Launching event of “Heritage is Our Brand”

The intangible heritage of Albanians is vibrant, starting from the language, national symbols, folklore, costumes, legends, ballads, dances, rites, and customs. But while we are proud of this treasure, very little has been done in this direction by government policies or the legal framework to protect it and pass it on to new generations.

This concern was highlighted during the opening round of the project “Heritage is our Brand”, which is being implemented by DMO Albania in collaboration with EUPolicyHub, and funded by the European Union.

The meeting was attended by the Head of the Sustainable Economic and Social Development Section of the EU Delegation in Tirana, Andrea Ferrero, the Vice President of the Academy of Sciences, Vasil Tole, the Director of Cultural Heritage Policies at the Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation Ms. Benida Kraja, heads of Museums in Tirana, experts from various fields of culture, anthropologists, musicologists, artists, representatives from art associations. After sharing many opinions on this topic, all parties at the table agreed to establish bridges of cooperation not only for the successful implementation of the project but also to influence and lobby decision-makers to solve the problems.

In his speech, Mr. Andrea Ferrero, Head of the Sustainable Economic and Social Development Section of the EU Delegation in Tirana, emphasized the importance of heritage and values ​​of national identity in European integration. Under the motto united in diversity, he emphasized that Albania will soon join the 27-country bloc.

“It is very important that you integrate with your values ​​and national identity in the EU, customs, traditions, and history because that is what Europe is: united in diversity. It is a bloc of 27 countries, and we hope to soon become 29. Intangible heritage is an important part and it will be interesting to see how children and young people will think about what it means to be Albanian and what constitutes Albanian culture,” Mr. Andrea Ferrero emphasized.

The Vice President of the Academy of Sciences, Vasil Tole, highlighted that the key to transmitting cultural heritage to young people is through education. He proposes that cultural heritage be included in school curricula and lists several issues that require urgent solutions such as: “drafting and well-defining the principles of the strategy and state policies in the field of intangible cultural heritage; identifying spiritual cultural heritage through a special marking of the type of emblem, etc.; redefining the meaning of spiritual cultural heritage and its constituent values”.

The Director of Cultural Heritage Policies at the Ministry of Economy, Culture, and Innovation, Ms. Benida Kraja, expressed the Ministry’s willingness to be part of this project and requested the involvement of institutions, universities, and artists. She promised mutual cooperation during the implementation of the project to share the results of the survey that will be conducted with young people and all the artistic products that will be created.

Art teacher Ardian Isufi emphasized in his speech that the key to this project being successful is for young people to be seen as partners. He asked politics to have vision and move with the times by adapting technology to information.

Acting Director of the National History Museum Melsi Labi is more specific when he says that education with cultural heritage should start from the genesis, from primary school. He asked the EU to see and integrate educational policies with accurate curricula.

Other experts present at the roundtable agreed that the preservation of material heritage, which is inevitably linked to the intangible, and the completion of textbooks are the cornerstones for transmitting our spiritual wealth across generations.

The Director of DMO Albania, Eva Kushova, explained the steps that will be followed to complete the project until its conclusion. According to her, the work on the “Heritage is our Brand” project will begin with a survey with young people to understand how much they currently know about intangible heritage.

“Furthermore, an in-depth study will be carried out, in collaboration with the Academy of Sciences, to identify 20-30 stories of our spiritual heritage, which will then, through a call for grants for Albanian artists, be turned into various artistic products, documentaries, animations, installations, visual exhibitions, etc.,” explained Kushova.

Meanwhile, the Director of the partner organization EU Policy Hub, Blerta Tuci, explained the grant process, which is also one of the main activities of this project, where artists will bring products based on the stories that will be collected from the historical study.

All the stories, artistic products, audio and video materials, brochures and studies of the project will be included in the online platform Albania-Heritage.com, which will serve as a study and information material for all age groups, for artists but also for tourists.

The second year of the project is about educating young people. There will be a forum with History and Literature teachers from all over Albania to present these products and stories to them so that they can include them during the teaching process. Afterwards, there will be a competition for students who will bring their creations based on these stories and products of this project.