SHQIPVILLE project is a meeting social place that aims to promote and develop cultural exchanges between Belgium/Europe and Albania through literary and artistic meetings, art exhibitions, music, traditional culinary heritage events, podcast shows, promoting also universal values, such as diversity, integration, economic linkages, human rights, and social cohesion. Thus, we a) Promote Albanian culture and products and b) inform and advise Belgian citizens about Albania's touristic potential.
Cross-border/international
Belgium
Albania
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It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
2022-11-28
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Maison Culturelle Belgo-Albanaise Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: LEDJA Last name of representative: CANAJ Gender: Female Nationality: Belgium Function: Director Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Rue du Grand Hospice, no 7 Town: Bruxelles Postal code: 1000 Country: Belgium Direct Tel:+32 466 44 91 15 E-mail:canajledja@gmail.com
ShqipVille is a creative multifunctional space, set in Brussels' most central and beautiful place, the Grand Place. The old building was renovated and refurbished by an Albanian architectural studio, with typical folkloristic symbols that are easily recognizable by visitors. At ShqipVille you can find welcoming hosts that will accompany you in the discovery of Albania’s cultural heritage and touristic offers, wine, and local products tasting, art vernissages by Albanian and Belgian artists, classical and modern music performances, poetry soirées, live podcasts, and the warmth of social creative connection and place. This project was created with the aim of encouraging cross-cultural dialogue between Albania and Belgium, to promote emerging young artists and Albania’s cultural, artistic, and gastronomic heritage, with a special focus on locally and sustainably grown products transformed according to original traditional recipes.
The fundamental goal of this project is to demonstrate Albania’s most genuine and authentic side, right in the heart of Europe. By fostering integration, social inclusion, and cultural exchanges, this project offers to the community a hybrid meeting place with multiple innovative functions. The multitude of visitors from different countries (visitors from over 50 countries) and backgrounds, and their life stories have become the inspiration for the podcast’s sessions registered in loco. Due to limits in funds, ShqipVille was created as a temporary space, but given its success and impact we are working so that it may become a permanent space and expand its activities.
Social cohesion
Cultural exchanges
Promoting European values
Inclusive citizenship engagement and integration
Promoting economic linkages
Our project's key objectives have been met in close collaboration with the Brussels Municipality (Ville de Bruxelles) Mayor and his staff, who embraced strongly our project’s vision to promote and showcase the integration, culture, media and economic linkages between both countries (Belgium/Europe and Albania) in terms of establishing ShqipVille as a sustainable and lead-driver of those processes in order to ensure an enhanced further integration of Albanian community as well as promoting Albania’s cultural heritage and touristic offers, wine, local culinary products and cultural, musical and art events. Thus, for many our project is exemplary and a ground-breaking initiative that will have to be scaled up at a higher level, at a later stage. The noble purpose of this project? Promotion of values, language, and tradition, absorbing foreign investments, and introduction of Made in Albania products to the Belgian market.
When people cross the Grand Place of Brussels and right in the middle of it, spot the Albanian flag in the window, they first remain bewildered. After entering at ShqipVille they experience a warm welcome while a myriad of memories of their childhood or youth, a feeling of nostalgia for a gone but not forgotten past, and a sense of pride and belonging make up the spectrum of emotions. At first, they are overwhelmed with the emotions, of finding a piece of their home country right in the heart of Europe. ShqipVille's aesthetics is filled with familiar symbols that trigger their memories. They are eager to talk, to tell their stories; how their immigration journey started, their first struggles and difficulties, the huge challenge with a foreign language, and a foreign country, and then about how they strived after many sacrifices. They are happy to have found such a place that feels so much like home. They come back with their children, their spouses, their Belgian friends, and their partners. They are happy to make known to their peers that in this space they feel seen and included. They come back at each artistic vernissage, participate to live music performances and buy little souvenirs of Albanian production. The quality of these existential experiences cannot be measured in simple numbers and graphs, but their impact is very easily recognized in the visitor's impressions and emotional impact.
Inclusion for all, no matter nationality, ethnicity, religious belief, etc, was, and will always be, at the heart of our project’s key objectives because it is an open and accessible social and creative place for everyone, designed as a new societal model. A model for fostering integration into Belgian culture, life, and languages, open and accessible to everyone, from young people to third-age visitors. In addition, we have managed to include and involve important social & economic players from Albania and Belgium, as such ensuring to strengthen of further multicultural, artistic, and economic exchanges and opportunities. One of the key results of our project as well, on top of what was mentioned so far, was the cultural heritage transformation into autonomous, dynamic, and sustainable growth.
