The Children's War Museum is the newest space in Pristina dedicated to the events of the past 26 years, and aims to document and present to the Kosovar public and beyond the experiences of children during the war in Kosovo. This museum, which is the first of its kind in Kosovo, was opened at the initiative of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR KS).
"This museum is a very important memory initiative in Kosovo because it highlights a different perspective, a different aspect and another face of the war as seen through the eyes of children," said YIHR KS director Marigona Shabiu.
The work leading up to the opening of the museum took five years, and most of the work was carried out in the field throughout the country in collecting the stories of people who were children during the war.
"Most of the people we interviewed told how they spent most of the time being bombed while playing, or were playing on tractors while fleeing or in long lines in columns in front of various borders," said the museum's director, Bjeshkë Guri.
The museum has opened with the first exhibition "Interrupted Play" which presents children's personal stories accompanied by artifacts and installations.
"We wanted to add to this mosaic of collective memory in Kosovo a museum that attempts to document the experiences of war survivors, and more specifically focusing on the experiences of children."
The tents are considered a symbol of the collective memory of many people who were children during the war in Kosovo.
Many memories refer to staying in tents, especially those that were part of refugee camps as a result of forced displacement.
"We have a tent that we wanted to simulate the experience of being a refugee, and inside there is an old television and there are scenes from a documentary that we got from the RTK archive that shows life inside these refugee camps," said the museum's director, Bjeshkë Guri.
Like living in tents, covering the windows of houses with blankets was one of the many pieces of evidence.
"There is also a window covered with a blanket, and from the window comes a story by Trëndelëna Bucolli, who tells her experience that before nightfall they covered the windows to hide from the [Serbian] army so that they would not be harmed."
In addition to the stories that can be heard and seen, there are also many personal objects, such as toys and dolls, that the children had taken with them. Also displayed are various photographs and drawings, as well as clothing of the people who had taken them with them.
The War Children's Museum, an alternative museum based on personal experiences, is in development as interviews continue to enrich it. The organization hopes for better cooperation with institutions to find a permanent home for the museum.
"The museum is an initiative to promote reconciliation, to promote peace, and to educate new generations, especially those born after the war, about the horrors experienced not only by children but also by an entire society by the violence and oppression of war."
During the war in Kosovo, over 1,000 children were killed, while 109 are still considered missing. (A2 Televizion)
