Getting in touch with the past through glass

‘Without knowing the past, we do not know how to appreciate the present and to make steps into building the future’ – Ali Podrimja

I believe we are lucky enough to be Albanians. We own a rich history and wonderful virtues to show the world. As a new generation, we might not know everything about the past but we can find out if we explore and visit museums. The museum's collections showcase our country's cultural and ecological history.

I visited three museums for three days and each day I had different stories and excperiences . The first one that I visited was Prekaz’s museum, since it is located in my city. The story of this  small village is known worldwide, yet the museum was a bit deficient. The area was small, and there was no one to greet you or tell you about the museum.
As I was walking through the artifacts, the one that caught my whole attention was a kid’s toy. Seeing a kid’s toy as an artifact in a museum made me think of all the games that were left uncompleted and immediately stopped undeservedly by serbian forces. Made me think of the life that this kid could have, all the successes that he could have achieved, but instead he got murdered for us to gain the freedom. That little toy was broken, burned and indeed that was the history itself.

After Prekaz, I visited The Museum of Kosovo. As soon as we stepped inside there were a great team who welcomed us. I visited this museum together with my friends and we discussed every artifact that we saw. The museum was extremely well-stocked and expansive. I liked browsing through all of the jewelry and pottery. It has been said that they were used frequently in the past. Aside from jewelry, pottery, sculptures, and so on, there was something strange that we didn't realize could be at a museum. As an artifact, there was a skeleton in the corner. We got so invested into watching the skeleton and we forgot to read the name written on the artifact. I regret not finding out whose skeleton was and not taking a picture.

Finally, I visited the Ethnographic Museum of Kosovo. This was the best museum I have ever visited. A cheerful man welcomed us and did not hesitate to tell us the story of this museum. He told us The Ethnographic Museum is housed in a historic mansion that originally belonged to a wealthy family. Having a guide was quite beneficial; he showed us around the rooms, the balcony, and the pottery, as well as allowing us to take pictures. Personally, it was sensitive to me to see the table served in the living room. Because everything was there, the same as they left it.

Who knows how many memories they had there?! Upstairs were a woman’s clothes and also children’s cradles. It is really interesting how this museum was kept in so many good conditions and survived through the last war.

Visiting the museums felt like I was reawakening my patriot self. I came to the conclusion that museums really keep history alive.