Cultural heritage of Kosovo

Founded in 1949, the Kosovo museum has departments of archaeology, ethnography, and natural science, to which a department for the study of history and the National Liberation Struggle was added in 1959. It has been active in sponsoring archaeological excavations, conservation and other scientific work. Since 1956 it has published an annual journal called 'Buletin i Muzeut të Kosovës', with articles in Albanian (with summaries in French, English or German).[1]

Today Kosovo has seven active museums all over its territory. The museums are the:

National Museum of Kosovo.

• National Museum of Kosovo: Housed in an Austro-Hungarian style house, containing more than 50,000 items exhibited through various pavilions. Also housed here are exhibits expressing the day in the life for the people in various regions.
• Railway museum of Kosovo: : A one-room exhibit dedicated to the railways
• Ethnological museum "Emin Gjiku" in Prishtinë: Monument of culture since the 18th century. At this museum you could find displays of ancient clothing, tools, containers, furniture and old weapons.
• Albanian league of Prizren:One of Kosovos most important historical sites. It's a complex of four buildings that had been completely reconstructed. Represents where patriots and intellectuals joined to start the political, military and cultural struggle to against the Ottoman Empire in order to appeal for an autonomous Albanian state.
• Archeological museum in Prizren: Once functioned as a Turkish bathhouse. Now fully renovated and filled with over 800 items of archeological interest from antiquity to the 19th century. Building also acts as a clock tower built at the end of the 19th century.
• Museum in Mitrovica

Ethnological items.

National Museum Of Kosovo is stationed in Pristina was built by Austrians for the Turkish army in 1898, and was used by the Yugoslav national army until 1975. Housed in an Austro Hungarian style house, contained more than 50,000 items exhibited through various pavilions. Also housed here are exhibits expressing the day in the life for the people in various regions. The museum used to have a rich collection of prehistoric objects uncovered in Kosovo – these were all spirited off to Belgrade just before the troubles started in 1998, and hundreds of archaeological finds and ethnographic items yet have to be returned. The extensive permanent archaeology exhibition details life in the region in the Illyrian, Dardanian and Roman periods. Centre stage is the 6,000-year-old Hynesha në Fron (Goddess on a throne) statue, found at Tjerrtorja in 1956 and returned to Pristina in 2002. In front of the building recent history is represented by some artillery hardware, and two large Jewish gravestones. The museum objectives are to save, protect and present the Cultural Heritage of Kosovo.[2]

Traditional Albanian clothing

Traditional clothes in Kosovo take a special place in Cultural heritage of Kosovo. They were homemade clothes or made by craftsman specialized in that field. Traditional clothing in Kosovo resembles much of the Albanian traditional clothing if not all the same. There are over 200 different kinds of clothing and styles of wearing the clothes all depending of where you're from, the history of your fis (clan), and many more reasons. First is the headgear, a woolen cone-shaped plis for the male, and a pashnik headdress for the female of a common red color. The plis is white and in some regions men cover it round with a pashnik and in region of Rugova men cover it round with a white cotton scarf.

Second is the pants or dress, depending on the style and gender. The men usually have on long woolen white pants called tirq or a fustanella which is a skirt like costume. The women wear a xhubleta which is a skirt like type of clothing as well, only it can resemble more as an apron in the front instead. Before wearing the shoes, both men and women had socks or Çorape and finally came the Openga or shoes worn by men, whereas women would usually wear wooden clogs.[3] In the past they used decorated guns, decorated pocket clocks, decorated cigarettes boxes etc. . Today plis and tirq are being worn combined with European modern clothes to symbolize national identity. What specifies the region of Metohija is the white scarf which they cover they head with, the region of Drenica is specified with woman with a lot of jewelries and so on.[4]

Girls from Štrpce in Serbian traditional costumes

Traditional Clothing is one of the major factors that has distinguished this nation from its neighboring countries. The motifs and patterns on these garments can be explained by prehistoric religion and chromatically there are three basic colors, the most symbolic of which is red. Overall, women's clothing was better preserved than men as there are regional variations in how these traditional clothes are worn. The most famous was the 'pështjellak', which consisted of a long white shirt and two aprons one for the front and one for the back. Another clothing style worn by the women of Kosovo is the xhubleta, which is a bell wavy skirt which is held by two straps on the shoulders, worn on top of a long-sleeved white linen shirt. The next style is often referred to as the most beautiful of Kosovo clothing. The Veshja e Dukagjinit was a white long sleeve cotton shirt but the edges were colorfully embodied. The last style for the women was that of the southern region of has. This clothing was more distinctive and is commonly found today as it has survived and embraced changes in styles. This look consists of a short white shirt and a full length linen dress. Men's clothing was a symbol of beauty, however it was less preservative. Unlike women's clothing men's clothing is more uniformed and seemed to change less from region to region. The most popular was the "tirqi" apparel. The look similar to women with the white shirt and vest, the tirqi which were woollen white pants where strictly a characteristic of the men.babies

The best-known of all and most distinctive one, "flija", is prepared year-round but is a summer favourite. Flija made with "saç" is a speciality from the traditional Albanian cuisine, that is mostly prepared in mountainous areas. It is most certainly one of the typical Kosovar dishes that everyone local will recommend. Baklava is one of the traditional pastries of the Kosovar cuisine, although of Turkish origin. Bakllasarem is also a traditional food of Kosovo it is a salty pie with yoghurt and garlic covering. The Kosovo cuisine developed under the influence Albanian, Turkish, Serbian, Croatian Greek and Italian dishes. The national food of Kosovo is Cheese Byrek. Byrek is a type of baked or filled pastry. They are made of a thin flaky dough known as phyllo dough and are filled with salty cheese (often feta), minced meat, potatoes or other vegetables. Meat is well represented in their daily meals. Due to the harsh continental climate vegetables are seasonal flourishing mainly in the summer.[5]

