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“Cultural policy in post-conflict situations: The case

study of Kosovo”

Thesis extract

The aim of the research can be thus outlined:

a) Analysing the international regulatory framework with regards to the preservation of cultural heritage;

b) Describing and analysing the history and cultural heritage of a country in a post-conflict scenario: the case of Kosovo;

c) Analysing the country-specific regulations with regards to cultural heritage;

d) Identifying a relevant promotional project in the analysed country: Ulpiana;

e) Outlining the conditions for the creation of an archaeological park; f) Defining the details of a project of archaeological park implementation

according to the best practises of the P.I.S.A. model, based on the observation of the case study of another post-conflict location: Jericho, Palestine;

g) Assessing if the implementation of the park could be used as an instrument of mediation for the local communities.

In order to carry out the outlined analysis, an extensive assessment of the regulatory context was required with regards to cultural heritage in post-conflict countries. Kosovo’s is the latest conflict that took place within European borders. The main United Nations agencies have been called in to carry out consulting activity for the development of domestic regulations. The study analysed the principal international conventions, such as 1954 Hague convention (protocols I and II), the 1970 UNESCO Convention and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention, as well as the National Law No. 2/L-88 appointed by UNMIK. The first Convention analysed is the 1954 Hague Convention, which introduced new concepts never appeared before. Among these are the definition of the concept of cultural heritage, and the logic of safeguarding and protecting the latter in the event of armed international conflicts, the definition of the rules according to which both fighting Parties have to prohibit every illicit act towards the world’s cultural heritage. A critic analysis of the Convention found that the impreciseness of the clauses of this act, and the lack of specific acting measure, threatens the conditions for the protection of Cultural assets. This results in a lack of complete definition of the “duties” that Governments have to comply with in the case of

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a conflict. In addition, the definition of conflict leaves many situations out of the scope of the Convention. For instance, the Balkan conflict was generated within the borders of a single country, and was not subject to the clauses of the Convention, as the latter did not apply to conflicts with ethnic-religious connotation. The second analysed Convention, the 1970 UNESCO Convention, deals with the illicit import-export of cultural assets. It was introduced by UNESCO in order to protect and safeguard cultural heritage at times of peace, trying to deal with the illegal export carried out by venal agents such as museums, private collectors and auction houses, enforcing penal and administrative sanctions (art. 6.a, 7.a) and to designate national structures dedicated to the protection and safeguard of the mobile cultural heritage (art.5). An example of such a national body is to be found in Italy, with the Comando di Carabinieri – a military branch – dedicated to the protection of cultural heritage. A critical analysis of this Convention highlights its lack of pricision, as it delegates some national bodies to deal with the restitution of cultural assets, when these are disputed. It features and imprecise juridical rhetoric that falls short from enforcing obligations, but limits itself to recommending “to adopt the necessary measures, in compliance with national regulations”. Only a few Countries adopted National regulations that are compatible with this Convention. The last analysed Convention is the 1995 UNIDROIT convention, which first introduces the definition of the concept of theft related to cultural heritage as those assets that “have been unlawfully excavated or lawfully excavated but unlawfully retained shall be considered stolen, when consistent with the law of the State where the excavation took place”. However, it doesn’t mention the difference between those assets stolen within a country or in a country undergoing a secession process.

According to this Convention, there would be no certainty of the due restitution of those assets stolen in Kosovo during the conflict, because there was formally no illicit exportation, as the Serbian Government seized the assets at a time when Kosovo was part of Serbia. As a matter of fact, nowadays the only way to effectively face the question is encouraging bilateral talks between the two countries. This negotiation is currently undergoing, under the supervision of the mixed commission for the restitution of cultural heritage. No restitution has taken place yet.

The circulation of cultural assets has been one of the points negotiated in the resolution 1244 between Serbia and Kosovo.

The international regulatory instruments, though they feature the willingness of safeguarding and protecting cultural heritage – a concept first introduced and regulated in the mid XXI century – are still incomplete and they are not always applicable to non international situations, especially because they do not enforce the clauses for the restitution with enough precision, nor they establish a system of sanctions.

