23/02/2010
The Queen sends greetings to Kosovo
On the occasion of the Republic of Kosovo's Independence Day, the Queen has sent the following message to President Fatmir Sejdiu:
As you celebrate your National Day, I have much pleasure in sending my warmest greetings to Your Excellency and the people of the Republic of Kosovo, together with my best wishes for a peaceful and prosperous future.
Elizabeth R.
Congratulating all Kosovo’s people on the country’s second anniversary, Her Majesty’s Ambassador in Kosovo, Andy Sparkes CMG, stated:
“In the year ahead, I hope that the Kosovo authorities and we, the international community, can work closely to achieve real progress and improved quality of life for all Kosovo’s communities, building on peace to create prosperity.
The ambition of Kosovo is shared with its neighbours in the Western Balkans - a common European future. The UK is committed to working with all in the region in pursuit of this goal”.
16 February 2010
FCO link
24/01/2010We have received some fantastic news about our Bird Box Project. The brief and money was sent out to Kosovo in December and we have just heard that all of the various bird houses and nest boxes have been built and that the first 5 (of 20) have already been installed on the park and in the woods. The next 15 are going to be installed very soon. Check out the Bird Boxes Project page for the latest photos. 15/12/2009
Today Brian Flynn reports the following in the Sun Newspaper:
- Youngsters are being poisoned by dust blowing into a stinking refugee camp from a mountain of toxic lead waste towering above them They were packed into the contaminated site by the UN ten years ago after British soldiers went in with our allies to rescue Kosovo from Serbian tyrant Slobodan Milosevic.
Their families, burned from their own homes by ethnic cleansing as the conflict ended, were assured it would be for just a few months until a safer place could be found.
But the UN High Commission For Refugees and sister agency UNMIK - the UN Mission in Kosovo - abandoned them behind the barbed wire of the filthy Osterode camp in Mitrovica when they pulled out two years ago and left the Kosovo government with the problem.
Around 400 of the 650 refugees at Osterode are youngsters, with more than 200 under the age of ten.
After a decade in the hellhole, tests show the children now have so much lead in their blood that medical equipment cannot accurately measure it.
The World Health Organisation and humanitarian campaigners say only immediate evacuation and medical treatment will save the children.
Yet the UN and its agencies STILL refuse to act.
Last night British scientists and humanitarian campaigners called on Foreign Secretary David Miliband to intervene.
Leading toxicologist Professor Alastair Hay, a UK Government adviser, said: "I have never encountered a situation in all the years I have been looking at lead where the situation is so catastrophic as it is for these children. "I think this is absolutely criminal. It is such a disgrace that these children are exposed."
So far, at least 84 refugees have died in the camp - many of them children whose organs simply packed up. -
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/2771943/Un-left-hundreds-of-Kosovo-kids-to-die-of-lead-poisoning.html#ixzz0ZltTpWUz
At risk ... camp kids with a bleak future
Please don't forget the innocent children of Oserode this Christmas.
For more information visit:
KMEG / STPI
Kosovo Medical Emergency Group
Society for Threatened Peoples International
www.toxicwastekills.com 25/11/2009
WILDWORKS, a leading international company based in Cornwall, UK, supports MAK's aim to celebrate culture and community in Kosovo. WILDWORKS works through drama. The company flies out today to research a possible creation of an Albanian production of 'Souterrain' with MAK.
Based on the Orpheus myth, the promenade performance may take place on the Manchester Peace Park in Podujevo.
WILDWORKS produces unique landscape theatre in challenging places and with extraordinary communities. Productions have been sited in old quarries, derelict mines, working fishing quays, abandoned department stores, a Napoleonic citadel, the Green Line in Nicosia, a naval base… The company has worked with gospel choirs, drama groups, local artists, surfers, tea dance regulars, North African migrants, cake-makers, ex-miners, a young hip-hop group, abseilers and a Hell's Angels chapter.
Distinctively Cornish, WILDWORKS draws on a wider and older European tradition. At the same time it has elements in common with the best new work produced through the networks of Creation Centres and Festivals in Europe. Drawing its power from community, it integrates music, dance and theatre. WILDWORKS uses everything: food, stunning imagery, action, film, music and text to tell a story. Narrative is at the centre of its work. WILDWORKS brings the seeds of a story to a site and weaves in the strands that tie people and place together.
As a company WILDWORKS is drawn to stories that are both epic and intimate, human stories that can touch and resonate with audiences across barriers of language, age and nationality. The strength of the work lies in the fusion of a strong sense of place, the power of people and the most distinct theatrical imagination. Audiences all over Europe have responded with delight and awe to productions.
MAK is delighted by this development which has been planned by MAK representative in Kosovo, Fazli Blakçori. We wish director Bill Mitchell and the company a most successful research visit.
16/11/2009Falenderojmë sponsorët te cilen mbështetën Vrapimin në Parkun e Paqes 2009.
 
