[ From the Media ]

The 16th-century Hadum Mosque in Djakovica/Gjakova (Kosovo), more concretely its (early 19th-century?) wall paintings (pic), will be restored by the Swedish NGO Cultural Heritage Without Borders (CHWB); this time financed by UNESCO. It is, in fact, the first UNESCO-funded project in Kosovo following the international Donors’ Conference held in Paris in 2005. It's nice to see that now also wall paintings, not only architecture, become subject to expert restorations. [In Bosnia, some of these are now lost; not through the war, but through Saudi-funded restorations, during which the flamboyantly painted original interiors came to be whitewashed (cf. article by Michael Sells).] Another 2008 project of CHWB will be 15th-century hamam of Prishtina. At least a part of the funds for the project will not come from international donors, but by the municipality, which has secured 250.000 Euros for that purpose (read announcement).