During the Cold War, Albania was materially and philosophically appropriated by the paranoid dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. This left the communist landscape littered with defensive infrastructures which have been subjected to a range of official and unofficial uses. Using a modern conflict archaeological approach, focused in on material culture and landscape dimensions, my research examines the perception and identity of these creations, primarily bunkers, during their communist-era construction, installation and use as well as their post-communist reuse and reinterpretation. Supervisors: Nicholas Saunders Address: University of Bristol, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, 43 Woodland Road, BS8 1UU
In Bennett. L. (ed.) 2017 In the Ruins of the Cold War Bunker: Affect, materiality and meaning-making. Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield International, 2017
From the late 1960s the communist state of Albania embarked upon a bunker building programme that... more From the late 1960s the communist state of Albania embarked upon a bunker building programme that was devised to be significantly more comprehensive than previous defence proposals. This was instigated by the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha during his alliance with China, a relationship that started in 1961 after failed partnerships with neighbouring Yugoslavia and the USSR. Albania had benefited greatly from Chinese financial and technical assistance. However, due to wider events in the Eastern Bloc, Hoxha had become concerned that China, being centred at some great distance from the Mediterranean, would be unable to counteract any invasion threat to Albania. Thus, the bunkerisation scheme was designed to be utilised by the whole population as a means of defence in the event of an attack or invasion. Numerous reinforced concrete defensive structures were created for the military and civilians at this time, from simple tunnels, air raid shelters, command posts, party headquarters, ammunition stores, subterranean army storage, machine gun posts and artillery bunkers. However, it is the smallest and most ubiquitous of these, the mushroom-shaped bunker (MSB), which will be the subject of this discussion. This chapter will examine the varied life-histories of MSBs from their conception, installation and use, their later abandonment after communism fell in 1991 and their subsequent re-engagement through Albanian and foreign interactions. It has been almost fifty years since these small bunkers were conceived and twenty-five years since the fall of communism in Albania. Through this time-frame their characteristics, as individual entities and as a collective force, have been heavily invested with symbolism, meaning and identities. These qualities are not static. They are fluid and determined by their relationships with persons, socio-economic forces and the natural or urban environment in which they are situated. The coastal town of Ksamili in Southern Albania is close to the Greek coastal border with the Island of Corfu. Countless MSBs were installed along this coastal zone during communism, however in the post-socialist period, many have been re-used and/or destroyed in the drive to develop the town, tourism and create beaches. Ksamili is therefore an ideal focal point from which the form, function and future of Albania’s MSBs will be further explored, and implications discussed.
In Parangoni. I. (ed.) 2015. Between Glory and Fall: Albania and the Industrial Experience. Tiran... more In Parangoni. I. (ed.) 2015. Between Glory and Fall: Albania and the Industrial Experience. Tirana: Shtëpia Botuese.
Book Abstract: The book begins by examining the earliest traces of industrialisation in Albania, passing through the inter-war years and ending with the fall of communism in the early 1990s. There is a strong emphasis on the communist period, a time when the country saw a massive industrialisation effort.
In Saunders, N.J. (ed.) 2012. Beyond The Dead Horizon: Studies in Modern Conflict Archaeology. Ox... more In Saunders, N.J. (ed.) 2012. Beyond The Dead Horizon: Studies in Modern Conflict Archaeology. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
Fiat Lux: Functional Analysis of Three Saxo-Norman Pottery Lamps from Berkeley, Gloucestershire
... more Fiat Lux: Functional Analysis of Three Saxo-Norman Pottery Lamps from Berkeley, Gloucestershire
Paul Blinkhorn, Lucy Cramp, Stuart Prior, Emily Glass & Mark Horton
This paper comprises analysis of three Saxo-Norman pottery lamps recovered during archaeological excavations in 2012 in the Edward Jenner Museum garden, Berkeley, Gloucestershire. While such vessels have been known to archaeologists since the earliest days of Saxon and medieval pottery studies, their specific function, other than general ‘lighting’, has never been considered. Similarly, the composition of the fuel in such lamps has not been scientifically verified. In the following paper, both of these areas are addressed through experimental archaeology and organic residue analysis. The conclusion reached is that the lamps were chosen for use in a late-Saxon industrial workshop as they were ideal for the setting, providing a consistent, stable and bright light source in comparison with other available lighting methods of the period.
SPMA conference report for receipt of Paul Courtney Travel Award towards participation in: Intern... more SPMA conference report for receipt of Paul Courtney Travel Award towards participation in: International Conference - Practices, Materiality, Places and Temporality – New Approaches in Albanian Studies, Tirana, Albania. October 10th-12th 2018.
University of Bristol Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Green Apple Scheme Project Repo... more University of Bristol Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Green Apple Scheme Project Report
April 2015
2018 Modern Conflict Archaeology Conference, University of Bristol
Abstract: From 1967, whilst ... more 2018 Modern Conflict Archaeology Conference, University of Bristol
Abstract: From 1967, whilst allied with the People’s Republic of China, Albania instigated a large scale bunkerisation programme with an output that peaked, then dipped until the fall of communism in 1991. Over these twenty-four years, the most commonly produced reinforced concrete structure was a small, domed infantry bunker, known as the ‘Qender Zjarri’ or ‘centre of fire’. These had a form akin to a mushroom and were installed in such numbers that in many parts of the Albanian landscape they seemed to be sprouting from the fields. These mushroom-shaped bunkers (MSBs) objects are Albania’s cold war legacy, monuments of wartime that represent nationalism, ideology and power across a landscape that was crafted for war, but not subject to invasion during that particular conflict. As an object, the Albanian MSB has existed for fifty years, spending half that time as a communist concept and half as a democratic hangover which has slowly abated and enabled a variety of engagements, reuses and creative endeavours to emerge.
This paper will discuss aspects of MSB object materialities from both worlds as individual and collective entities using the following: manufacture, reuse, MSB spolia, souvenir production and destruction. These will demonstrate how MSBs have pervaded in society, been a subject of foreign-fascination and become the iconic representation of Albania, but conversely, not of being Albanian. The findings are primarily supported through PhD research, interviews, site survey, photography and mapping, but also through news articles and social media information where applicable.
Conference - Practices, Materiality, Places and Temporality: New Approaches in Albanian Studies, ... more Conference - Practices, Materiality, Places and Temporality: New Approaches in Albanian Studies, Tirana, October 10-12th 2018.
Participated in Material Turn Roundtable Session
Conference Outline from Main Organisers:
The last international conference on Albanian studies was held in London in 1999 and resulted in the celebrated volume Albanian Identities. Myth and History (2002). Nearly 20 years after this milestone, the time has come for a new meeting, which can be seen as an opportunity to assess the changes that have occurred in Albanian studies and to discuss results, changes of paradigms, emerging approaches and perspectives for the future. Notably, issues related to the study of practices, materiality, places and temporality, which have been and are still debated in contemporary social sciences, deserve to be discussed in relation to the Albanian context.
During the last years, formal and less formal exchanges and collaborations have been going on between the Department of History of the University of Tirana, the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Art Studies (IAKSA, Tirana), the Institute of Mediterranean, European and Comparative Ethnology (IDEMEC, Aix-en-Provence) and the Centre for Turkish, Ottoman, Balkans and Central-Asia Studies (CETOBAC, Paris). On that basis, it was thought timely and profitable to organise an international meeting, whose aim was to reflect collectively on current and emerging approaches in Albanian studies in order to identify future directions of research and to envisage potential collaborative projects.
2014 European Association of Archaeologists, general meeting, Istanbul
In Session: Connecting C... more 2014 European Association of Archaeologists, general meeting, Istanbul
In Session: Connecting Cultures, Maritime Flows: Toward an Historical Archaeology of the Mediterranean
Abstract: Albania is geographically located in the centre of the northern Mediterranean between classical Greek and Roman worlds and along the western limits of the historic Ottoman Empire. Although the country was granted independence in 1912 it was subjugated during the Second World War by German and Italian forces. After liberation, Albania was ruled by a communist leadership for almost 50 years which caused a localised rupture in the historical trajectory of Mediterranean socio-economic and cultural traditions. This paper will explore how the ideologies and political systems installed by the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha were used to state-manage people and commodities, reject neighbouring territories and close borders. This shift was supported by the USSR and China which enabled Albania to join a world-system of socialism that stretched far beyond the traditional Mediterranean sphere. This extreme level of control, which saw Albania employing a trans-global flow of trade and ideas, has resulted in a unique example of how history can be overcome through political will, matched by 20th century technologies and communications. These extents simply could not have been achieved at any earlier time in the historical period and the legacies of this radical era are still evident in the country today.
2014 European Association of Archaeologists, general meeting, Istanbul
In Session: Increasing H... more 2014 European Association of Archaeologists, general meeting, Istanbul
In Session: Increasing Heritage Awareness through Participatory Archaeology
Abstract: This year marks the start of the First World War centenary, an occasion to be commemorated across Europe through remembrance events and research projects. In the UK there is great enthusiasm in the archaeological sector for community participation projects, situated within educational, research and practical frameworks. This paper will present the ‘Home Front and its Legacies’ pilot developed by the Universities of Bristol and York, with funding from English Heritage where the results were utilised to inform a UK-wide Council for British Archaeology scheme. Local volunteers used a pilot-recording system to choose, document and map Home Front places and spaces. This approach promoted collaborative working, the use of local resources and tested systems which were all critiqued by participants to provide feedback on the recording system and make recommendations for the future. In addition, the pilot was a mechanism by which landscape changes could be spatially comprehended, the site condition documented and any risks noted. These results were exported to local Heritage Environment Records and the English Heritage National Record of the Historic Environment. A national collection of Home Front data over the centenary would be of immense benefit to quantify and assess the remaining First World War resource in the UK.
