New ideas are tested and explored in Kosovo
Policy Platform team is a mission of the European Commission to investigate and propose innovation policies for the cultural and creative industries (CCPs) *. The work involves participants from all over Europe and it includes everything from interviews, workshops, analysis and research to more practical work, for example by working in some of the cities (including Lund) to see how to build portfolios in a local context — and what can be learned from this.
* (We use KKN here but see it as broadly synonymous with Cultural and Creative Sectors, FGM, and Cultural and Creative Industries, KKB).
Meanwhile, Kosovo is working on a national strategy for what they call the “creative economy.” In this context, they wanted to draw on the experience of team, which has led to a collaboration between Lund University, Future by Lund, Anibar and UN Habitat in the project Tu pa, tu bo in Kosovo. It creates an innovation portfolio around cultural heritage and animation in Kosovo.
- By allowing Kosovo to be a testing ground for the way we work with innovation in portfolios, we get a result that is interesting for the whole of Europe, says Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth, Lund University and project manager for team. It is exciting to work with Kosovo because they are very open to trying new ideas. There is a close contact between the ministry and individual actors and this means that the potential for success is great.
In Kosovo, there has been a desire to try the portfolio work especially in two areas: animation and cultural heritage. As far as animation is concerned, a large international animation festival has been organized in Peja for a few years. It also runs its own popular animation academy. It is also about cultural heritage, a priority area in Kosovo that is rich in archaeological finds. At the same time, cultural heritage is important for people's identity in a country marked by conflict. Combining this with new technology provides opportunities for entirely new ways of telling.
In the spring, an animation was shown at the old court house in Vushtrri — a house where the fate of many people has been decided. This was done in order to be able to redesign the building and create a new function while taking into account its historical and architectural value.
- Through the animation, the actors hoped to spark people's imagination and arouse their interest in what activities could be had in the house. Animation is thus a way to start a civic dialogue,” says Birgitta Persson, who was there and presented the project Tu pa, tu bo together with Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth from Lund University
Read the article about the animation in Vushtrii at Anibar
In Kosovo, work on bringing stories about the old bazaar in Pristina to life has also been done through the Malmö-based app company Be Here Then. Here, animation, historical images and people's stories are used so that they can be displayed in an app in the viewer's mobile. In the future, interesting archaeological finds from the Roman period in Kosovo can be brought to life and made available in a similar way, and archaeologists from Lund will be involved in this work.
All the exploration done in Kosovo provides evidence of opportunities that can be practiced, for example, in Lund. During the spring there has been a first test of making archaeological finds in the ruins of Drotten church available through an animation and discussions are being held on how new technologies can be used to bring the rich finds in Uppåkra to life.
- By thinking about the intersection of stories, culture and technology as a portfolio, many ideas arise about solutions and possible collaborations, says Birgitta Persson. We already have concrete and interesting opportunities for cooperation in Kosovo for actors close to us.
Footnote: team work with the support of the European Commission
Tu på, tu bo is done with support from the Swedish government.