Emin Gjiku Ethnographic Museum

[artagushi]

The synagogue or as it appears in some sources the Jewish warehouse, was part of the Pristina bazaar, and the only structure left by this trading ensemble. According to interviews with people who remember that time, in the Pristina Monograph by S. Gashi, the synagogue was positioned at the back entrance of the Kosovo Parliament building today. In 1960 the synagogue was relocated, dismantled piece by piece, to be brought closer to the ethnographic museum, where it is still located today. Based on the information poster in front of the museum it is said that this was a one-story building, built of stone and covered with a stone roof, once a blacksmith shop. Until a few years ago it was used as a center of contemporary art and today it is unused.
The Ethnographic Museum or as it is also known the house of Emin Gjiku marks a frequent architectural layer of the residential buildings of the 15th century. XVIII and XIX in the city of Kosovo. It is the most representative example of this category, at the same time the most advanced typology of vernakular adobe houses. It is understood that there are influences and elements of Ottoman architecture but with expressions of work by local craftsmen.
Emin Gjik's house is a typical example of family houses in a high social position, as is the case of the Gjinolls. The size, decorations and number of openings have shown the position of the family in society in economic, cultural and social terms. They had large courtyards with accompanying functions such as. the house of friends with the barn below it. The yards are surrounded by high walls, 55 cm thick, built of clay bricks and wooden beams due to the privacy and preservation of female morality.
The ensemble consists of 2 large courtyards, the entrance courtyard with the guest house on its right side and the Jewish depot (synagogue) on the left side, and the inner courtyard, with the family house (haremlik) and the guest house (selamlik ). The yards are surrounded by high walls. The two dwellings found in the inner courtyard are two-storey buildings, where the first floor is built of foundation stone up to a certain height from the ground, then of immature earth bricks reinforced with horizontal wooden elements, and the upper floor consists of wooden frames (bondruk system) filled with adobe bricks.
It is worth noting that these buildings are very cleverly designed utilizing solar energy and controlling it at the same time as each element is well thought out for certain reasons. For example. the south-facing porch canopy is protruded 130 cm in order to protect the space from overheating during the summer and absorbing the sun during the winter.
What characterizes the interior of these houses are the warmth created by the use of wood, they are well-lit spaces and with attention to the human scale, the decoration of ceilings and cupboards. Living spaces have been multifunctional in which the family has performed all the functions of living, eating, sleeping and living in the same space. The room is also a space where dishes, mattresses and daily cleaning space (guzelhanen) are stored.
Due to its characteristic architectural typology, aesthetic, historical and educational value, the ensemble was placed under state protection in 1964. Until 1990, the Emin Gjiku complex served as a Natural Museum and then in 2003 it was turned into an Ethnological Museum that housed a Extensive collection of ethnographic elements used in the daily life of the Albanian society of that time.
The last restoration started in 2017 and a fund of 30 thousand euros has been allocated for it. At the moment the works are suspended and the museum is partially open to visitors.
The Ethnographic Museum of Prishtina has not been open to visitors for two years. Nowadays it continues to be surrounded and inside the fence is only its skeleton. The restoration started in 2017 and a fund of 30 thousand euros has been allocated for it. But this fund is completely insufficient for the restoration project, which is approved by the Kosovo Institute for the Protection of Monuments. It has been rated by 'The Guardian' as one of the 12 Best Museums in Europe. During the last two months of 2017 the walls of the building were bare to the skeleton. The floor is completely removed and the building is supported by only a few wooden pillars. The eyelash has also been removed from the inner walls. Some interventions have been made on the roof, where the tiles have been removed and to prevent the penetration of rainfall, sheet metal has been placed. From the outer walls, the mortar was removed up to the part of the twigs. This whole process took place from October 17 to December 30. At this moment, the works have been suspended and it is understood that the restoration process was bigger than expected.
Location: 42.66866 / 21.16820