2014, Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIFA) Conference, Glasgow
In Session: What’s New i... more 2014, Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIFA) Conference, Glasgow
In Session: What’s New in British Archaeology?
Abstract: 2014 marks the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War in the UK and there is great enthusiasm across all sectors for marking this occasion, particularly within community research. This paper will discuss the ‘Home Front and its Legacies’ project that was developed and undertaken in the Lea Valley and Staffordshire by the Universities of Bristol and York with English Heritage funding. Local volunteers were given a toolkit which was used to record and map buildings and places that were created or impacted upon as a direct response to the conflict. A combination of archive research, field visits and the filling in of a standardised form produced 111 records which were supplied to the relevant HERs and English Heritage. Using examples from the results, this paper will outline the development of the methodology and consider how it operated in practice. Appreciation will also be given to how a local level comprehension of landscapes that were created 100 years ago, at a time of great change and upheaval, can be extremely beneficial to this kind of study. Finally, the future of the ‘Legacies’ pilot will be outlined as it is now situated within plans by the Council for British Archaeology to commemorate the First World War through a UK-wide recording project.
2013, European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) general meeting, Pilsen
In Session: Cold War ... more 2013, European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) general meeting, Pilsen
In Session: Cold War in Context: Excavating the Contemporary World
Abstract: Between the end of the Second World War and 1991, Albania’s communist leadership substantially reordered and modernised the landscape to improve the socio-economic situation of the recently liberated country. This was accompanied by the unprecedented development of military and defensive infrastructure, particularly the creation and installation of countless reinforced concrete bunkers into the landscape. These omnipresent structures have endured beyond the communist era into the present-day and have become one of the most visual relics of Albania’s Cold War.
This paper will examine various types of bunkers and investigate how these structures are interacted with and transformed within the context of a post-socialist Albania. The high degree of socialist bias and propaganda extolled in Albania during the Cold War will be assessed for its use value when set against these concrete bunkers and its relevance within this interdisciplinary archaeological study. It may be argued that after 22 years, Albania and her people have moved beyond the bunkers; however the results of recent archaeological survey and other investigations have shown that these structures persist in the psyche and may even offer a contribution towards the future of Albania.
2011 Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), Birmingham
Session was Co-organised by Alberto P. Mart... more 2011 Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), Birmingham
Session was Co-organised by Alberto P. Martí (University of Leicester) and Mayca Rojo (Universitat de Barcelona); Discussants: Emily Glass (University of Bristol) & Nicholas Márquez-Grant (Cellmark Forensic Services)
Abstract: The Spanish Civil War has traditionally been a source of interest and inspiration for historians, sociologists, politicians, novelists and even film-makers. Nevertheless, it has not been until the last decade that archaeologists have got fully involved in the study of the material dimension of this conflict and its aftermath: General Franco's national-Catholic dictatorship. Different branches seem to be joining in order to conform what is usually referred as the 'archaeology of the Spanish Civil War'. On the one hand, evolved from a tradition of military history and architecture, there is a growing interest in approaching 'archaeologically' the physical remains of the armed confrontation (battlefields, trench systems, urban air-raid shelters, etc). On the other hand, archaeologists have become an essential part of the civic movement campaigning for the so-called 'recovery of the historical memory'. This is a complex social phenomenon based on the widespread political repression that took place in Spain during and after the war, and whose most famous expression is the exhumation of mass graves all around the country. The construction of an 'archaeology of the Spanish Civil War' as a combination of so different approaches (heritage preservation and education, human rights investigations, left-wing political activism, etc.) does still require the development of a coherent theoretical corpus. It is the intention of this session to offer a global perspective of this multiplicity of viewpoints and motivations, while encouraging a deep international debate around the role and public responsibilities of archaeologists working on this field.
Presented Twice in 2011 at Modern Conflict Archaeology (MCA) Conference, University of Bristol & ... more Presented Twice in 2011 at Modern Conflict Archaeology (MCA) Conference, University of Bristol & Conflict Archaeology Conference, University of Glasgow
Abstract:
The Tirana Pyramid was built in 1987 in the centre of Albania’s capital city. It measures 11,000 sq metres in size and was constructed of concrete with marble cladding as a memorial to the deceased dictator Enver Hoxha (1908-1985). It housed a propaganda-based museum dedicated to the former leader. After the fall of communism in 1991 it became, variously, a cultural centre for the arts, a venue for trade fairs, a nightclub, and a TV/Radio station. However, since 2008 it has been allowed to descend into a living ruin by being stripped of its marble and left to become an eyesore, particularly since the partially completed restoration works were shelved in 2009.
Since its construction, the Pyramid has evolved into a symbolic urban landscape feature, whose meaning has morphed alongside the contemporary Albanian psyche. Unfortunately not all recent events at the Pyramid have been constructive. In January 2011 the Pyramid became the focus of renewed protest after four civilians were shot dead by the National Guard during anti-government demonstrations. These events returned the Pyramid to its original role as a memorial space and place of remembrance, in this case for those killed and injured during the violence.
In late 2010, the Albanian government announced that the pyramid was to be demolished, citing the need for a new Parliament building. These plans have met with strong resistance from the UN, opposition parties, architects, the general public and the ‘Protect the Pyramid’ protest group, all of whom have been dismissed by the current Prime Minister as guilty of ‘Enverism Nostalgia’.
This paper will explore how, after the fall of communism, the Pyramid has been appropriated by a wider society and infused with new meanings, values and memories. It will also discuss what the dynamic interrelations of public and political perceptions of this structure can signify for its future preservation.
2010 European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), general meeting, Den Haag
In Session: Reanima... more 2010 European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), general meeting, Den Haag
In Session: Reanimating Industrial Spaces, organised by Hilary Orange and co-chaired with Emily Glass.
Abstract: Under a Communist Leadership Albania embarked on a programme of mass modernisation under the direction of the dictator Enver Hoxha. Part of this socio-economic advancement included the manufacture of prefabricated concrete elements needed to supply the country with buildings, telecommunications, electrification and defence. One such complex producing all these parts was located on the outskirts of Gjirokastra in Southern Albania, which functioned until Communism collapsed. This factory went beyond merely moulding utilitarian forms for a national consumption, it embodied how people were shaped and united by the Party through daily life. A recent visit to this site revealed a wealth of information: The layout remains complete and is littered with Communist production remnants, iron moulds and piles of debris with some spaces still in use today. Furthermore we discovered our taxi driver had worked there in 1984. With his input we were better able to contextualise and assess the site as a case study for examining the archaeology of Communist Albania, for which the recent nature of this era is well placed to utilise memory studies. This paper will explore the challenges, pros, cons and relevance of this approach to a tangible and visual relic of collectivised industrial Albania.
In Bennett. L. (ed.) 2017 In the Ruins of the Cold War Bunker: Affect, materiality and meaning-making. Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield International, 2017
From the late 1960s the communist state of Albania embarked upon a bunker building programme that... more From the late 1960s the communist state of Albania embarked upon a bunker building programme that was devised to be significantly more comprehensive than previous defence proposals. This was instigated by the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha during his alliance with China, a relationship that started in 1961 after failed partnerships with neighbouring Yugoslavia and the USSR. Albania had benefited greatly from Chinese financial and technical assistance. However, due to wider events in the Eastern Bloc, Hoxha had become concerned that China, being centred at some great distance from the Mediterranean, would be unable to counteract any invasion threat to Albania. Thus, the bunkerisation scheme was designed to be utilised by the whole population as a means of defence in the event of an attack or invasion. Numerous reinforced concrete defensive structures were created for the military and civilians at this time, from simple tunnels, air raid shelters, command posts, party headquarters, ammunition stores, subterranean army storage, machine gun posts and artillery bunkers. However, it is the smallest and most ubiquitous of these, the mushroom-shaped bunker (MSB), which will be the subject of this discussion. This chapter will examine the varied life-histories of MSBs from their conception, installation and use, their later abandonment after communism fell in 1991 and their subsequent re-engagement through Albanian and foreign interactions. It has been almost fifty years since these small bunkers were conceived and twenty-five years since the fall of communism in Albania. Through this time-frame their characteristics, as individual entities and as a collective force, have been heavily invested with symbolism, meaning and identities. These qualities are not static. They are fluid and determined by their relationships with persons, socio-economic forces and the natural or urban environment in which they are situated. The coastal town of Ksamili in Southern Albania is close to the Greek coastal border with the Island of Corfu. Countless MSBs were installed along this coastal zone during communism, however in the post-socialist period, many have been re-used and/or destroyed in the drive to develop the town, tourism and create beaches. Ksamili is therefore an ideal focal point from which the form, function and future of Albania’s MSBs will be further explored, and implications discussed.
In Parangoni. I. (ed.) 2015. Between Glory and Fall: Albania and the Industrial Experience. Tiran... more In Parangoni. I. (ed.) 2015. Between Glory and Fall: Albania and the Industrial Experience. Tirana: Shtëpia Botuese.
