STORIES BEHIND ARTWORKS
March 31, 2023
I recently had the opportunity to visit the National Museum located in the capital city of Kosovo, in Prishtina, therefore making it a very convenient location. I found it to be a very interesting and satisfying experience which I’m glad I shared it with two of my friends because sharing the thoughts and emotions the museum gave us made it a lot more exciting.
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The museum is situated in a large yellow building with impressive, wide-opening doors. However, I must admit that the grey and the dark red color of the walls inside, was not my personal taste, as it created a somewhat closed and dark atmosphere.
The museum is made of four floors, two of them being used for the exhibits. One with a history of the area through the last couple thousand years and the other capturing more recent times.
As we entered the main door we could see a long hall filled with many prehistoric objects and various exhibits from different periods of time, arranged in glass shelves all around the hall. At first, I have to admit that I was frightened from some of the exhibits especially from the big weapons and the remains of a skeleton that were exposed. However, when I started reading the descriptions of the historical context behind each object, my curiosity grew.
Gold bracelet( fragmented). 4th century AD. Vendenis
Golden ring with the inscription “Probila”. 2nd-3rd century AD. Vermice.
Gold earings. 4th century AD. Ulpiana, Vendenis
Necklaces made of glass paste beads. 4th century AD. Vendenis, Velekince.
Handmade antique items from different periods of time.
The first floor hall was very large and full of artistic handmade artworks. Different kinds of antique items, beautiful bracelets and rings with pearls made of glass and many other things of great interest and value. Seeing them from a closer view gave me a quite interesting feeling in contrast to analysing them from the internet. Sometimes I found myself trying to imagine how people in the past managed to live and use these objects, which added a new layer of fascination and engagement to the experience.
Different uniforms of UÇK army soldiers during the War in Kosovo
After finishing my exploration on the first floor, I proceeded to the second floor which I found it to be even more satisfying than the first. The second floor is a collection of military equipment as weapons, different uniforms from Ottoman times to the 1999 war, and also a lot of documents.
There was a section full of pictures with stories of people being forced to abandon their homeland and also pictures of people who have lost their loved ones during the war. This was definitely the most emotional section of the entire museum. After this, I somehow managed to turn my emotions into positive ones by exploring other sections.
I must specify that seeing the Declaration of Independence Day of our country was the most attractive part of this whole experience. I had the chance to see all the signatures and the flags of those nations who recognized and supported Kosovo to reach the main purpose and desire of being independent.
After all, I can say that this museum left a deep impression in my mind. For everyone who is interested in learning more about Kosovo’s history and the difficulties it overcame, the museum would be highly recommended because you can actually learn a lot from it. Touring the museum will not take more than an hour or so, but the lessons taught and learned in it, hopefully, will stay with the visitors forever.
Medina Berisha
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