Dom kulture in Pirot hosted the ceremony on the occasion of 2016 Grand-prix Europa Nostra/European Union cultural heritage prize being awarded to Conservation study of the village Gostusa in the Municipalty of Pirot, conducted by the Institute for the protection of monuments of Niš.
The researchers of the Institute have conducted an architectural survey on each of the buildings and produced detailed and comprehensive documentation regarding the architecture and construction techniques. Particular value of the study lies in its conclusive educational element arising from active participation of students engaged in the field of heritage. Also, coordinators of the project were dedicated to explaining the importance of conservation works to the local community and intended to include villagers in further education on all aspects of the project. According to Elena Vasic Petrovic, Director of the Institute and Author of the Study on Gostusa, this proves that “it is possible to work and achieve great success even without large funding.” Considering that, as she put it, the study engaged students of architecture from Nis, it largely exceeded the traditional boundaries, whereas the exhibition on Gostusa has already toured a large part of Serbia and Bulgaria. A centre for further research, conservation and education, as well as a community help centre have also been founded.
Quaedvlieg-Mihailovic: Heritage is part of civic responsibility
Sneska Quaedvlieg-Mihailovic, Secretary General of Europa Nostra, said she felt concern during her visit to Gostusa: “Yesterday we visited Gostusa and I must express my concern – the road was bad, there was no telephone line, quite often the electricity was out, etc. Gostusa is like a sleeping beauty beginning to awaken. As if she is being awakened thanks to commitment and care of Pirot, the state and entire society.“
She stressed that “the transfer of cultural heritage is not the sole responsibility of the state and relevant cultural institutions, but a collective responsibility of each and every one of us.“
Dramicanin: We are proud of the achievements of EU-Serbia cooperation
Nadezda Dramicanin, representative of the EU Delegation to Serbia, congratulated on the award. “We are happy that this prestigious award went to a small, but a well-developed project dealing with conservation of the village Gostusa and even more so given that the Study won the award in 2016, the year marking 15 years of EU-Serbia partnership. In the past 15 years we worked hard to build capacity of local communities to write proposals and implement quality and sustainable projects. I congratulate the Institute for the protection of cultural monuments of Nis on their excellent project and major award which would, hopefully, create new opportunities for both EU and other projects and donations.“ Dramicanin said “the city of Pirot has been very successful in implementing EU funds“ and reminded that “the Hall of Dom kulture we are currently in was also renovated and equipped thanks to EU funds. This year, Pirot received funding for three projects more within the new Serbia-Bulgaria cross-border cooperation programme,“ Dramicanin said and added: “2018 has been designated as the European year of cultural heritage and we hope that by then you will have won new projects and fresh achievements and welcomed numerous European guests in Gostusa,“ said Nadezda Dramicanin.
Marjanovic: Cultural monuments are not only a part of the past
Visnja Kisic, Secretary General of Europa Nostra Serbia said that “only through a good approach and organisation, could we turn cultural heritage into valuable resource.“ She pointed out that cultural heritage encouraged education and life-long learning, created a sense of unity, brought benefits to local communities and influenced the society as a whole.
Vesna Marjanovic, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, congratulated on the award, adding that “monuments of culture are not only a part of the past, but also belonged to current and future generations. Such an exceptional example is the one of Gostusa.“
Conservation study of the village Gostusa was named a Gran-prix laureate and winner of the prize worth €10,000 at the European Heritage Awards ceremony which took place on 24 May 2016 at the Zarzuela Theatre in Madrid, Spain. This major event was jointly hosted by maestro Plácido Domingo President of Europa Nostra and Tibor Navracsics European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sports.