Book Abstract: The book begins by examining the earliest traces of industrialisation in Albania, passing through the inter-war years and ending with the fall of communism in the early 1990s. There is a strong emphasis on the communist period, a time when the country saw a massive industrialisation effort.
In Saunders, N.J. (ed.) 2012. Beyond The Dead Horizon: Studies in Modern Conflict Archaeology. Ox... more In Saunders, N.J. (ed.) 2012. Beyond The Dead Horizon: Studies in Modern Conflict Archaeology. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
Fiat Lux: Functional Analysis of Three Saxo-Norman Pottery Lamps from Berkeley, Gloucestershire
... more Fiat Lux: Functional Analysis of Three Saxo-Norman Pottery Lamps from Berkeley, Gloucestershire
Paul Blinkhorn, Lucy Cramp, Stuart Prior, Emily Glass & Mark Horton
This paper comprises analysis of three Saxo-Norman pottery lamps recovered during archaeological excavations in 2012 in the Edward Jenner Museum garden, Berkeley, Gloucestershire. While such vessels have been known to archaeologists since the earliest days of Saxon and medieval pottery studies, their specific function, other than general ‘lighting’, has never been considered. Similarly, the composition of the fuel in such lamps has not been scientifically verified. In the following paper, both of these areas are addressed through experimental archaeology and organic residue analysis. The conclusion reached is that the lamps were chosen for use in a late-Saxon industrial workshop as they were ideal for the setting, providing a consistent, stable and bright light source in comparison with other available lighting methods of the period.
SPMA conference report for receipt of Paul Courtney Travel Award towards participation in: Intern... more SPMA conference report for receipt of Paul Courtney Travel Award towards participation in: International Conference - Practices, Materiality, Places and Temporality – New Approaches in Albanian Studies, Tirana, Albania. October 10th-12th 2018.
University of Bristol Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Green Apple Scheme Project Repo... more University of Bristol Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Green Apple Scheme Project Report
April 2015
2018 Modern Conflict Archaeology Conference, University of Bristol
Abstract: From 1967, whilst ... more 2018 Modern Conflict Archaeology Conference, University of Bristol
Abstract: From 1967, whilst allied with the People’s Republic of China, Albania instigated a large scale bunkerisation programme with an output that peaked, then dipped until the fall of communism in 1991. Over these twenty-four years, the most commonly produced reinforced concrete structure was a small, domed infantry bunker, known as the ‘Qender Zjarri’ or ‘centre of fire’. These had a form akin to a mushroom and were installed in such numbers that in many parts of the Albanian landscape they seemed to be sprouting from the fields. These mushroom-shaped bunkers (MSBs) objects are Albania’s cold war legacy, monuments of wartime that represent nationalism, ideology and power across a landscape that was crafted for war, but not subject to invasion during that particular conflict. As an object, the Albanian MSB has existed for fifty years, spending half that time as a communist concept and half as a democratic hangover which has slowly abated and enabled a variety of engagements, reuses and creative endeavours to emerge.
This paper will discuss aspects of MSB object materialities from both worlds as individual and collective entities using the following: manufacture, reuse, MSB spolia, souvenir production and destruction. These will demonstrate how MSBs have pervaded in society, been a subject of foreign-fascination and become the iconic representation of Albania, but conversely, not of being Albanian. The findings are primarily supported through PhD research, interviews, site survey, photography and mapping, but also through news articles and social media information where applicable.
Conference - Practices, Materiality, Places and Temporality: New Approaches in Albanian Studies, ... more Conference - Practices, Materiality, Places and Temporality: New Approaches in Albanian Studies, Tirana, October 10-12th 2018.
Participated in Material Turn Roundtable Session
Conference Outline from Main Organisers:
The last international conference on Albanian studies was held in London in 1999 and resulted in the celebrated volume Albanian Identities. Myth and History (2002). Nearly 20 years after this milestone, the time has come for a new meeting, which can be seen as an opportunity to assess the changes that have occurred in Albanian studies and to discuss results, changes of paradigms, emerging approaches and perspectives for the future. Notably, issues related to the study of practices, materiality, places and temporality, which have been and are still debated in contemporary social sciences, deserve to be discussed in relation to the Albanian context.
During the last years, formal and less formal exchanges and collaborations have been going on between the Department of History of the University of Tirana, the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Art Studies (IAKSA, Tirana), the Institute of Mediterranean, European and Comparative Ethnology (IDEMEC, Aix-en-Provence) and the Centre for Turkish, Ottoman, Balkans and Central-Asia Studies (CETOBAC, Paris). On that basis, it was thought timely and profitable to organise an international meeting, whose aim was to reflect collectively on current and emerging approaches in Albanian studies in order to identify future directions of research and to envisage potential collaborative projects.
2014 European Association of Archaeologists, general meeting, Istanbul
In Session: Connecting C... more 2014 European Association of Archaeologists, general meeting, Istanbul
In Session: Connecting Cultures, Maritime Flows: Toward an Historical Archaeology of the Mediterranean
Abstract: Albania is geographically located in the centre of the northern Mediterranean between classical Greek and Roman worlds and along the western limits of the historic Ottoman Empire. Although the country was granted independence in 1912 it was subjugated during the Second World War by German and Italian forces. After liberation, Albania was ruled by a communist leadership for almost 50 years which caused a localised rupture in the historical trajectory of Mediterranean socio-economic and cultural traditions. This paper will explore how the ideologies and political systems installed by the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha were used to state-manage people and commodities, reject neighbouring territories and close borders. This shift was supported by the USSR and China which enabled Albania to join a world-system of socialism that stretched far beyond the traditional Mediterranean sphere. This extreme level of control, which saw Albania employing a trans-global flow of trade and ideas, has resulted in a unique example of how history can be overcome through political will, matched by 20th century technologies and communications. These extents simply could not have been achieved at any earlier time in the historical period and the legacies of this radical era are still evident in the country today.
2014 European Association of Archaeologists, general meeting, Istanbul
In Session: Increasing H... more 2014 European Association of Archaeologists, general meeting, Istanbul
In Session: Increasing Heritage Awareness through Participatory Archaeology
Abstract: This year marks the start of the First World War centenary, an occasion to be commemorated across Europe through remembrance events and research projects. In the UK there is great enthusiasm in the archaeological sector for community participation projects, situated within educational, research and practical frameworks. This paper will present the ‘Home Front and its Legacies’ pilot developed by the Universities of Bristol and York, with funding from English Heritage where the results were utilised to inform a UK-wide Council for British Archaeology scheme. Local volunteers used a pilot-recording system to choose, document and map Home Front places and spaces. This approach promoted collaborative working, the use of local resources and tested systems which were all critiqued by participants to provide feedback on the recording system and make recommendations for the future. In addition, the pilot was a mechanism by which landscape changes could be spatially comprehended, the site condition documented and any risks noted. These results were exported to local Heritage Environment Records and the English Heritage National Record of the Historic Environment. A national collection of Home Front data over the centenary would be of immense benefit to quantify and assess the remaining First World War resource in the UK.
2014, Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIFA) Conference, Glasgow
In Session: What’s New i... more 2014, Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIFA) Conference, Glasgow
In Session: What’s New in British Archaeology?
Abstract: 2014 marks the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War in the UK and there is great enthusiasm across all sectors for marking this occasion, particularly within community research. This paper will discuss the ‘Home Front and its Legacies’ project that was developed and undertaken in the Lea Valley and Staffordshire by the Universities of Bristol and York with English Heritage funding. Local volunteers were given a toolkit which was used to record and map buildings and places that were created or impacted upon as a direct response to the conflict. A combination of archive research, field visits and the filling in of a standardised form produced 111 records which were supplied to the relevant HERs and English Heritage. Using examples from the results, this paper will outline the development of the methodology and consider how it operated in practice. Appreciation will also be given to how a local level comprehension of landscapes that were created 100 years ago, at a time of great change and upheaval, can be extremely beneficial to this kind of study. Finally, the future of the ‘Legacies’ pilot will be outlined as it is now situated within plans by the Council for British Archaeology to commemorate the First World War through a UK-wide recording project.
2013, European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) general meeting, Pilsen
In Session: Cold War ... more 2013, European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) general meeting, Pilsen
In Session: Cold War in Context: Excavating the Contemporary World
Abstract: Between the end of the Second World War and 1991, Albania’s communist leadership substantially reordered and modernised the landscape to improve the socio-economic situation of the recently liberated country. This was accompanied by the unprecedented development of military and defensive infrastructure, particularly the creation and installation of countless reinforced concrete bunkers into the landscape. These omnipresent structures have endured beyond the communist era into the present-day and have become one of the most visual relics of Albania’s Cold War.
This paper will examine various types of bunkers and investigate how these structures are interacted with and transformed within the context of a post-socialist Albania. The high degree of socialist bias and propaganda extolled in Albania during the Cold War will be assessed for its use value when set against these concrete bunkers and its relevance within this interdisciplinary archaeological study. It may be argued that after 22 years, Albania and her people have moved beyond the bunkers; however the results of recent archaeological survey and other investigations have shown that these structures persist in the psyche and may even offer a contribution towards the future of Albania.
