The ‘Make it Yours’ Campaign Launched Succesfully First event: Painting the façade of the ‘Babameto’ category II monument with local media in Gjirokastra 28 March 2012

On Wednesday, March 28, CHwB launched a new media campaign in Albania
called ‘Make it yours!’ (Bëje tënden! in Albanian). The main goals of this
campaign are to increase Albanians’ awareness of and involvement with
their heritage and to advocate for politicians and public interest groups to
take heritage into consideration, especially given the timing of upcoming
parliamentary elections.

Local heritage is an essential piece of human identity, and a society’s active engagement with heritage is one sign of a dynamic and evolving culture. Therefore, ‘Make it yours!’ encourages everyone, from specialists to media to politicians to everyday people, to take an active role in using, preserving and promoting their heritage. In Albanian, the phrase ‘Bëje tënden!’ captures both the idea that people across the spectrum of society should take personal responsibility for their heritage and the idea that they need to do their part to conserve and advocate their heritage, in order to ensure that it remains a source of pride and inspiration for generations to come.
As a part of the event to launch this campaign, several dozen cultural journalists were invited to become a part of the news, by helping to paint the façade of the newlyrestored Babameto category II monument in Gjirokastra. This event was an opportunity for CHwB to jumpstart the ‘Make it yours!’ campaign, share information about the results of this important restoration project and highlight the use of traditional materials and techniques—an aspect, often overlooked, which is crucial to the proper restoration of a heritage monument.
The event began with a short presentation by CHwB Regional Director Lejla Hadzic about the history of the Babameto house, telling the story of its near-total destruction and recent restoration. Then, with cameras rolling, participants donned gloves, goggles and helmets, and following instructions from Hadzic, they mixed the paint for the façade—using traditional techniques to combine lime, ash and brick water and pigment. Smiles abounded as participants got a feel for the excitement of restoration work and had the chance to make a real contribution themselves.
Among others, participating journalists came from TVSH (the national television station), TopChannel, News24, Ora News, Alpo and AlbanianScreen, all of which are major national broadcasters. The Director of the Regional Directorate of National Culture Spartak Drasa and the Director of the Antigonea Archaeological Park Engjell Serrjani took part, as well. At a lunch organized for the participants, the journalists and the directors all expressed their appreciation at having been given the opportunity to participate in such a tangible way. Everyone felt that they had gained an important understanding of the work being done at the Babameto house and were eager to share their positive experience.
Over the past several days alone, this campaign has also resulted in positive print
media coverage for CHwB and its restoration work, including:
• Gazeta Shqip (national daily newspaper)
• Shekulli (national daily newspaper)
• Gazeta Standard (national daily newspaper)
• Top Channel (national TV station)
• Shqiperia.com (Albanian news portal)
• Albeu.com (Albanian news portal)
• Shqiptarja.com (Albanian news portal)
• AlbSpot (Albanian news portal)
TV coverage of the event should enter the news cycle beginning this evening.
Text made by Jonathan Eaton.
Tirana, 29 March 2012