenses are high and the sales don t come soon enough. We are taking the risks. I suggest that locations be attractive for sales. We must be supported by local government tourist marketing events that increase customer traffic. The state might have a legal status that can identify artists and artisans. By having this status we can be eligible for state pension and health. Also a status that gives us a stamp or branding that identifies us as protected traditional artisans would be helpful. Mustafa Devoli (): I am speaking of production of traditional products. We have our own proposals that support the production and recognize the importance of traditional products. We also have proposals for new laws for the development of this sector. To improve financially this area, the products need to be divided into several parts. For example: 1. Those that are traditional and have no economic value and not being produced anymore. A suggestion is to demonstrate these traditional methods in shops to attract tourism. 2. Products that are functional like furniture or for commercial use need to be supported with training, marketing etc. to promote their economic viability. Stephan Doempke: Municipalities have a tool in their hand. They can convey a message that if you make an investment, we will guide you and help you. Value the number of tourists that come, when crafts are supported and give back to the craftmen by creating workshops and sales centers that support craftsmen. Gerasimos Papailias: I have specific questions about the development of our cities historical centers with the goal of attracting tourists. We try to achieve this in Ioannina. The goal is the development of infrastructure and support of the local culture and promotion of EVAH Project-Workshop 2 Ohrid 8

traditional craft products. There needs to be prevention plans that address the decreasing the number of artisans and revitalization plans for the traditional crafts that have disappeared. If tourists visit the historical part of the city and there are no shops then, museums and shops need to be showing the culture. Tourism support must come from all sides - artisans, institutions and the government. Marketing and exhibition programs need to be created, for example, to bring in revenue and profit. Artisans, instituitons, and the government should work together and suggest practices and programs and share ideas and experiences to develop and support artisans. Shpresa Osmanollaj: Orientation of all activities in historic zones by institutions is necessary. For example, a historic zone with historic traditional handcraft businesses and workshops should be created. Other non-related activities and businesses that detract from the historic and cultural atmosphere should not be allowed. Berat Representative: We can see that representation in these meeting is beneficial. There are many problems and the support and development of handcrafts is essential. There are many activities we could mention and maybe we could compile a workbook that would document the problems and the activities necessary to solve them. Anna Assimakopoulou: In conclusion, we should include a list of all participants with specific descriptions about their background (the organization they represent and the role they have) so we could utilize this information for future possible cooperation and networking. Stephan Doempke: In the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity the community of nations agreed that the handcrafts have a dual role. Their roles are both economic and cultural, and that s why governments are allowed to support handcrafts against cheap imports, as an exemption from the regulations of the World Trade Organization. There are many problems: 1. The dying handcrafts, like the crafting of musical instruments. The knowledge of how to build the instruments is lost and the music is lost. I make a special call to all here to find a way to support the building of instruments, because they make great souvenirs. 2. Preservation of authenticity. How do we recognize traditional masters without formal education, but are the best? How do we recognize the best way or process for making traditional handcrafts? Maybe a teacher or maybe create little schools with the masters as teachers in the countryside. The state supports the classes/workshops. The master represents the living culture and is the demonstrator of the culture. Other strategies: give the artisans tax exemptions and incentives and give support for branding and stamps of authenticity. Elenita Roshi: Small incomes mean small tax to the municipality, so it makes sense to provide support for artisans to be profitable. Dying handcrafts will never be an issue for those that have never known them. Old handcrafts can survive with lobbying, marketing and advocating. Next to an old craftsman, should be a young person with a ipod and facebook account. EVAH Project-Workshop 2 Ohrid 9