2011 Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), Birmingham
Session was Co-organised by Alberto P. Mart... more 2011 Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), Birmingham
Session was Co-organised by Alberto P. Martí (University of Leicester) and Mayca Rojo (Universitat de Barcelona); Discussants: Emily Glass (University of Bristol) & Nicholas Márquez-Grant (Cellmark Forensic Services)
Abstract: The Spanish Civil War has traditionally been a source of interest and inspiration for historians, sociologists, politicians, novelists and even film-makers. Nevertheless, it has not been until the last decade that archaeologists have got fully involved in the study of the material dimension of this conflict and its aftermath: General Franco's national-Catholic dictatorship. Different branches seem to be joining in order to conform what is usually referred as the 'archaeology of the Spanish Civil War'. On the one hand, evolved from a tradition of military history and architecture, there is a growing interest in approaching 'archaeologically' the physical remains of the armed confrontation (battlefields, trench systems, urban air-raid shelters, etc). On the other hand, archaeologists have become an essential part of the civic movement campaigning for the so-called 'recovery of the historical memory'. This is a complex social phenomenon based on the widespread political repression that took place in Spain during and after the war, and whose most famous expression is the exhumation of mass graves all around the country. The construction of an 'archaeology of the Spanish Civil War' as a combination of so different approaches (heritage preservation and education, human rights investigations, left-wing political activism, etc.) does still require the development of a coherent theoretical corpus. It is the intention of this session to offer a global perspective of this multiplicity of viewpoints and motivations, while encouraging a deep international debate around the role and public responsibilities of archaeologists working on this field.
Presented Twice in 2011 at Modern Conflict Archaeology (MCA) Conference, University of Bristol & ... more Presented Twice in 2011 at Modern Conflict Archaeology (MCA) Conference, University of Bristol & Conflict Archaeology Conference, University of Glasgow
Abstract:
The Tirana Pyramid was built in 1987 in the centre of Albania’s capital city. It measures 11,000 sq metres in size and was constructed of concrete with marble cladding as a memorial to the deceased dictator Enver Hoxha (1908-1985). It housed a propaganda-based museum dedicated to the former leader. After the fall of communism in 1991 it became, variously, a cultural centre for the arts, a venue for trade fairs, a nightclub, and a TV/Radio station. However, since 2008 it has been allowed to descend into a living ruin by being stripped of its marble and left to become an eyesore, particularly since the partially completed restoration works were shelved in 2009.
Since its construction, the Pyramid has evolved into a symbolic urban landscape feature, whose meaning has morphed alongside the contemporary Albanian psyche. Unfortunately not all recent events at the Pyramid have been constructive. In January 2011 the Pyramid became the focus of renewed protest after four civilians were shot dead by the National Guard during anti-government demonstrations. These events returned the Pyramid to its original role as a memorial space and place of remembrance, in this case for those killed and injured during the violence.
In late 2010, the Albanian government announced that the pyramid was to be demolished, citing the need for a new Parliament building. These plans have met with strong resistance from the UN, opposition parties, architects, the general public and the ‘Protect the Pyramid’ protest group, all of whom have been dismissed by the current Prime Minister as guilty of ‘Enverism Nostalgia’.
This paper will explore how, after the fall of communism, the Pyramid has been appropriated by a wider society and infused with new meanings, values and memories. It will also discuss what the dynamic interrelations of public and political perceptions of this structure can signify for its future preservation.
2010 European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), general meeting, Den Haag
In Session: Reanima... more 2010 European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), general meeting, Den Haag
In Session: Reanimating Industrial Spaces, organised by Hilary Orange and co-chaired with Emily Glass.
Abstract: Under a Communist Leadership Albania embarked on a programme of mass modernisation under the direction of the dictator Enver Hoxha. Part of this socio-economic advancement included the manufacture of prefabricated concrete elements needed to supply the country with buildings, telecommunications, electrification and defence. One such complex producing all these parts was located on the outskirts of Gjirokastra in Southern Albania, which functioned until Communism collapsed. This factory went beyond merely moulding utilitarian forms for a national consumption, it embodied how people were shaped and united by the Party through daily life. A recent visit to this site revealed a wealth of information: The layout remains complete and is littered with Communist production remnants, iron moulds and piles of debris with some spaces still in use today. Furthermore we discovered our taxi driver had worked there in 1984. With his input we were better able to contextualise and assess the site as a case study for examining the archaeology of Communist Albania, for which the recent nature of this era is well placed to utilise memory studies. This paper will explore the challenges, pros, cons and relevance of this approach to a tangible and visual relic of collectivised industrial Albania.
2009 Modern Conflict Archaeology (MCA) Conference, Bristol
Abstract:
Between the end of World Wa... more 2009 Modern Conflict Archaeology (MCA) Conference, Bristol
Abstract: Between the end of World War II and 1991 Albania was subject to Communist rule under the ideological direction of the Dictator Enver Hoxha. An earlier history of invasion and occupation by foreign forces had predisposed the population of Albania to be sensitive regarding its neighbouring countries. One of Enver Hoxha’s defensive responses to this was the production and installation of vast quantities of mushroom-shaped bunkers across the entire country. These small bunkers served to protect Albania from outside forces but were also utilised internally to maintain a ‘siege mentality’ and control the population to the advantage of the Hoxha Leadership.
Mushroom-shaped bunkers form one of the most ubiquitous legacies of a paranoid and xenophobic dictatorship which lasted for over 40 years. Since the collapse of Communism, bunkers have persisted both materially and psychologically in Albanian society as a tangible element of the country’s cultural and social history. This continued influence on the population can be observed through the re-use and reinterpretation of these structures for functional, recreational and commercial purposes.
This paper will explore these bunkers from a material culture perspective and investigate the complex layers of meaning and identity which are encapsulated within them. It will also show that as Albania moves from Communism towards a Capitalist economy the previous bunker connotations of terror and control are being reordered towards a new Albania.
2009, Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), Durham
In Session: Reanimating Industrial Spaces
Abs... more 2009, Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), Durham
In Session: Reanimating Industrial Spaces
Abstract: Under a Communist Leadership Albania embarked on a programme of mass modernisation under the direction of the dictator Enver Hoxha. Part of this socio-economic advancement included the manufacture of prefabricated concrete elements needed to supply the country with buildings, telecommunications, electrification and defence. One such complex producing all these parts was located on the outskirts of Gjirokastra in Southern Albania, which functioned until Communism collapsed. This factory went beyond merely moulding utilitarian forms for a national consumption, it embodied how people were shaped and united by the Party through daily life. A recent visit to this site revealed a wealth of information: The layout remains complete and is littered with Communist production remnants, iron moulds and piles of debris with some spaces still in use today. Furthermore we discovered our taxi driver had worked there in 1984. With his input we were better able to contextualise and assess the site as a case study for examining the archaeology of Communist Albania, for which the recent nature of this era is well placed to utilise memory studies. This paper will explore the challenges, pros, cons and relevance of this approach to a tangible and visual relic of collectivised industrial Albania.
2008: Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), Southampton
Written with Elenita Roshi & Sadi Petrela... more 2008: Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), Southampton Written with Elenita Roshi & Sadi Petrela
In Session: A Dynamic Relationship: exploring the complexities of representation in the museum/heritage experience
Abstract: The communist period of Albania is typified by the production of concrete defences across the entire country. Numerous bunkers and tunnels were located along mountainous and coastal border regions as well as within towns and cities, for both military and civilian purposes. At the time, propaganda led people to believe that invasion was a real threat. However, this never occurred and many of the structures were abandoned, then eventually closed off. The town of Gjirokastra is located in southern Albania and was the birthplace of the communist dictator, Enver Hoxha. The town is steeped in history and in 1961 was declared a ‘Museum Town’ by the regime to preserve aspects of its cultural heritage. More recently, in 2001, the Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organisation (GCDO) was founded and has worked to promote both the town and wider region as a tourist destination. In 2005 the GCDO successfully lobbied for the town to be made a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town contains a number of existing museums and visitor attractions that deal with the Medieval and Ottoman features within the town. In addition, a National Museum of Armaments covers the period from 1912 to the end of World War II. It is now planned that by the end of 2008 an underground complex of tunnels, comprising some 50 rooms, will be turned into the newest tourist attraction in the ‘Museum Town’ and will be the first of its kind to address the recent communist history of the country. This paper will explore how a 21st Century museum can blend a Communist heritage to pre-existing historical layers; and how the material representation of the Albanian Cold War era will be experienced in a community not yet at peace with Communism.
International Museum Day 8th May 2017
Theme: Museums and Contested Histories: Saying the unspeak... more International Museum Day 8th May 2017
Theme: Museums and Contested Histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) established International Museum Day in 1977 to increase public awareness of the role of museums in the development of society, and it has been steadily gaining momentum ever since. In 2016, International Museum Day garnered record-breaking participation with more than 35,000 museums hosting events in some 145 countries.
By choosing to say the unspeakable in museums, the theme of IMD 2017 looks at how to understand the incomprehensible aspects of contested histories. This was to encourage museums to play an active role in peacefully addressing traumatic histories through mediation and multiple points of view. It also highlighted how the acceptance of a contested history is the first step in envisioning a shared future under the banner of reconciliation. By linking museums and societies in a manner that goes beyond taboo subjects, a better understanding of one another can be gained in going forward.
