Gonxhe ignores concerns about Spaçi and defends the continuation of the works

The Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation defended on Friday the controversial restoration project at the infamous former Spaç prison, despite opposition from activists and former political prisoners.

Also shared by Minister Blendi Gonxhe on Facebook, the reaction contains disparaging language towards opponents of the project, calling them "Sancho Panchos of old politics" and the strong public reaction as "unnecessary noise."

"Any voice that tries to use this situation for political instrumentalization or to incite suspicion and division is in fact contradicting the effort to document a truth that was silenced and denied for decades," the statement said.

The public reaction to the restoration of the buildings was initially initiated by young activists engaged in preserving memory and by cultural heritage experts, which was formalized in an open letter sent to the Ministry signed by dozens of civil society organizations and a citizen petition calling for the works to be stopped and for consultation with interested parties.

Former political prisoners in Spaç also considered the concrete and white paint on the buildings a make-up of pain and an erasure of the history of their suffering.

The ministry's project to intervene in Spaç began with a verbal promise by Prime Minister Edi Rama to the authors of a film project that would be dedicated to the Spaç revolt, one of the most significant events of resistance during the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha.

Although there is no reference to the scenography of this film in the decision-making and project documents accompanying the tender, the minister himself admits that the interventions are being made in its function.

"The difficulties of realizing this film project are great, due to the inability to reconstruct the prison camp on a set, the extremely dilapidated state of the site in Spaç, the need for authentic filming in an environment that still preserves the real traces of the tragedy of that place," writes Gonxhe, adding that on the other hand, a government project has been launched "to turn Spaç into a Museum of Memory."

The Minister admits that despite having a management plan to conserve it and turn it into a museum, its implementation exceeds the timeline for the start of filming, and therefore priority has been given to "the implementation of some partial conservation and reinforcement interventions...".

However, Gonxhe insists that the film project is important and that the signs of rehabilitation that were protested will be fixed "through scenographic and restoration techniques, resembling as closely as possible the original state of the time."

The minister's reaction was met with outrage by activists who led the civic response to protect Spaç.

Arnen Sula, director of the organization "Tek Bunkeri", a youth initiative that carries out cultural-artistic projects in defense of historical memory, calls the language used by Gonxhe polemical and not at all reflective of the activists' legitimate demands.

"The cultural institution cannot be so uncultured as to attack and disparage at least 35 independent civil society organizations so far, saying: 'Protests with cobras on their belts... Sancho Panchos of old politics...'" Sula told BIRN.

Using this tone, he adds, "lowers the institutional level of the statement, shifting to polemical language that aims to shame critics, rather than invite reflection or cooperation."

While Gonxhe's defense of the film project, according to Sula, only gives the project an idealistic veil but avoids the fundamental question; "Is this being done in accordance with the principles of site preservation?"

He insists that the organizations' petition refers precisely to a management plan approved by MEKI itself and consulted with all stakeholders, which prohibits full restoration to return the buildings to their original state.

"New plaster on reconstructed walls is prohibited. Only interventions for structural consolidation, prevention of collapse, preservation of the existing form are permitted, and not construction or aesthetic improvement," said Sula, referring to this plan. Reporter.al