We would like to say a huge thank you to the four sponsors who committed to helping Llapi Athletics and MAK make the Great Peace Park Run 2009 a big success.
MAK has always supported businesses in Podujevo and we thank these businesses for financially supporting this community event. This sponsorship is crucial in evolving the Great Peace Park Run into a regular, fully sustainable event and raising much needed funds to continue to develop the Manchester Peace Park.
Watch this space for pictures of this year's run. 18/10/2009The 2007/8 MAK exhibition 'Fragile State - Art from Kosova' created new opportunities with many members of its young curatorial team now developing careers in fine art.
Kosovo co-ordinator of the Manchester show Fazli Blakçori, together with team member Saranda Bogujevci, will jointly curate a ground breaking exhibition in Pristina, Kosovo, by Interactive Arts graduates from Manchester Metropolitan University (2009).
Saranda Bogujevci and Fazli Blakçori
Saranda, herself a recent MMU
graduate, writes:
'The importance of taking the show to the Balkans is that this is something totally new there. Young artists in Kosova are isolated from the outside world, as are all its people. Kosova is outside the EU. There is no freedom to travel. The exhibition gives Balkan artists opportunities to share their experiences with British artists, opening up a whole new world to them. Manchester graduates will discover potential in Kosovar artists. This collaboration will give both sides a different perspective and is already leading into new projects and opportunities for everyone involved. The visiting artists will learn about art in Kosova. They will also learn about the culture and everyday life to see where South Eastern European artists find their inspiration within their communities.'
For details of the project, and to support the exhibition, please visit Interactive Arts in Kosovo .
Manchester Aid to Kosovo's six year relationship with the Eden Project culminated in a memorable night of music, art, film, dance and celebration at the Eden Project Arts Café 'Party for the Park' (Friday October 2nd).
Central to the day was the casting of Kosovar sculptor Agron Blakçori's 'Thinking Man' by Castle Fine Arts Foundry of Oswestry. The foundry travelled down to hold a 'teach in' and pouring on the Eden Project's Cornwall site with MAK. The sculpture will be the first cast work to be installed on the Manchester Peace Park, Podujevë, Kosovo in 2010.
 
Several of Cornwall flag artist Lucy Birbeck's huge 'Orfeo' art flags were brought back for this occasion from the Manchester Peace Park, Kosovo and billowed beautifully on the terrace of The Core.
Manchester's Travelling Band, who helped lead the dedication of the Manchester Peace Park in March 2009, performed a superb set in the Mediterranean Biome and said they were delighted to play in 'the biggest greenhouse in the world!'. Party for the Park created a much valued opportunity to discuss future plans with our Eden Project partners.
 
19/09/2009
A second Manchester album is coming together presenting the most creative and innovative contemporary artists in Manchester. 10 years after its predecessor Cohesion was created by Pam Dawes showcasing Manchester's emergent talent in 1999, 10 is being curated by the Travelling Band's Jo Dudderidge. The band work with MAK in Kosovo.
  
Cohesion artwork. Guy Garvey (Elbow) and Jimi Goodwin (Doves) promote the album (BBC News '01).
The album includes donations from artists including Elbow and Doves (who both also contributed to Cohesion), Cherry Ghost, Nancy Elizabeth, Gideon Conn, The Travelling Band and Liam Frost. The compilation will be released to support MAK's work in Kosovo.
MAK wishes to thank Jo and all contributing musicians, their management and record companies for this support.
Watch this space for release dates and launches! |
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