In order to achieve this, the archaeology office of the Butrint National Park asked if I would create text and image content for four posters that would explore Albania’s militarised communist landscape mushroom-shaped infantry bunkers, their reuse and destruction. This was based on my PhD topic and predominantly utilised research undertaken in the areas of Gjirokastër and the Ksamil Peninsula. The posters were translated into Albanian, designed and printed by the Butrint National Park and exhibited for 4 weeks.
Poster submission for International Symposium: ‘Learning from the Sharp End’ Implications for sus... more Poster submission for International Symposium: ‘Learning from the Sharp End’ Implications for sustainability in Higher Education, held at the University of Bristol, 7-8th September 2015
This 2-day Green Apple Conflict Workshop was led by Professor Nicholas Saunders and Emily Glass of the Archaeology and Anthropology Department at the University of Bristol. This was an opportunity to develop a project grounded in the interdisciplinary topic of Modern Conflict Archaeology which would also relate to broader issues within local and global Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Students from the University of Bristol’s Archaeology and Anthropology Department were taken on a fieldtrip to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to examine the landscape, design and context of memorials held within. This was immediately followed up by a second day of classroom learning and reflection which explored themes of ESD within Modern Conflict Archaeology, Memorialisation, Landscape, Material Culture, Memory and Identity. By participating in the workshop, students could engage with their subject across an intensive timeframe that enabled them to gain a sound knowledge of issues relating to Education for Sustainable Development, backed up with practical experience. This poster will discuss the project, the student response and illustrate the transferable learning model developed as a result of this workshop.
Emily Glass and Professor Nicholas Saunders, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol
EAA 2013 Pilsen FWW Poster:
The Legacies of the Home Front project was set up by the Universit... more EAA 2013 Pilsen FWW Poster:
The Legacies of the Home Front project was set up by the University of Bristol and the University of York with funding from English Heritage and was completed in April 2013. The aim was to examine and document remains of the First World War by engaging local volunteers to research and document sites in two pilot areas: the Lea Valley in NE London and the county of Staffordshire. Primarily this project was designed to document any military or civilian wartime remains built or modified as a direct result of the country being at war. However, evidence was also recorded for destroyed structures and events, such as bombing locations, peace parties or riots. The recording done by the volunteers was fed into a database and the results tested to populate a web-atlas with clickable sites as a mechanism for people to engage with the FWW Home Front landscape. The pilot was also intended to inform a future national public archaeology project which would engage with existing local research groups to record evidence of that conflict in their own localities. This poster will document this pilot project by exhibiting the methodologies developed, the results and outline plans for the future.
Cambridge Heritage Research Group Talk - 1st November 2018
Abstract: From the late 1960s commun... more Cambridge Heritage Research Group Talk - 1st November 2018
Abstract: From the late 1960s communist Albania embarked upon a bunkerisation programme that was both ideologically tied to Enver Hoxha’s adoption of Mao’s Cultural Revolution and a defensive response to the country’s self-imposed isolation to all but China. The result was the installation of innumerable small personnel bunkers laid out in multiple rows and as individual positions across the whole country, with heavy concentrations around borders, towns, military bases and transport networks. The achievement of manufacturing, installing and maintaining these bunkers was a testament to how a country can utilise its population to create a collective megastructure that acted as a form of mental and physical walled barrier towards the outside world while encouraging an internal siege mentality.
Using the results of fieldwork, this talk will examine how mushroom-shaped bunkers in two southern border areas of Albania were perceived and engaged with during communism and discuss how this changed after the 1991 collapse. As these omnipresent objects have been situated partly under communism and partly within democracy, they comprise various narratives which contribute towards the formation of cultural biographies. Through this, it will be demonstrated how the mushroom-shaped bunker is an object that has become recontextualised and transmuted over time. Finally, the impact that destruction and tourism has had upon this particular form of communist heritage will also be explored to argue how the mushroom-shaped bunker has emerged as the unofficial icon of Albania.
Bunkerët e Kommunizmit - Shfrytëzojini për turizëm = Bunkers of Communism - Use it for tourism
C... more Bunkerët e Kommunizmit - Shfrytëzojini për turizëm = Bunkers of Communism - Use it for tourism
Contributed to an interview by Engjëll Serjani for Gazeta Shqip in 2010 regarding my PhD research on Albanian communist bunkers and how they could form an important element for future communist heritage tourism.
Interviewed by Kristi Pinderi for the Albanian magazine MAPO about my MA research on Albanian bun... more Interviewed by Kristi Pinderi for the Albanian magazine MAPO about my MA research on Albanian bunkers undertaken at the University of Bristol, published on 9th August 2008
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This chapter will examine the varied life-histories of MSBs from their conception, installation and use, their later abandonment after communism fell in 1991 and their subsequent re-engagement through Albanian and foreign interactions. It has been almost fifty years since these small bunkers were conceived and twenty-five years since the fall of communism in Albania. Through this time-frame their characteristics, as individual entities and as a collective force, have been heavily invested with symbolism, meaning and identities. These qualities are not static. They are fluid and determined by their relationships with persons, socio-economic forces and the natural or urban environment in which they are situated. The coastal town of Ksamili in Southern Albania is close to the Greek coastal border with the Island of Corfu. Countless MSBs were installed along this coastal zone during communism, however in the post-socialist period, many have been re-used and/or destroyed in the drive to develop the town, tourism and create beaches. Ksamili is therefore an ideal focal point from which the form, function and future of Albania’s MSBs will be further explored, and implications discussed.
Emily Glass, University of Bristol, 2015
Book Abstract: The book begins by examining the earliest traces of industrialisation in Albania, passing through the inter-war years and ending with the fall of communism in the early 1990s. There is a strong emphasis on the communist period, a time when the country saw a massive industrialisation effort.
Paul Blinkhorn, Lucy Cramp, Stuart Prior, Emily Glass & Mark Horton
This paper comprises analysis of three Saxo-Norman pottery lamps recovered during archaeological excavations in 2012 in the Edward Jenner Museum garden, Berkeley, Gloucestershire. While such vessels have been known to archaeologists since the earliest days of Saxon and medieval pottery studies, their specific function, other than general ‘lighting’, has never been considered. Similarly, the composition of the fuel in such lamps has not been scientifically verified. In the following paper, both of these areas are addressed through experimental archaeology and organic residue analysis. The conclusion reached is that the lamps were chosen for use in a late-Saxon industrial workshop as they were ideal for the setting, providing a consistent, stable and bright light source in comparison with other available lighting methods of the period.
April 2015
Abstract: From 1967, whilst allied with the People’s Republic of China, Albania instigated a large scale bunkerisation programme with an output that peaked, then dipped until the fall of communism in 1991. Over these twenty-four years, the most commonly produced reinforced concrete structure was a small, domed infantry bunker, known as the ‘Qender Zjarri’ or ‘centre of fire’. These had a form akin to a mushroom and were installed in such numbers that in many parts of the Albanian landscape they seemed to be sprouting from the fields. These mushroom-shaped bunkers (MSBs) objects are Albania’s cold war legacy, monuments of wartime that represent nationalism, ideology and power across a landscape that was crafted for war, but not subject to invasion during that particular conflict. As an object, the Albanian MSB has existed for fifty years, spending half that time as a communist concept and half as a democratic hangover which has slowly abated and enabled a variety of engagements, reuses and creative endeavours to emerge.
This paper will discuss aspects of MSB object materialities from both worlds as individual and collective entities using the following: manufacture, reuse, MSB spolia, souvenir production and destruction. These will demonstrate how MSBs have pervaded in society, been a subject of foreign-fascination and become the iconic representation of Albania, but conversely, not of being Albanian. The findings are primarily supported through PhD research, interviews, site survey, photography and mapping, but also through news articles and social media information where applicable.
Participated in Material Turn Roundtable Session
Conference Outline from Main Organisers:
The last international conference on Albanian studies was held in London in 1999 and resulted in the celebrated volume Albanian Identities. Myth and History (2002). Nearly 20 years after this milestone, the time has come for a new meeting, which can be seen as an opportunity to assess the changes that have occurred in Albanian studies and to discuss results, changes of paradigms, emerging approaches and perspectives for the future. Notably, issues related to the study of practices, materiality, places and temporality, which have been and are still debated in contemporary social sciences, deserve to be discussed in relation to the Albanian context.
During the last years, formal and less formal exchanges and collaborations have been going on between the Department of History of the University of Tirana, the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Art Studies (IAKSA, Tirana), the Institute of Mediterranean, European and Comparative Ethnology (IDEMEC, Aix-en-Provence) and the Centre for Turkish, Ottoman, Balkans and Central-Asia Studies (CETOBAC, Paris). On that basis, it was thought timely and profitable to organise an international meeting, whose aim was to reflect collectively on current and emerging approaches in Albanian studies in order to identify future directions of research and to envisage potential collaborative projects.
