Spain to give 3,2 million dollars for culture

The Spanish embassy will allocate a fund of 3.2 million dollars for the Albanian culture and heritage. The fund has been disbursed since 2008. Spanish ambassador Manuel Montobbio launched the project this week at the hall of the National History Museum. The project is realized in collaboration with Gulden Turkoz-Cosslett, UN Coordinator in Albania, Deputy Prime Minister Gen Pollo, Minister of Culture, Ylli Pango and specialists of the UNESCO. The culture and heritage will be implemented over a period of 2 years by UNESCO and UNDP. Main attention will be devoted to the redesign of the Museum of National History, investment in the parks of archaeological of Apolonia, Antigonea, investment in Gjirokastra and Berat, in the development of craft, but also in strengthening the capacity of cultural institutions in the field of management culture and heritage. Engelberd Rous, a specialist at the UNESCO office in Venice, shows that the staff is still collecting and work is expected to begin in early March. Meanwhile, it shows the principles on which the project will be built. “This project is a good example of how culture and heritage can be considered as an opportunity for the development of a country. UNESCO has three other similar projects in the area of Southeast Europe, one in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one in Turkey, which relate to heritage and culture. But the project in Albania is the most complete and bring more benefits to the people. This is a campaign that includes promoting the image of the country, as well as other important components” says Rous. As far as it’s concerned to the interventions to the National Museum of History Rous adds: “We have not begun to think about concrete interventions. First, we must know what we want, what are the goals we have and who would serve these interventions. The redesign of museum will be further developed through the assistance of international experts coming from Venice, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, in collaboration with the Albanian experts. The preliminary idea is to develop a new concept for a modern museum, which will enable integration between the existing collection of national heritage and opportunities that technology offers. Certainly, those who visit this building want to know the history of Albania, but want to learn for the future development of this country. This can be achieved with the presence of contemporary projects that are in line with the reality of today. Also it is thought to have a special human assistance for tourists, or for all those who want to visit the museum. The staff or what it’ll be called “advisory board” of the project is still to be formed and work is believed to start in the first days of March.