It might have frustrated us that – this being Albania – such mosaics could not be displayed for lack of funds. Even so, lunching at a nearby restaurant on pork chops sprinkled with oregano and washed down with a robust local wine, the overall feeling was exhilaration that we had the place – restaurant, view, archaeological site and even, it sometimes seemed, the entire oddball country – all to ourselves.
Since the article is in English, I will proceed to comment on this brief excerpt in English.
The frustration for the lack of funds to exhibit the mosaics has its origins in this typical European/UNESCO/colonizer/Westerner thought that “these people do not care for their heritage, they do not realize beauty and it is only us, the ‘cultured’ who can save it for them (read: from them).” This recognition of Albania as worthy of exploring is a sort of a self-congratulatory gesture on the part of the European tourist/ journalist who takes it about him/herself to designate such sites on behalf of the rest of the world but not before they greedily consume it for themselves first.
It reveals an attempt by privileged countries to recognize the heritage and culture of disfavored countries by inserting mechanisms to allow these people to display their cultural wealth for the enjoyment and the appreciation of the donators. Again it is up to the privileged to “enable” any of this though tourism, funding and other handouts, for only they through their superior cultural refinement can truly appreciate the locked up heritage. The result is almost always guaranteed to alter said cultural heritage by transforming into a commodity chain that can be bought and appropriated for the good of the world- universal value.
alisat
Parrulla Armiqesore 3:25 pm më 22 Mars 2008 | #
It might have frustrated us that – this being Albania – such mosaics could not be displayed for lack of funds. Even so, lunching at a nearby restaurant on pork chops sprinkled with oregano and washed down with a robust local wine, the overall feeling was exhilaration that we had the place – restaurant, view, archaeological site and even, it sometimes seemed, the entire oddball country – all to ourselves.
Since the article is in English, I will proceed to comment on this brief excerpt in English.
The frustration for the lack of funds to exhibit the mosaics has its origins in this typical European/UNESCO/colonizer/Westerner thought that “these people do not care for their heritage, they do not realize beauty and it is only us, the ‘cultured’ who can save it for them (read: from them).” This recognition of Albania as worthy of exploring is a sort of a self-congratulatory gesture on the part of the European tourist/ journalist who takes it about him/herself to designate such sites on behalf of the rest of the world but not before they greedily consume it for themselves first.
It reveals an attempt by privileged countries to recognize the heritage and culture of disfavored countries by inserting mechanisms to allow these people to display their cultural wealth for the enjoyment and the appreciation of the donators. Again it is up to the privileged to “enable” any of this though tourism, funding and other handouts, for only they through their superior cultural refinement can truly appreciate the locked up heritage. The result is almost always guaranteed to alter said cultural heritage by transforming into a commodity chain that can be bought and appropriated for the good of the world- universal value.