From the 3th until the 5th of July, in the museum of Peja was held the “Crafts Week” event, in which different handicrafts were presented to citizens and visitors. The “Craft Week” was organized from the Directorate for Youth Culture and Sport of Peja which aimed to inform visitors about the handcrafts, as well as the manufacturing processes of handcrafts products, where the visitors had the opportunity to see and to buy some, depending on their wish. Of course, the main target group of this important event has been youngsters, who seem not to be well informed about craftsmanship and its development. This because, a large number of crafts have failed to survive until the postwar period, due to the fact, that during the war, Peja was one of the most destroyed cities in Kosovo. Hence, during these two days, several activities have been held, where the city's main crafts were gratefully presented. The main focus regarding the type of materils of them,has been on silversmith and traditional costumes craft.
Anyhow, the question would be, where does the importance of crafts consist on? What is their importance culture wise?
Craftsmanship is the form of production of a previous economic system, which had an important role in the development of the city of Peja. The development of craftsmanship has had an urban impact, in the “Bazar” or as it is known “Çarshia e Pejës” and it is one of many products, which continues to remain one of the most important parts of the trade, even at the present time today.
Moreover, all handcrafts are classified in the material culture, so the organization of the craft week is a reflection of what is considered traditional. Not only the work of the handcrafts has been presented in the event, the traditional food as well. Certainly, this organization would serve as a marker of our collective memory, which reminds us the development and the strength of our city, which reflects the difficulties during the past year on building and working on its best and traditional crafts. .
Unfortunately, these handicrafts fight every day with the bitter reality of their disappearance.The lack of them and traditional way of making arts, not only affects the economy of the city, but also the cultural sphere of it. This leads to the conclusion that these cultural initiatives could be an identifiable value of Peja’s and Kosovo’s culture.
Endrit Temaj, Youth correspondent from Peja.