Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

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Is it just because of these centers and the
people moving around, who do not
belong here, that one gets the impression
for the bazaar being a nestle of this
type of people?
"Fine, there should be centers like
this, since they are useful, but they
should be located elsewhere", says
Hasani. He suspects that whenever
something is done in and around the
bazaar, it seems that there is some
background to it, because it is just
located on the left bank of Vardar.
At night, it is deserted because the
coffee shops are not working. And the
coffee shops in general have less work,
not only in the bazaar, but in the other
part of the city as well, because it
became a dangerous place.
Take for instance the shooting in the
middle of the city, explains Dane
Stojkovski, Chairperson of the
Association of craftsmen and other independent
businessmen of Skopje. The
bazaar was neglected in many ways, he
thinks, and he mentions the communication
links, hygiene, technical, but also
the cultural aspect. According to him,
not only those involved in activities, but
also those who by law have legal obligations,
should take a greater care about
the bazaar.
There were initiatives for introducing
some kind of guildsmen order, for
maintaining contacts with the city and
with the Institute for protection of cultural
monuments. We, being guildsmen,
could do a lot more for the craftsmanship,
but other factors should carry the
responsibility when it comes to the revitalization
of the Bazaar, as an area which
has cultural and historical significance.
However, the initiatives of wellmeaning
people are to be supported.
Thus, the silversmith Dzeladin Hasani
submitted to the Association a list of
recommendations, which should bring
about changes that would improve the
situation in the Bazaar. Through these
recommendations, he is asking for a
strict adherence to business hours during
the winter and summer periods, as
well as during the month of Ramadan,
for imposing limitations on motor
vehicle traveling inside the bazaar, for
shops to be closed during official state
and religious holidays, for the hygiene
to be maintained in front of each shop,
for shop keepers to behave decently
with customers and passing people,
for standardizing the display of merchandize
in front of the shops, for not
allowing loud music to be played, for
introducing designated fire distinguishing
points etc. Such recommendations
are similar to those made by
Argetim Nagavci, who, when it comes
to business hours, even recommends
an afternoon break. Thus, both shops
and cafeterias would be working and
there would also be more light for
those taking a stroll down the bazaar.
REVITALIZATION-YES,
BUT HOW TO GO ABOUT IT?
The problem is, therefore, multidimensional.
It seems that this is where
all aspects are interwoven, related to the
(under)represented activities, but also to
the cultural and historical. The image of
the bazaar should be derived even from
its architecture, which, at present, looks
more ancient than what it should look
like. Argetim Nagavci, an independent
manufacturer of quilt, provided some
ideas about the way the glitter of the
bazaar should be returned. He believes
that new ideas and projects are needed,
perhaps something which has not been
seen before, in order to encourage the
handcraft manufacturing, because in
environments similar to this, that is
what brings success. Last year, the
Council of City of Skopje and the
agency "List" organized a public debate
addressing these topics. Many distinguished
people from the city expressed
their views on how to improve the situation.
The agency "List" put forward the
idea of creating a pedestrian zone, in
order to overcome the conversion of the
bazaar into a ghetto, to regain the interest
of the young population and to
diminish the prejudice that this is not a
safe place. The Chairperson of the
Jewish Council, Viktor Mizrahi, among
other things, put forward an idea for
clarifying the dilemma about who does
the bazaar belong to (does it belong to
the city or to the municipality Center)
and that the property should be returned
to their former owners, whereas the
bazaar should regain its multiethnic life,
since, according to him, the recent
impression is that the bazaar is
Albanian. The representative of the
Macedonian Orthodox Church, the
priest Kosta Stanoevski, said that the
artistic characteristic is significant in the
endeavor to return the interest towards
the bazaar and that this represents an
even higher priority than its commercial
side. The photographer Koco Tomovski
recommended certain measures in order
to prevent the destruction of the area,
that should be taken care by the craftsmen
themselves. He believes that the
bazaar is a safe place and it should not
be identified as Albanian, due to its multiethnic
nature. During this debate,
Mimoza Nestorova -Tomik, an architect,
agreed with the initiative for the
revitalization of the Old Bazaar. She
believes that one of the ways of returning
the attractiveness to this place, especially
for the young population, is by
organizing various performances of any
nature - artistic, street, cooking etc. "It
would be interesting if some old products
returned, which should perhaps be
the task of the Chamber of craftsmen",
she said. The actress Nada Geshovska,
believes that the bazaar should be a
place where young artists should present
their work. The silversmith
Dzeladin Hasani, in his discussion,
among other things, asked for funding
for the crafts segment and said that the
bazaar belongs to all citizens, regardless
of their ethnicity. The Mayor of Skopje,
Risto Penov, was not of the opinion that
the decrease of the interest for the
bazaar was due to the infrastructure
(water supply and sewage), but he
believed that festivals and exhibitions
could immensely increase its attractiveness.
"Once all cultural and artistic work
aimed at increasing the interest for the
bazaar, are completed, then only certain
infrastructure modifications
should be carried out", said the Mayor.
During discussions which we had
in the Old Bazaar, the President of the
Association of craftsmen and other
independent businessmen, among
other things, threw the ball to the state,
which, according to him, should take a
greater care for something that is
authentic in this area.
One of the most relevant players to
call upon is the Institute for the protection
of cultural monuments of the city of
Skopje, which is located in the bazaar's
complex (in the church of Sveti Spas).
The architect - conservator who works
What is happening to us?, May 2002