This project was created from the start having at its center the benefits that citizens would gain from it; benefits for the Albanian community in Belgium, in having an accessible meeting place for social connection and cultural exchange and the host country (Belgium) citizen that can come to contact with the Albanian cultural heritage, its values, its people, to better fight the stigma of illegal immigration and raising xenophobia. This project is part of the activities of the NGO “Maison Culturelle Belgo-Albanaise” and is the tangible realization of its mission and objectives. Right from the start it was supported by local governing institutions (Brussels Municipality) and other NGOs that are active in the social and cultural fields. Also, it’s worth noting that NGOs from other European countries that have similar activities have shown their interest in replicating our project model. One of the most important objectives has been the promotion of Albanian-origin artists to a wider and most accessible scene, as well as the promotion of migration success stories, promotion of organizations, and institutions that play a critical role in the immigrant integration process (language schools; integration courses; vocational training, etc.).
At the moment of designing the project, we started a collaboration with Regie Fonciere de la Ville de Bruxelles (Brussel’s Municipality Land Management), who rented the historical building at the Grand Place at a symbolic price, far from the real market price. This gave us the possibility to locate our project in an extremely accessible and recognized place, that can be easily reached by visitors, but also a place filled with historic charm and symbolism. We proceeded with an agreement with the Albanian Diaspora Business Chamber and Municipality of Tirana which helped in promoting our project to Albanian businesses interested in participating by showcasing their products in our space.
After the inauguration, one of the first events that we hosted was a meeting between the Albanian diaspora in Belgium and the Albanian Authority on Information about Ex-Security Files, presenting a documentary about their work in clearing some stories of political persecution during the communist regime.
It is worth noting that many political representatives from Belgium, Albania, and the European Institutions have visited our social creative place, expressing their positive impressions and gratitude for finding such an interesting initiative in Brussels and offering their moral support. Since Albania is an EU accession candidate country, our project has positively influenced the perception of its culture, the progress made during the last years, and the possibilities for its future accelerated integration into the European family. Hence, we pride ourselves in thinking that our concept has become a new, quieter way of lobbying in favor of Albania's integration into the European Union. We've received the support of Bon, the Brussels reception office for integration participants, Vzw Internationaal Comité, who showed huge interest in advertising our project within their integration programs.
The key disciplines and fields involved in our project are local authorities, integration and language institutions for foreigners in Belgium, and our social creative mindset, idea, and space created to generate social, media, and economic linkages between people all over Europe/World here in Brussels, at the heart of Europe.
The main results achieved so far, as of 28/11/2022 to date, can be summarized, as follows:
- Over 300 documented Interviews;
- More than 3000 visitors documented with a signed attendance list and evaluation forms;
- We have managed to engage 14 economic entities who joined our project to promote their local products;
- Seven (7) expo vernissage art exhibitions with Belgian and Albanian artists;
- Seven (7) culinary degustations including food and wine tasting
- Eight (8) live musical performances with classical and modern music
In Belgium, the Albanian-origin community is very large and there are several NGOs that aim to create connections and maintain links with our cultural background, mainly through short activities during national holidays on ad-hoc and event-based basis. Our project is innovative as it creates a multifunctional space, accessible not only to our community but also to the host country nationals that are curious to learn and experience in person Albania's cultural heritage, touristic opportunities, and culinary specialties.
Our methodology and approach used, is apolitical and are not financed or supported by any political organization, although we aim at becoming a mediator force between the immigrant community and the local governance institutions. We strive to maintain our independence so that everyone is welcome to visit and participate, without any financial obligation.
Our project uses modern artistic expression to connect communities, it offers opportunities to participate more actively in the city’s collective space and strengthens a sense of belonging and inclusion regardless of their background, or social or legal status.
ShqipVille as a creative multifunctional place could be replicated in other countries with a relatively large community of Albanian-origin immigrants, who are integrated into their host country but struggle to reconnect with their roots, who want to preserve a sense of belonging and attempt to show the younger generations where they come from, the history and values of their mother country. Our concept can be easily reproduced and we have already received some proposals to help with the installation of the same concept in other European countries.
Overall, our concept contributes to tackling inequalities at the local level, by strengthening the sense of belonging and offering opportunities for migrant populations to participate more actively in the city’s social and cultural life, regardless of their status. At the same time, by implementing cultural exchange activities, it also focuses on actively dismantling xenophobia and developing social cohesion. Ease access to the job market. Albanian crafts and products promotion and introduction to the EU market.