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Without the intervention of the international tribunal for crimes in former Yugoslavia, the current international regulation would have not provided with means for facing the situation of disaggregation. The International Tribunal introduces some innovative steps, that partially hindered the validity of the formerly analysed Conventions, but that also allowed the full applicability of the Hague Convention to the Yugoslavian case, quoting concepts of “military necessity” instituting the prohibition of the usage of cultural heritage in any military conflict, and strengthened the application of safeguarding to the assets on a special protection plan. This innovations had been quoted in the II protocol of 1999, even though their effect has been limited by the scarce adoption by countries with strong interest in the import-export of cultural heritage. However, some precedents in international right are designing new sceneries.

Eventually it is possible to say that the Balkan cultural heritage is affected by the lack of both internal and external juridical regulations that could protect it. Referring to “Cultural Genocide” is appropriate in the Balkan Peninsula, as the succession of ethnic conflicts brought to the mass destruction of cultural heritage of the various ethnic groups, with a continuous chase for the destruction of the opponents’ cultural roots.

With regards to Kosovo, and referring to the period of the conflict, it is possible to identify four different phases: the beginning of the civil war between the two ethnic groups (1998, 1999), the NATO bombing (1999), the return of the Albanian ethnic group, and the post-war period (after 2003). The greatest part of cultural heritage has been destroyed or stolen by the withdrawing Serbian troops during the second and third phases of the conflict. The fourth phase also featured some cases of destructions, mainly addressed to Orthodox Christian buildings. The latter were operated as a reaction from the ethnic Albanians but some were also sadly linked to some ill-conceived restoration of the Islamic Ottoman heritage.

It must be noted that Kosovo’s is one of the few cases in which some oft the measures for the protection of cultural heritage have been applied, and its culture assets nowadays appear in the list of endangered cultural heritage. NATO forces and the KFOR carried out missions with the aim to protect some particularly relevant monasteries, and they cooperated in applying the safeguarding measures of the Hague Convention, deploying a team of qualified professionals.

The Kosovar cultural heritage has been identified several times as being composed of buildings of (Serbian) Orthodox origin. A more in-depth analysis was then necessary, in order to take account of the complete history of the country, from its origin to modern days, and give a more thorough account of its cultural heritage

This work has been dealt with in the second Chapter, where an in-depth analysis with an historical and qualitative approach classified all the types of Kosovar cultural assets. It took account of the varied and rich heritage linked to the first inhabitants of the Balkan peninsula, starting from the Neolithic, featuring the Starçeva and Vinca cultures, to the Dardanian Kingdom, the

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Roman Empire, the Golden Byzantine Age (starting from the secession of the Eastern Roman Empire), the Serbian orthodox period and eventually the Ottoman age.

The most internationally appealing assets are part of the Orthodox heritage, especially promoted by UNESCO, thanks to the inclusion of several of these assets in the international list of endangered heritage. It must be noted that Kosovo’s sovereignty is not recognised by the United Nations, and the process of safeguarding and recuperation of its heritage is related to the state of bilateral agreements with Serbia; bearing this in mind it was considered appropriate to explore the positive influence of the UNESCO brand and patronage on the territory. Not only provides promotional and specific support, but it also funded restoration and safeguarding operations when needed, in a context that wouldn’t otherwise have found interest and resources.

Before going through the principal aspect of this research – a project proposal of integrated promotion of a cultural heritage site in Kosovo – it is useful to review the juridical instruments instituted by the Kosovar government. Kosovar cultural heritage has not been considered so far something worth investing on by Governments, or a potential development driver. The only law has been issued by the Provisional State of Kosovo in conjunction with the UNMIK Mission in 2006. Unfortunately the norm lacks of precision and, and it does not include basic concepts with regard to the protection of cultural heritage. Even the concept of tutelage does not appear (the closest concept is heritage protection), the notion of promotion is not mentioned.

Also with regards to the case of Ulpiana, the site chosen a target for the project developed in this study, it’s evident how the Kosovar jurisdiction does not provide with the right terms to define an Archaeological Park, as this term is not included in the list of established concepts. The exact terminology to define archaeological areas includes the definitions of “monument’s perimeter”, “protected zone”, “protected area” or “special area”. The Ulpiana site is currently listed as an “archaeological reserve”, a particularly interesting area which lies arund “individual findings” during archaeological diggings; this area is currently expected to receive a temporary protection (sadly only partially adopted in the case of Ulpiana).

In the third Chapter, the proposal of a promotional project for the Ulpiana site – in central Kosovo – is outlined, with the support of the theoretical framework analysed in the first two chapters. The study adopter the P.I.S.A. methodology, which has already been used in some post-conflict situations, and was applied with especially good results in the case of the archaeological area of Jericho, the comparative best practice used during the planning process of the Ulpiana site.

