Reconnect Cultural Heritage through these  creative fields!

Adaptive reuse of historic buildings is one of the main challenges faced during the conservation of cultural heritage. Social, economic and technological changes have affected many buildings in a way that their function is lost despite having values and being important for the society. Often, a building gradually degrades or is abandoned entirely after restoration. With the ever-growing demand for sustainable development, the modification of older buildings for a new use is inevitable, by all means, to preserve the integrity of structures while respecting the actual needs of locals. The preservation of every significant building demands a reconciliation between the principles of conservation and sustainable design.

The reduction, reuse, and recycling of materials are presently considered innovative and successful ways of sustainable design that meets social and environmental responsibilities.

The adaptive reuse approach ensures that buildings are preserved by using traditional materials and techniques by the local community. Likewise, it is important that traditional crafts are passed onto the next generation. Furthermore, this approach promotes the interaction of creative industries with the cultural heritage as an important source of economic development and employment.

Heritage Space will provide assistance to research aiming the adaptive reuse of spaces through innovative approaches while taking into account the integrity and authenticity of the building with its context as well as providing sustainable alternative models for businesses and services within such a context. Research should touch upon aspects of physical intervention and analyze sustainable and social models of entrepreneurship. The participation of the community and local resources are crucial in the evaluation of the idea.

CHwB’s partner in this field is UBT (Institution of Higher Education) who will provide its incubator spaces for the development of ideas, mentorship, consultation as well as visibility for all implemented products.

Cultural tourism can have a greater role in the economic growth of Kosova. There are many cultural potentials that can be connected with creative industries so that they generate local growth, employment and increase the people’s wellbeing.

Cultural tourism is focused on cultural heritage and the spirit of a place. Tourists should be provided with experiences of the cultural environment, performing arts, values, traditions and interesting events. Those can be festivals, musical performances, site visits to rural and urban environments, local gastronomy, vernacular and religious buildings, archeological sites and famous local personalities.

Historic sites should ultimately become attractive to creators, managers, technological engineers, designers, gastronomists, tour guides, bloggers, architects and small businesses so that in addition to their historic value, these sites also become tourist destinations.

The Heritage Space platform will support research for innovative ideas aiming to create sustainable touristic products that bring added economic and social value. Touristic products should focus on innovation and should not change the structure of historic buildings. Research should analyze the historical context through a cultural, economic and social lens, by proposing thematic tourist itineraries and routes, narrations, maps, photographs, historical interpretations, etc.

CHwB Kosova will offer support and mentorship for the research and creative work of those that wish to develop touristic products.

Be it the preparation of a museum exhibition or the retelling of a local or personal story, research and interpretation are crucial to cultural heritage. In this broad field, we expect ideas that can encompass urban practice, social and economic history, personal stories, myths and much more that intersects with the field of heritage or personal and collective memory.
We can assist in building the knowledge regarding the subject of research and the construction of a narrative or interpretation so that it is comprehensible to the public.

We expect from you a basic proposal or idea that you wish to follow, whereupon we and the mentors will then try to guide you through its different stages until its completion.

In the first phase of the project, we will work on the design and planning of the research, where participants can consult mentors on different methodologies of research be they oral history, archival research or the collation of audio-visual sources and information. During or after the completion of the research we will continue with the interpretation phase where the narrative will be constructed and the method of visualization or realization of the research will be determined. The research can be interpreted in many different forms such as film, animation, publication, artworks, maps, recipe books or any other format that suits the collected material and subject of research. In this phase, the mentors will be chosen based on the content of the research.

Our partners in this field are Anibar, Dokufest, and the Lumbardhi Foundation.

Artifacts and crafts are also a type of source of culture which apart from representing the rich cultural heritage of a place or historical narrative of a society, can also have a new function by new approaches and methods of communication. These cultural assets can serve as a source of inspiration for new products that weave motifs and ideas from historical artifacts into new forms, which in addition to increasing their representation could also offer a generation of revenue and economic growth.

Heritage Space will provide support for research and identification of signs, symbols, motifs, which signify the identity and cultural heritage of Kosova, and which can be recreated as souvenirs. Souvenirs and other products can present an emotional memory of a place, historic building, or an important symbol which tourists will take with them as a keepsake. Through souvenirs, the cultural identity of Kosova will be strengthened as well as represented, by also creating the possibility for artists and small businesses to generate revenue.

Symbols, motifs, and signs of heritage can be reproduced as crafts (pottery, woodworks, metalworks, textiles) or as motifs to be transferred onto glasses, cups, beer openers, clothing, keychains, bags, baskets, fridge magnets, etc.
The “Unë e du Kosovën” foundation will be our partner who will provide access to their database of crafts and artifacts during the research phase of the production processes of crafts products.