In Session: Connecting Cultures, Maritime Flows: Toward an Historical Archaeology of the Mediterranean
Abstract:
Albania is geographically located in the centre of the northern Mediterranean between classical Greek and Roman worlds and along the western limits of the historic Ottoman Empire. Although the country was granted independence in 1912 it was subjugated during the Second World War by German and Italian forces. After liberation, Albania was ruled by a communist leadership for almost 50 years which caused a localised rupture in the historical trajectory of Mediterranean socio-economic and cultural traditions. This paper will explore how the ideologies and political systems installed by the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha were used to state-manage people and commodities, reject neighbouring territories and close borders. This shift was supported by the USSR and China which enabled Albania to join a world-system of socialism that stretched far beyond the traditional Mediterranean sphere. This extreme level of control, which saw Albania employing a trans-global flow of trade and ideas, has resulted in a unique example of how history can be overcome through political will, matched by 20th century technologies and communications. These extents simply could not have been achieved at any earlier time in the historical period and the legacies of this radical era are still evident in the country today.
In Session: Increasing Heritage Awareness through Participatory Archaeology
Abstract:
This year marks the start of the First World War centenary, an occasion to be commemorated across Europe through remembrance events and research projects. In the UK there is great enthusiasm in the archaeological sector for community participation projects, situated within educational, research and practical frameworks. This paper will present the ‘Home Front and its Legacies’ pilot developed by the Universities of Bristol and York, with funding from English Heritage where the results were utilised to inform a UK-wide Council for British Archaeology scheme. Local volunteers used a pilot-recording system to choose, document and map Home Front places and spaces. This approach promoted collaborative working, the use of local resources and tested systems which were all critiqued by participants to provide feedback on the recording system and make recommendations for the future. In addition, the pilot was a mechanism by which landscape changes could be spatially comprehended, the site condition documented and any risks noted. These results were exported to local Heritage Environment Records and the English Heritage National Record of the Historic Environment. A national collection of Home Front data over the centenary would be of immense benefit to quantify and assess the remaining First World War resource in the UK.
In Session: What’s New in British Archaeology?
Abstract:
2014 marks the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War in the UK and there is great enthusiasm across all sectors for marking this occasion, particularly within community research. This paper will discuss the ‘Home Front and its Legacies’ project that was developed and undertaken in the Lea Valley and Staffordshire by the Universities of Bristol and York with English Heritage funding. Local volunteers were given a toolkit which was used to record and map buildings and places that were created or impacted upon as a direct response to the conflict. A combination of archive research, field visits and the filling in of a standardised form produced 111 records which were supplied to the relevant HERs and English Heritage. Using examples from the results, this paper will outline the development of the methodology and consider how it operated in practice. Appreciation will also be given to how a local level comprehension of landscapes that were created 100 years ago, at a time of great change and upheaval, can be extremely beneficial to this kind of study. Finally, the future of the ‘Legacies’ pilot will be outlined as it is now situated within plans by the Council for British Archaeology to commemorate the First World War through a UK-wide recording project.
In Session: Cold War in Context: Excavating the Contemporary World
Abstract:
Between the end of the Second World War and 1991, Albania’s communist leadership substantially reordered and modernised the landscape to improve the socio-economic situation of the recently liberated country. This was accompanied by the unprecedented development of military and defensive infrastructure, particularly the creation and installation of countless reinforced concrete bunkers into the landscape. These omnipresent structures have endured beyond the communist era into the present-day and have become one of the most visual relics of Albania’s Cold War.
This paper will examine various types of bunkers and investigate how these structures are interacted with and transformed within the context of a post-socialist Albania. The high degree of socialist bias and propaganda extolled in Albania during the Cold War will be assessed for its use value when set against these concrete bunkers and its relevance within this interdisciplinary archaeological study. It may be argued that after 22 years, Albania and her people have moved beyond the bunkers; however the results of recent archaeological survey and other investigations have shown that these structures persist in the psyche and may even offer a contribution towards the future of Albania.
Session was Co-organised by Alberto P. Martí (University of Leicester) and Mayca Rojo (Universitat de Barcelona); Discussants: Emily Glass (University of Bristol) & Nicholas Márquez-Grant (Cellmark Forensic Services)
Abstract:
The Spanish Civil War has traditionally been a source of interest and inspiration for historians, sociologists, politicians, novelists and even film-makers. Nevertheless, it has not been until the last decade that archaeologists have got fully involved in the study of the material dimension of this conflict and its aftermath: General Franco's national-Catholic dictatorship. Different branches seem to be joining in order to conform what is usually referred as the 'archaeology of the Spanish Civil War'. On the one hand, evolved from a tradition of military history and architecture, there is a growing interest in approaching 'archaeologically' the physical remains of the armed confrontation (battlefields, trench systems, urban air-raid shelters, etc). On the other hand, archaeologists have become an essential part of the civic movement campaigning for the so-called 'recovery of the historical memory'. This is a complex social phenomenon based on the widespread political repression that took place in Spain during and after the war, and whose most famous expression is the exhumation of mass graves all around the country. The construction of an 'archaeology of the Spanish Civil War' as a combination of so different approaches (heritage preservation and education, human rights investigations, left-wing political activism, etc.) does still require the development of a coherent theoretical corpus. It is the intention of this session to offer a global perspective of this multiplicity of viewpoints and motivations, while encouraging a deep international debate around the role and public responsibilities of archaeologists working on this field.
Abstract:
The Tirana Pyramid was built in 1987 in the centre of Albania’s capital city. It measures 11,000 sq metres in size and was constructed of concrete with marble cladding as a memorial to the deceased dictator Enver Hoxha (1908-1985). It housed a propaganda-based museum dedicated to the former leader. After the fall of communism in 1991 it became, variously, a cultural centre for the arts, a venue for trade fairs, a nightclub, and a TV/Radio station. However, since 2008 it has been allowed to descend into a living ruin by being stripped of its marble and left to become an eyesore, particularly since the partially completed restoration works were shelved in 2009.
Since its construction, the Pyramid has evolved into a symbolic urban landscape feature, whose meaning has morphed alongside the contemporary Albanian psyche. Unfortunately not all recent events at the Pyramid have been constructive. In January 2011 the Pyramid became the focus of renewed protest after four civilians were shot dead by the National Guard during anti-government demonstrations. These events returned the Pyramid to its original role as a memorial space and place of remembrance, in this case for those killed and injured during the violence.
In late 2010, the Albanian government announced that the pyramid was to be demolished, citing the need for a new Parliament building. These plans have met with strong resistance from the UN, opposition parties, architects, the general public and the ‘Protect the Pyramid’ protest group, all of whom have been dismissed by the current Prime Minister as guilty of ‘Enverism Nostalgia’.
This paper will explore how, after the fall of communism, the Pyramid has been appropriated by a wider society and infused with new meanings, values and memories. It will also discuss what the dynamic interrelations of public and political perceptions of this structure can signify for its future preservation.
In Session: Reanimating Industrial Spaces, organised by Hilary Orange and co-chaired with Emily Glass.
Proceedings of the conference available through Left Coast Press http://www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=530
Abstract:
Under a Communist Leadership Albania embarked on a programme of mass modernisation under the direction of the dictator Enver Hoxha. Part of this socio-economic advancement included the manufacture of prefabricated concrete elements needed to supply the country with buildings, telecommunications, electrification and defence. One such complex producing all these parts was located on the outskirts of Gjirokastra in Southern Albania, which functioned until Communism collapsed. This factory went beyond merely moulding utilitarian forms for a national consumption, it embodied how people were shaped and united by the Party through daily life. A recent visit to this site revealed a wealth of information: The layout remains complete and is littered with Communist production remnants, iron moulds and piles of debris with some spaces still in use today. Furthermore we discovered our taxi driver had worked there in 1984. With his input we were better able to contextualise and assess the site as a case study for examining the archaeology of Communist Albania, for which the recent nature of this era is well placed to utilise memory studies. This paper will explore the challenges, pros, cons and relevance of this approach to a tangible and visual relic of collectivised industrial Albania.
This chapter will examine the varied life-histories of MSBs from their conception, installation and use, their later abandonment after communism fell in 1991 and their subsequent re-engagement through Albanian and foreign interactions. It has been almost fifty years since these small bunkers were conceived and twenty-five years since the fall of communism in Albania. Through this time-frame their characteristics, as individual entities and as a collective force, have been heavily invested with symbolism, meaning and identities. These qualities are not static. They are fluid and determined by their relationships with persons, socio-economic forces and the natural or urban environment in which they are situated. The coastal town of Ksamili in Southern Albania is close to the Greek coastal border with the Island of Corfu. Countless MSBs were installed along this coastal zone during communism, however in the post-socialist period, many have been re-used and/or destroyed in the drive to develop the town, tourism and create beaches. Ksamili is therefore an ideal focal point from which the form, function and future of Albania’s MSBs will be further explored, and implications discussed.
Emily Glass, University of Bristol, 2015
Book Abstract: The book begins by examining the earliest traces of industrialisation in Albania, passing through the inter-war years and ending with the fall of communism in the early 1990s. There is a strong emphasis on the communist period, a time when the country saw a massive industrialisation effort.
Paul Blinkhorn, Lucy Cramp, Stuart Prior, Emily Glass & Mark Horton
This paper comprises analysis of three Saxo-Norman pottery lamps recovered during archaeological excavations in 2012 in the Edward Jenner Museum garden, Berkeley, Gloucestershire. While such vessels have been known to archaeologists since the earliest days of Saxon and medieval pottery studies, their specific function, other than general ‘lighting’, has never been considered. Similarly, the composition of the fuel in such lamps has not been scientifically verified. In the following paper, both of these areas are addressed through experimental archaeology and organic residue analysis. The conclusion reached is that the lamps were chosen for use in a late-Saxon industrial workshop as they were ideal for the setting, providing a consistent, stable and bright light source in comparison with other available lighting methods of the period.