The reason why Ulpiana has been chosen as a target for the development of this promotional project is linked to the site potential, as it lies next to the capital city, and it is remarkable in its extension (which some archaeologists described as “ a small Pompei in Kosovo”), for its historical relevance (a unique evidence in the central Balkan area), and for the continuous succession of seven centuries of history and coexistence of the local

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Dardanian culture, together with the Roman and Byzantine ones, not to mention the environmental beauty of the location.

The choice of the P.I.S.A (Acronym for Integrated planning in archaeological sites) – a program promoted by the European union – is due to the integrated approach of the latter, which combines different qualitative and quantitative analysis methods that are suitable for any environment. It also allows the easy comparison with other successful case studies lying in the Mediterranean basin.

Jericho was chosen as a comparative case study based on the success of the promotional project of the archaeological area carried out by an Italian-Palestinian team of archaeologists. Other similarities worth noting are the post-conflict scenario, the context of social and politic instability, the accessibility, the definition and current use of the analysed areas, the lack of appropriate legislation and conservation and the continuous decline of the infrastructural network.

I outlined the project thinking of it, in both cases, as the development of an archaeological park that could serve as a driver for the improvement of the cooperation activity within the local community, with the involvement of the authorities.

The overall promotion project of the Ulpiana site has been defined in a series of strategic interventions, which set up the direction to be followed in consideration of the above-mentioned methodology. The strategic plans analyse the main characteristics, such as the ownership, the juridical definition, research and knowledge, the overall management and accessibility of the park, the protection and conservation of the park, as well as the promotion and sustainable development.

One of the main points of the management plan is the creation of an autonomous body that could create a general plan of promotion (or Master Plan) for the management and coordination of the activities within the Ulpiana park, among which would feature maintenance, surveillance, marketing and communication. The referential framework for the management should identify the right professionals to put in charge, bearing in mind the respect for ethnic diversity, especially with regards to the appointment of high management figures. The Master plan should also respect the environmental and landscape requirements of all the council and municipalities touched by the development.

Subsequently in the development of the project, the juridical framework has been identified, and the ownership problematic immediately arose. In order to tackle the former, the suggestion is to institute a protected area with more restrictive status than what is currently offered by the regulation No.2/L-88. This should include the presence of nearby areas of interest, and should consider the possibility of the acquisition of the lots adjacent to the current archaeological digging. In addition, it essential that the national jurisdiction gets updated and the concept of archaeological park included and defined.

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The awareness of the Ulpiana site is still low both on the scientific side (outcomes of the digging) and on the audience side (awareness of locals). The majority of Pristina inhabitants think Ulpiana is a city district.

Ulpiana’s archaeological park should engage in a short-term promotional activity in order to involve the local community and spread the knowledge of the site on various geographical area (heritage promotion on a local, Balkan, and international level) and then start a long term process (definition of a digging plan for the area adjacent to the current site, which should take into account the research, the site presentation and its conservation).

The work carried out at Ulpiana has never been integrated in an overall digging plan that took into consideration the need for the conservation of the site and its presentation for educative purposes. Nowadays, it is crucial to develop an integrated plan together with local education authorities, and to involve Universities in some project for continuation of the digging in the areas surrounding the site, as well as to continuous current explorations.

The exploration phase needs a deep knowledge of the territory and of the past human development that can be obtained from archived evidences originated from the area of the site (the municipalities of Graçanica, Lipjan and Pristina). Many of these evidence are nowadays abroad, in Belgrade, or in other Balkan museums.

One of the priorities is the research and cataloguing of those evidences that – either legally or illegally – left the country following the war or the first digging activities. In order to go on with the promotion of the site it is very important that those evidence originating from the area are stored (physically or digitally), catalogued. The new research activity may bring benefits to the local populations in the form of economic, social and politic opportunities.

In the strategic protection and conservation plan, the Ulpiana site was divided into sections, in order to facilitate the comprehension of the interventions carried out. These have been divided in to two types: short term for the most urgent, and long term for those prevention interventions. The majority of urgent intervention concern water infiltration and the stabilizing of the walls. The long term interventions concern the continuation of the digging activity as well as the diagnosing operations to be carried out with geologic analysis, photography monitoring, and continuous reports on the conservation state.

