English
After eight years of moratorium on cultural promotion, we are sending a message that there will be no more delays, said Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski at the opening of a renewed display of the Macedonian historic heritage at the Archeology Museum in Skopje. The display includes over 5,000 artifacts in 107 sections, covering Paleolithic and Neolithic artifacts, items from the Bronze and Iron Age, the Classical Period, the Middle Ages and the Ottoman times up to today.
There will be no more neglecting of the foundations of our identity. Our task is to open Macedonia before the world, to enable the public, the tourists, younger generations to feel the greatness of our cultural heritage, Mickoski said at the opening that comes a day ahead of Macedonia’s 34th Independence Day anniversary.
Culture Minister Zoran Ljutkov said that the museums were “not spared from the attempts to redefine our collective memory – and even this important institution of national culture was subjected to a defeatist, self-humiliating policy”. The Minister said that exhibitions were altered and archeological artifacts hidden from the public, “all in the service of foreign interests”. Macedonia was and remains under strong pressure from its neighbors, primarily Greece and more recently Bulgaria, to concede its historical legacy to them.