Serbian traditional dance (kolo) from Gnjilane

The Ottoman Empire left behind their religion, their language, and their people in Kosovo(dating back to the 14th century). All three mark important facts of the Kosovar culture today. Kosovo has 2 official languages, Albanian and Serbian.[7] Although they have strong Turkish roots in their folkloric music, the mass are not fluent in Turkish, it is only the elders in secular groups and municipalities that speak Turkish. According to the Kosovo Ministry of Education, each student must master and demonstrate their mother tongue during primary and secondary schooling in whichever language they choose (although most students take up the Albanian mother tongue).[8] In addition the first foreign language that every student must demonstrate proficiency, is English.[8] The influence of the Ottomans had a spill-over effect of cultural and religious identity which resulted in the construction of many religious monuments and artifacts in Kosovo. Over 90% of Kosovar-Albanians are of Islamic religion primarily due to the occupation of the Ottoman Empire.[9] Aside from Turkish-religious-structural influences, the current Kosovar culture was also influenced by other ethnic minorities within the region constituting, but not limited to: Roma, Serb, Bosnian, Ashkali, Gorani, etc.[10][11] Thus, instruments like the Kemenche[12] and traditional dances such as Hora from the Turkish culture become a symbol of Kosovar ethnic identity.[13] Similarly, the instrument knows as the Cifteli, is also a widely used instrument in Kosovo with origins from the Turkish culture that dates back to the early Ottoman Empire. Likewise, the Serbians adopted music known as "tallava", a fast-paced folk music type, which has had a great influence in the recent years in Kosovo culture.[3]

Albanian traditional Dance

Folklore and Oral tradition have been present throughout the history of Kosovo, where these two elements played a crucial role in communicating important information, history and events among communities and generations. A low literacy rate and dynamics of life style in rural areas limited the ability to document important developments in written formats. Consequently, communities transmitted important national events and collective memories to younger generations through oral traditions, including legends, songs, proverbs and stories.[14]

Patriarchate of Peć, the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church from the 14th century

There is no official religion in Kosovo, although the country is predominantly Muslim as the majority of Albanians are Muslim. Most of the ethnic Serbs practice Eastern Orthodoxy.

Unwritten or customary rules are very frequently practiced as law and order among Kosovans with its principles being as followed:

• Personal honor
• The equality of persons
• The freedom of each to act in accordance with own honor, with law limits, and without being subject to another's commands
• The word of honor known as "besa" creating a situation of inviolable trust (upon Besa, Kosovars take the person's honor and the person's life the remote areas of the country.

Among the current modern times, the former customs and traditions are gradually vanishing due to the influence of the western world The elderly generations are the ones who assist in keeping such customs and traditions alive.

Lahutari - An old man telling a story

Oral traditions have served as vehicles to pass cultural values to next generations and taught lessons about collective memories and experiences, which played a bridge role between generations. While oral traditions had a very positive effect over the centuries, they also enforced social and legal regulations, such as the five-century old Besa and Kanun, which were established and maintained by the traditional institution named oda (chamber).[14]

The concept of "Oda", whether it is considered as gathering at a space or a traditional institution, is a rooted spiritual cultural heritage asset in Kosovo. Figuratively, "Oda" represents a special and distinguished space of a house (a room), which is exclusively dedicated to the elderly men to discuss important family, community or national issues. Moreover, Oda symbolizes the court of law where men, gather to discuss and solve property problems, blood feuds etc. This space was also an important platform of social, cultural life and entertainment for men. Today, after many centuries of practice, "Oda" is still alive and valued in certain communities in Kosovo (mainly rural).[14]

"Besa" is a famous feature of all Albanian people. It mainly represents a "word of honor" or "promise". The "man of Besa" connotes a man of respect and honour, someone to whom you can trust your life and family. The man who breaks Besa is a man unable to save his Besa and is worth nothing. A man like that will risk of being banished from the community. Besa is the moral testament of Albanians since the appearance of its earliest national and social mythologies.[15]

Kanun is a set of unwritten laws and rules which were only published in the 20th century. Kanun of Lekë Dukaghini is composed of 12 books and 1,262 articles. These are the twelve books:

1. Church;
2. Family;
3. Marriage;
4. House, Livestock and Property;
5. Work;
6. Transfer of Property;
7. Spoken Word;
8. Honor;
9. Damages;
10. Law Regarding Crimes;
11. The kanun of the elderly;
12. Exemptions and Exceptions.

The Albanian Language is the main language in Kosovo. Albanian, has two main dialects: Geg (in the northern part) and Tosk (in the southern part). Therefore, the Albanian language spoken in Kosovo is much more similar to the Geg dialect, even though the standard Albanian language has been established long ago based on the Tosk dialect. However, the main official language in Kosovo is: standard Albanian. Despite that, minorities in Kosovo still strive to protect their own languages. For example, in Prizren, almost every institution has its name written in Turkish as well. The OSCE said Kosovo should do more to enable members of different communities to learn each other's languages and overcome linguistic barriers. The legislative framework in Kosovo obliges institutions to provide services in the official languages in use, but there are shortcomings in how that is being implemented. "Those shortcomings can be overcome with capacity building within institutions, be it by enabling municipalities to hire translators or to better train the existing ones or by helping them develop forms and signs in the official languages," Gaon told SETimes.[16]