With regards to conservation, the essential activity is maintenance, currently the main cause of the site’s decline. However, there is a wider list of activities to be performed, including protection and the definition of the areas to be opened to the public, with the creation of guided visit paths, limiting circulation, the reconstruction and restoration of some parts ( such as the walls of the Northern Gate), the construction of a fenced perimeter, the reparation of the digging holes, an overall waste and plants cleaning, and the establishment of a significant vigilance system.

The road infrastructure leading to the park is generally well developed. The proximity of the airport and the capital city boost the park potential. The

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proposed entrances to the park are two. One located in the centre of Graçanica (where the second interest pole lies) and the other on the highway connecting the site with the city of Graçanica.

The park should be connected to other cultural resources, which lie in the proximity of the site. These resources are the Graçanica monastery, the Veleting archaeological site, the Gradnica and Badovc archaeological sites, the mining site of Kishnica and Lipjan orthodox churches. Some branch extensions of the park have been proposed, in order to create – thanks to the support of a developed road network – a cultural itinerary that could include the whole of Kosovo.

The promotion of the site is particularly linked to improvements in accessibility, the creation and organisation of visit paths, to the setting of those instruments of communication aimed at spreading information about the site (informative signage, exhibition spaces with texts in Serb, Albanian and English, a ticket office), to the promotion of activities to support the immaterial cultural heritage. In addition to this, the promotional activity cannot do without the creation of a museum informative centre, the development of a cultrural promotional campaign, the creation of services for the visitors, such as a catering venue, accessibility network and hospitality services. These strategies for the presentation of the site refer to the short to medium term, bearing in mind that the great majority of the site is still to be explored. All the long term promotional activities will be influenced by the outcome of future diggings.

The main opportunities of the park are related to the development of cultural and sustainable tourism. The possible development of Dark tourism should be welcomed, but also mediated in order to give a critic and educative view of the recent vicissitudes of the region. Other opportunities concern the creation of green areas and natural parks in the proximity of the site, promoting the clean-up of nearby dumps, the development of agriculture, the utilisation of recycled material, the installation of water management systems, and trying to attract foreign investments and donations thanks on part to the proximity with the airport and the capital city. There are also opportunities for collateral developments, with the potential offer of residential properties and B&Bs – preferably managed by the local population of the municipalities of Lipjan, Graçanica and Pristina. The promotion of the immaterial cultural heritage could also be helped by the revival of old artisan professions, as well as educational seminars and other courses.

The development of such a promotional project in the tourism field can bring value socially, economically and politically for all the local communities of the area, especially in the scenario in which Ulpiana is used as a driver to spread the benefits of tourism in the wider territory of Kosovo.

The main shortcomings to work on in the context of the park, are the lack of Kosovar professionals in the field of archaeology, territory planning, restoration, applied marketing, environment and communication. Other shortcomings regard the scarcity of hospitality infrastructures, and the lack of clarity in the current jurisdiction with regards to the urban and territorial

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development. Not to mention the substantial lack of funds for the realisation of the park.

The main threats for the site are the potential identification of the locals as a site belonging to a certain ethnic group, especially considering that the municipality of Graçianica is inhabited by a majority of ethnic Serbs, in a country with an Albanian ethnic base.

All the strategic plans include an active involvement of the most important public and private institutions of Kosovo, such as the University of Pristina, the IPCM, the archaeology institute of Kosovo, the Ministry of Culture, youth and sport, the Education, science and technology ministry, the Ministry for Tourism, Commerce and industry, the national land registry agency, the municipalities of Pristina, Graçanica and Lipjan, travel agencies, hospitality units, INTERSOS, CHW, international agencies such as UNMIK, UNHABIT, OSCE and foreign universities such as the Université de Grenoble II, Université de Lyon, Tirana University, possibly the university of Belgrade, as well as the American, French and Italian embassies.

The large possibility of involvement is one of the strengths of the project presented. Only by involving all the main players it will be possible to fulfil the third goal, that is to create a place of mediation and dialogue among all the communities.

During the elaboration of the project I tried to apply the elements of knowledge acquired during the fieldwork and thanks to the first hand experience with the territory and the locals, trying hard to interpret and mediate some of the values attached to the territory, as well as some of the radically different positions within Kosovo, a land were West and East meet, and that brings with it all the peculiarities of the soil where Christianity and Islam have met, crashed, and alternated, going together through a millennial history.