Prizren is one of the most beautiful cities in Kosovo has
always been famous for its small handicraft shops – the clink of tools as
craftsmen plied ancient trades once resounded in the narrow, winding streets of
the old city. But the skills passed from generation to generation are now in
danger of disappearing. Only a handful of such establishments remain in Prizren
today – and the few that still exist are hidden away in small by-lanes of old
Prizren.
Djemil Mulamisin, a 72-year-old blacksmith from Prizren,
says he has been in the trade from ever since he can remember, skills handed
down to him from his father and grandfather. A wizard with anything to do with
metal, Djemil shoes horses and makes a host of tools and agricultural
implements. But things are not the same and the going has become tough.
Djemil Mulamisin:
“Things are not going so good now, these crafts are being neglected since
they are bringing goods in from Turkey. If they didn’t do that, there would be
more jobs for us, we would never be unemployed, but now we have no work also
because the people don’t have money. There are only a few craftsmen left, there
were many more before but not any longer
Djemil is alone in his shop when we visit; almost everyday is like this he says, hardly any customers, no interest in the goods he produces. To make matters worse, none of his children want to continue the family tradition.
Djemil Mulamisin: “They don’t want to learn this
trade, they will not do it, I have 6 sons and none of them is interested, they
don’t even come to the shop; young people are different now … before there were
more poor people but now they are apparently not hungry and they don’t want to
do it. Take my case for example, my sons do not want do this work, they say it
is too hard” 04:20
A hundred metres further down the little back street is an old wooden door – this is Aslan Kazazi’s shop, the only wool processor in Prizren. Aslan has been in this trade for half a century, but he too is worried that his skills will die out after he disappears. I love my job, he says, even though it is very hard and demands great effort. Aslan displays with pride the 100-year-old machine he uses to process wool, the same one that his grandfather and father once worked with.
Aslan
Kazazi: “ I learned this craft from my parents and I have been doing this job for
50 years. Before there were more sheep
and therefore more wool, but now I spend more time sitting than working,
sometimes I feel I want to leave all this. Before, 20-30 years ago, we were
satisfied, but not any longer, since we do not have work” The old craftsmen are disappearing. People should
say: Stop, we have to protect these trades. There were 5-6 blacksmiths before,
but they are getting fewer and fewer, and the shops are being closed down.
Before, says Aslan, he made a good living from the wool-processing trade, but now, he is forced to think about closing his small store because of the meagre income he manages to make. Bales of wool reach the ceiling, they have been there for more than 2 years, complains Aslan, the people who brought them to be processed simply haven’t returned.
Aslan Kazazi: “There are no sheep, and people
don’t have money, I have maybe 2000 – 3000 kilograms of wool, but there is no
money and what to do without money. I come here and sit all day long but no one
brings wool since there is no money. They leave the wool here for one or two
years and never comes back to take it because they cannot afford to pay.”
And everyone agrees why they are facing such hard times –
the reason we don’t have work, they say, is because of the import of goods from
neighboring countries. Even though their quality is not that good, they are
cheaper and thus sell better in the market. The craftsmen, on the other hand,
have to cope with rising prices of raw materials but are unable to sell
finished goods.
Gazmend Alibajri is also a blacksmith, the only one in his
family who has stuck with the family tradition. He may well be the last, he
says – the Alibajris like the others cannot make ends meet by plying the
traditional trade.
Gazmend Alibajri: “I’ve been working here from ever
since I can remember, my grandfather and father were also blacksmiths, these
skills have been with us for generations.
It was different before, maybe now there is democracy but not for our
craft. It is dying out today. We used to have much more work before. It was
better for craftsmen in every sense What can I say this trade has existed for
years and it would be terrible if it were to disappear.
Kosovo today may no longer need the blacksmith as mechanized
vehicles increasingly replace the horse and donkey cart, but it would be a
tragedy if the passage of time and development totally obliterated the traditional
skills and crafts that are such an intrinsic part of Prizren.
That was all for today’s UNMIK ON AIR. Stay tuned!