April 2015
Abstract: From 1967, whilst allied with the People’s Republic of China, Albania instigated a large scale bunkerisation programme with an output that peaked, then dipped until the fall of communism in 1991. Over these twenty-four years, the most commonly produced reinforced concrete structure was a small, domed infantry bunker, known as the ‘Qender Zjarri’ or ‘centre of fire’. These had a form akin to a mushroom and were installed in such numbers that in many parts of the Albanian landscape they seemed to be sprouting from the fields. These mushroom-shaped bunkers (MSBs) objects are Albania’s cold war legacy, monuments of wartime that represent nationalism, ideology and power across a landscape that was crafted for war, but not subject to invasion during that particular conflict. As an object, the Albanian MSB has existed for fifty years, spending half that time as a communist concept and half as a democratic hangover which has slowly abated and enabled a variety of engagements, reuses and creative endeavours to emerge.
This paper will discuss aspects of MSB object materialities from both worlds as individual and collective entities using the following: manufacture, reuse, MSB spolia, souvenir production and destruction. These will demonstrate how MSBs have pervaded in society, been a subject of foreign-fascination and become the iconic representation of Albania, but conversely, not of being Albanian. The findings are primarily supported through PhD research, interviews, site survey, photography and mapping, but also through news articles and social media information where applicable.
Participated in Material Turn Roundtable Session
Conference Outline from Main Organisers:
The last international conference on Albanian studies was held in London in 1999 and resulted in the celebrated volume Albanian Identities. Myth and History (2002). Nearly 20 years after this milestone, the time has come for a new meeting, which can be seen as an opportunity to assess the changes that have occurred in Albanian studies and to discuss results, changes of paradigms, emerging approaches and perspectives for the future. Notably, issues related to the study of practices, materiality, places and temporality, which have been and are still debated in contemporary social sciences, deserve to be discussed in relation to the Albanian context.
During the last years, formal and less formal exchanges and collaborations have been going on between the Department of History of the University of Tirana, the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Art Studies (IAKSA, Tirana), the Institute of Mediterranean, European and Comparative Ethnology (IDEMEC, Aix-en-Provence) and the Centre for Turkish, Ottoman, Balkans and Central-Asia Studies (CETOBAC, Paris). On that basis, it was thought timely and profitable to organise an international meeting, whose aim was to reflect collectively on current and emerging approaches in Albanian studies in order to identify future directions of research and to envisage potential collaborative projects.
In Session: Connecting Cultures, Maritime Flows: Toward an Historical Archaeology of the Mediterranean
Abstract:
Albania is geographically located in the centre of the northern Mediterranean between classical Greek and Roman worlds and along the western limits of the historic Ottoman Empire. Although the country was granted independence in 1912 it was subjugated during the Second World War by German and Italian forces. After liberation, Albania was ruled by a communist leadership for almost 50 years which caused a localised rupture in the historical trajectory of Mediterranean socio-economic and cultural traditions. This paper will explore how the ideologies and political systems installed by the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha were used to state-manage people and commodities, reject neighbouring territories and close borders. This shift was supported by the USSR and China which enabled Albania to join a world-system of socialism that stretched far beyond the traditional Mediterranean sphere. This extreme level of control, which saw Albania employing a trans-global flow of trade and ideas, has resulted in a unique example of how history can be overcome through political will, matched by 20th century technologies and communications. These extents simply could not have been achieved at any earlier time in the historical period and the legacies of this radical era are still evident in the country today.
In Session: Increasing Heritage Awareness through Participatory Archaeology
Abstract:
This year marks the start of the First World War centenary, an occasion to be commemorated across Europe through remembrance events and research projects. In the UK there is great enthusiasm in the archaeological sector for community participation projects, situated within educational, research and practical frameworks. This paper will present the ‘Home Front and its Legacies’ pilot developed by the Universities of Bristol and York, with funding from English Heritage where the results were utilised to inform a UK-wide Council for British Archaeology scheme. Local volunteers used a pilot-recording system to choose, document and map Home Front places and spaces. This approach promoted collaborative working, the use of local resources and tested systems which were all critiqued by participants to provide feedback on the recording system and make recommendations for the future. In addition, the pilot was a mechanism by which landscape changes could be spatially comprehended, the site condition documented and any risks noted. These results were exported to local Heritage Environment Records and the English Heritage National Record of the Historic Environment. A national collection of Home Front data over the centenary would be of immense benefit to quantify and assess the remaining First World War resource in the UK.
In Session: What’s New in British Archaeology?
Abstract:
2014 marks the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War in the UK and there is great enthusiasm across all sectors for marking this occasion, particularly within community research. This paper will discuss the ‘Home Front and its Legacies’ project that was developed and undertaken in the Lea Valley and Staffordshire by the Universities of Bristol and York with English Heritage funding. Local volunteers were given a toolkit which was used to record and map buildings and places that were created or impacted upon as a direct response to the conflict. A combination of archive research, field visits and the filling in of a standardised form produced 111 records which were supplied to the relevant HERs and English Heritage. Using examples from the results, this paper will outline the development of the methodology and consider how it operated in practice. Appreciation will also be given to how a local level comprehension of landscapes that were created 100 years ago, at a time of great change and upheaval, can be extremely beneficial to this kind of study. Finally, the future of the ‘Legacies’ pilot will be outlined as it is now situated within plans by the Council for British Archaeology to commemorate the First World War through a UK-wide recording project.
In Session: Cold War in Context: Excavating the Contemporary World
Abstract:
Between the end of the Second World War and 1991, Albania’s communist leadership substantially reordered and modernised the landscape to improve the socio-economic situation of the recently liberated country. This was accompanied by the unprecedented development of military and defensive infrastructure, particularly the creation and installation of countless reinforced concrete bunkers into the landscape. These omnipresent structures have endured beyond the communist era into the present-day and have become one of the most visual relics of Albania’s Cold War.
This paper will examine various types of bunkers and investigate how these structures are interacted with and transformed within the context of a post-socialist Albania. The high degree of socialist bias and propaganda extolled in Albania during the Cold War will be assessed for its use value when set against these concrete bunkers and its relevance within this interdisciplinary archaeological study. It may be argued that after 22 years, Albania and her people have moved beyond the bunkers; however the results of recent archaeological survey and other investigations have shown that these structures persist in the psyche and may even offer a contribution towards the future of Albania.
Session was Co-organised by Alberto P. Martí (University of Leicester) and Mayca Rojo (Universitat de Barcelona); Discussants: Emily Glass (University of Bristol) & Nicholas Márquez-Grant (Cellmark Forensic Services)
Abstract:
The Spanish Civil War has traditionally been a source of interest and inspiration for historians, sociologists, politicians, novelists and even film-makers. Nevertheless, it has not been until the last decade that archaeologists have got fully involved in the study of the material dimension of this conflict and its aftermath: General Franco's national-Catholic dictatorship. Different branches seem to be joining in order to conform what is usually referred as the 'archaeology of the Spanish Civil War'. On the one hand, evolved from a tradition of military history and architecture, there is a growing interest in approaching 'archaeologically' the physical remains of the armed confrontation (battlefields, trench systems, urban air-raid shelters, etc). On the other hand, archaeologists have become an essential part of the civic movement campaigning for the so-called 'recovery of the historical memory'. This is a complex social phenomenon based on the widespread political repression that took place in Spain during and after the war, and whose most famous expression is the exhumation of mass graves all around the country. The construction of an 'archaeology of the Spanish Civil War' as a combination of so different approaches (heritage preservation and education, human rights investigations, left-wing political activism, etc.) does still require the development of a coherent theoretical corpus. It is the intention of this session to offer a global perspective of this multiplicity of viewpoints and motivations, while encouraging a deep international debate around the role and public responsibilities of archaeologists working on this field.
Abstract:
The Tirana Pyramid was built in 1987 in the centre of Albania’s capital city. It measures 11,000 sq metres in size and was constructed of concrete with marble cladding as a memorial to the deceased dictator Enver Hoxha (1908-1985). It housed a propaganda-based museum dedicated to the former leader. After the fall of communism in 1991 it became, variously, a cultural centre for the arts, a venue for trade fairs, a nightclub, and a TV/Radio station. However, since 2008 it has been allowed to descend into a living ruin by being stripped of its marble and left to become an eyesore, particularly since the partially completed restoration works were shelved in 2009.
Since its construction, the Pyramid has evolved into a symbolic urban landscape feature, whose meaning has morphed alongside the contemporary Albanian psyche. Unfortunately not all recent events at the Pyramid have been constructive. In January 2011 the Pyramid became the focus of renewed protest after four civilians were shot dead by the National Guard during anti-government demonstrations. These events returned the Pyramid to its original role as a memorial space and place of remembrance, in this case for those killed and injured during the violence.
In late 2010, the Albanian government announced that the pyramid was to be demolished, citing the need for a new Parliament building. These plans have met with strong resistance from the UN, opposition parties, architects, the general public and the ‘Protect the Pyramid’ protest group, all of whom have been dismissed by the current Prime Minister as guilty of ‘Enverism Nostalgia’.
This paper will explore how, after the fall of communism, the Pyramid has been appropriated by a wider society and infused with new meanings, values and memories. It will also discuss what the dynamic interrelations of public and political perceptions of this structure can signify for its future preservation.
In Session: Reanimating Industrial Spaces, organised by Hilary Orange and co-chaired with Emily Glass.
Proceedings of the conference available through Left Coast Press http://www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=530
Abstract:
Under a Communist Leadership Albania embarked on a programme of mass modernisation under the direction of the dictator Enver Hoxha. Part of this socio-economic advancement included the manufacture of prefabricated concrete elements needed to supply the country with buildings, telecommunications, electrification and defence. One such complex producing all these parts was located on the outskirts of Gjirokastra in Southern Albania, which functioned until Communism collapsed. This factory went beyond merely moulding utilitarian forms for a national consumption, it embodied how people were shaped and united by the Party through daily life. A recent visit to this site revealed a wealth of information: The layout remains complete and is littered with Communist production remnants, iron moulds and piles of debris with some spaces still in use today. Furthermore we discovered our taxi driver had worked there in 1984. With his input we were better able to contextualise and assess the site as a case study for examining the archaeology of Communist Albania, for which the recent nature of this era is well placed to utilise memory studies. This paper will explore the challenges, pros, cons and relevance of this approach to a tangible and visual relic of collectivised industrial Albania.
Abstract:
Between the end of World War II and 1991 Albania was subject to Communist rule under the ideological direction of the Dictator Enver Hoxha. An earlier history of invasion and occupation by foreign forces had predisposed the population of Albania to be sensitive regarding its neighbouring countries. One of Enver Hoxha’s defensive responses to this was the production and installation of vast quantities of mushroom-shaped bunkers across the entire country. These small bunkers served to protect Albania from outside forces but were also utilised internally to maintain a ‘siege mentality’ and control the population to the advantage of the Hoxha Leadership.
Mushroom-shaped bunkers form one of the most ubiquitous legacies of a paranoid and xenophobic dictatorship which lasted for over 40 years. Since the collapse of Communism, bunkers have persisted both materially and psychologically in Albanian society as a tangible element of the country’s cultural and social history. This continued influence on the population can be observed through the re-use and reinterpretation of these structures for functional, recreational and commercial purposes.
This paper will explore these bunkers from a material culture perspective and investigate the complex layers of meaning and identity which are encapsulated within them. It will also show that as Albania moves from Communism towards a Capitalist economy the previous bunker connotations of terror and control are being reordered towards a new Albania.
In Session: Reanimating Industrial Spaces
Abstract:
Under a Communist Leadership Albania embarked on a programme of mass modernisation under the direction of the dictator Enver Hoxha. Part of this socio-economic advancement included the manufacture of prefabricated concrete elements needed to supply the country with buildings, telecommunications, electrification and defence. One such complex producing all these parts was located on the outskirts of Gjirokastra in Southern Albania, which functioned until Communism collapsed. This factory went beyond merely moulding utilitarian forms for a national consumption, it embodied how people were shaped and united by the Party through daily life. A recent visit to this site revealed a wealth of information: The layout remains complete and is littered with Communist production remnants, iron moulds and piles of debris with some spaces still in use today. Furthermore we discovered our taxi driver had worked there in 1984. With his input we were better able to contextualise and assess the site as a case study for examining the archaeology of Communist Albania, for which the recent nature of this era is well placed to utilise memory studies. This paper will explore the challenges, pros, cons and relevance of this approach to a tangible and visual relic of collectivised industrial Albania.
Written with Elenita Roshi & Sadi Petrela
In Session: A Dynamic Relationship: exploring the complexities of representation in the museum/heritage experience
Abstract:
The communist period of Albania is typified by the production of concrete defences across the entire country. Numerous bunkers and tunnels were located along mountainous and coastal border regions as well as within towns and cities, for both military and civilian purposes. At the time, propaganda led people to believe that invasion was a real threat. However, this never occurred and many of the structures were abandoned, then eventually closed off. The town of Gjirokastra is located in southern Albania and was the birthplace of the communist dictator, Enver Hoxha. The town is steeped in history and in 1961 was declared a ‘Museum Town’ by the regime to preserve aspects of its cultural heritage. More recently, in 2001, the Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organisation (GCDO) was founded and has worked to promote both the town and wider region as a tourist destination. In 2005 the GCDO successfully lobbied for the town to be made a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town contains a number of existing museums and visitor attractions that deal with the Medieval and Ottoman features within the town. In addition, a National Museum of Armaments covers the period from 1912 to the end of World War II. It is now planned that by the end of 2008 an underground complex of tunnels, comprising some 50 rooms, will be turned into the newest tourist attraction in the ‘Museum Town’ and will be the first of its kind to address the recent communist history of the country. This paper will explore how a 21st Century museum can blend a Communist heritage to pre-existing historical layers; and how the material representation of the Albanian Cold War era will be experienced in a community not yet at peace with Communism.
Theme: Museums and Contested Histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) established International Museum Day in 1977 to increase public awareness of the role of museums in the development of society, and it has been steadily gaining momentum ever since. In 2016, International Museum Day garnered record-breaking participation with more than 35,000 museums hosting events in some 145 countries.
By choosing to say the unspeakable in museums, the theme of IMD 2017 looks at how to understand the incomprehensible aspects of contested histories. This was to encourage museums to play an active role in peacefully addressing traumatic histories through mediation and multiple points of view. It also highlighted how the acceptance of a contested history is the first step in envisioning a shared future under the banner of reconciliation. By linking museums and societies in a manner that goes beyond taboo subjects, a better understanding of one another can be gained in going forward.
In order to achieve this, the archaeology office of the Butrint National Park asked if I would create text and image content for four posters that would explore Albania’s militarised communist landscape mushroom-shaped infantry bunkers, their reuse and destruction. This was based on my PhD topic and predominantly utilised research undertaken in the areas of Gjirokastër and the Ksamil Peninsula. The posters were translated into Albanian, designed and printed by the Butrint National Park and exhibited for 4 weeks.
Emily Glass, University of Bristol, 2017
This 2-day Green Apple Conflict Workshop was led by Professor Nicholas Saunders and Emily Glass of the Archaeology and Anthropology Department at the University of Bristol. This was an opportunity to develop a project grounded in the interdisciplinary topic of Modern Conflict Archaeology which would also relate to broader issues within local and global Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Students from the University of Bristol’s Archaeology and Anthropology Department were taken on a fieldtrip to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to examine the landscape, design and context of memorials held within. This was immediately followed up by a second day of classroom learning and reflection which explored themes of ESD within Modern Conflict Archaeology, Memorialisation, Landscape, Material Culture, Memory and Identity. By participating in the workshop, students could engage with their subject across an intensive timeframe that enabled them to gain a sound knowledge of issues relating to Education for Sustainable Development, backed up with practical experience. This poster will discuss the project, the student response and illustrate the transferable learning model developed as a result of this workshop.
Emily Glass and Professor Nicholas Saunders, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol
https://www.sustainabilityexchange.ac.uk/news/learning_from_the_sharp_end_implications_for_su2
The Legacies of the Home Front project was set up by the University of Bristol and the University of York with funding from English Heritage and was completed in April 2013. The aim was to examine and document remains of the First World War by engaging local volunteers to research and document sites in two pilot areas: the Lea Valley in NE London and the county of Staffordshire. Primarily this project was designed to document any military or civilian wartime remains built or modified as a direct result of the country being at war. However, evidence was also recorded for destroyed structures and events, such as bombing locations, peace parties or riots. The recording done by the volunteers was fed into a database and the results tested to populate a web-atlas with clickable sites as a mechanism for people to engage with the FWW Home Front landscape. The pilot was also intended to inform a future national public archaeology project which would engage with existing local research groups to record evidence of that conflict in their own localities. This poster will document this pilot project by exhibiting the methodologies developed, the results and outline plans for the future.
Abstract: From the late 1960s communist Albania embarked upon a bunkerisation programme that was both ideologically tied to Enver Hoxha’s adoption of Mao’s Cultural Revolution and a defensive response to the country’s self-imposed isolation to all but China. The result was the installation of innumerable small personnel bunkers laid out in multiple rows and as individual positions across the whole country, with heavy concentrations around borders, towns, military bases and transport networks. The achievement of manufacturing, installing and maintaining these bunkers was a testament to how a country can utilise its population to create a collective megastructure that acted as a form of mental and physical walled barrier towards the outside world while encouraging an internal siege mentality.
Using the results of fieldwork, this talk will examine how mushroom-shaped bunkers in two southern border areas of Albania were perceived and engaged with during communism and discuss how this changed after the 1991 collapse. As these omnipresent objects have been situated partly under communism and partly within democracy, they comprise various narratives which contribute towards the formation of cultural biographies. Through this, it will be demonstrated how the mushroom-shaped bunker is an object that has become recontextualised and transmuted over time. Finally, the impact that destruction and tourism has had upon this particular form of communist heritage will also be explored to argue how the mushroom-shaped bunker has emerged as the unofficial icon of Albania.
Contributed to an interview by Engjëll Serjani for Gazeta Shqip in 2010 regarding my PhD research on Albanian communist bunkers and how they could form an important element for future communist heritage tourism.
Published 20th October 2010, Pages 28-29.