Filigree in Prizren
Filigree artisans keep the city’s traditional craft alive.
75-year-old Fatime Baruti has been working with filigree for fifty years. A six-month course opened the doors for her to explore what she referred to as the “magic” of this craft, which is known as the spiritual art of Prizren.
“One of our family members was a filigree artist. When seeing his work, I started to like the craft. In 1965, a filigree course started that 25 girls attended. At first it seemed difficult until we adapted. But with patience and will, we learned it. After completing the course a group of 20 girls were employed at Filigran,” said Baruti.
Like Baruti, the city of Prizren also has a long history with this craft.
The Filigran cooperative was founded in Prizren in 1947. The cooperative’s name changed several times and it was where all the active and experienced filigree artists were employed. In later years, due to a change in legislation, the cooperative was registered as a labor organization for the production of gold and silver jewelry. Up until the ‘90s, the company experienced a growth in active contributors, with the number of filigree artists, including both men and women, reaching 150. The artisans were known for producing pieces of exceptional value that were primarily intended to be gifted to prominent leaders of the time.
Baruti said that in Filigran’s golden era, the artisans would craft large objects, such as vases or 10-kilogram ships, which were made in teams. Even after five decades of working in this craft, she still finds the magic in it.
“What’s special about this craft is that each time something new is created and this gives me a lot of will to work,” said Baruti. According to her, working with fine silver wires takes her to other dimensions, far from the daily struggles of life.
“Working at this desk, I find peace. I am very pleased that I have chosen this profession, because if I were to do any other job, I would not be able to practice it at this age,” she said.
The desks in the current workshop, which is located near the historical center of the city, are among the few remaining items from the former company. Decades ago, the company operated in the Ortakoll neighborhood on Joni Street. These desks continue to serve as a space where the artisans can unleash their imagination and create unique jewelry from silver wires. The scratches on the desks from the many years of work resemble the wrinkles on the faces of Baruti and the last three remaining artisans from Filigrani in Prizren — Bashkim Tejeci, Xhafer Lushaj and Faik Bamja.
The four of them start working every day at 8 a.m.
In addition to working with silver, the four employees of the former gold and silver jewelry production company, which today has been turned into a Limited Liability Company (LLC), work to ensure that this craft stays alive. They welcome new students who want to learn the craft in their workshop in Prizren.
But this mission is not at all easy in the current circumstances.
65-year-old Bashkim Tejeci said that his neighborhood friends were the reason that he started working with filigree in high school.
“In the neighborhood where I was born, which in Prizren is known as the Mahalla e Katolikëve, all my friends were engaged in this craft. When the season [with the most orders] was approaching, they started preparations. I used to feel like I was left behind, or how to say, I felt like I was left as an orphan,” said Tejeci, adding “at that time, my love for the craft of filigree was born.”
In the 1960s in Prizren, filigree courses were offered as part of secondary education.
Tejeci was in high school in the mid-70s, but said: “My inner self just didn’t like high school.” His goal was to continue the craft and so he enrolled in a filigree course. In 1979 he was employed at Filigran.
“Since then, for 45 years without stopping, I have been working with filigree,” said Tejeci.
Similar to Baruti, Tejeci’s connection with this craft has remained constant due to its creative nature.
“The defining characteristic of this craft is that you cannot wait to continue the work. In this way it attracts you, because you create something from the wire threads and you look forward to finalizing the piece,” he said. He added that he has been fortunate to work with the craftsmen as part of a coordinated team, which has also enabled him to make many unforgettable memories.
“If I were to have another life, I wouldn’t change my profession, because filigree has many benefits. It offers you independence, creativity and you have no limitations. It involves imagination, so it belongs to the arts,” said Tejeci.
One particularly vivid memory Tejeci has is creating the Santa Maria ship, which weighed over two kilograms.
“As a sign of gratitude for the contribution of the German KFOR peacekeepers, I placed the German flag on the ship. The commander of the German contingent told me ‘I’ll take it if you put an original flag on it,'” he said.
Meanwhile, he proudly showed the Honorary Citizen key that was made for the former German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder. He also showcased the gifts made for former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
In his youth, 64-year-old Xhafer Lushaj from Grejkoc in Suhareka noticed a significant demand for gold and silver jewelry during rural wedding ceremonies. This made him more interested in working with filigree. During high school, he and some of his friends enrolled in a filigree course.
“Then I graduated from the Higher Pedagogical School and was assigned work in a mountainous area. I didn’t like it and after a job call was opened in Prizren at the Filigran enterprise, I started working there. They welcomed me warmly and now I have forty years of experience working with filigree,” said Lushaj. According to him, the key to success in this craft is will and patience. “Without will and patience, no work comes out beautifully.”
Unlike the other three artisans, 66-year-old Faik Bamja, who today mostly works as the workshop’s manager, became involved with filigree a bit later. After graduation, he initially worked at the Printeks company and didn’t join Filigran until 1990. He recalled how easily he adapted to this team because he was surrounded by true masters of the craft. These artisans had experience not only working with silver but also with gold in the past.
He is happy that throughout the years, despite all the difficulties, they have created complex pieces of art that stand out for their beauty and symmetry. These works have elevated the name of Prizren internationally. “In addition to this, we also honored the long heritage of Prizren’s filigree,” said Bamja.
The struggle for existence
Historians and experts who specialize in Prizren’s culture maintain that the city’s filigree heritage dates back centuries.
According to historian Abib Ahmedi, the first records of goldsmiths in Prizren date back to the 13th century. According to the late author Muhamed Shukriu, filigree flourished during the Ottoman Empire and artisans from Prizren are mentioned in Ottoman literature from the 16th century. Shukriu also notes that the filigree artists were among the most famous artisans from the city. They created gold and silver jewelry from wires, while they also working on tobacco boxes, tobacco pipes, ashtrays, parts of the pocket watches, rings, bracelets, earrings, shirt cuffs, necklace parts, ornamental belts, trays, water or wine glasses, cups, hair clips and more.
Various filigree products made by craftsmen. Photo: Atdhe Mulla/K2.0
Tejeci showed that in Kosovo three filigree techniques are used, silver wire jewelry in Prizren, savat technique in Gjakova and a technique from Peja that uses beads.
“The advantage of silver wire jewelry is that old damaged pieces can be repaired discreetly, even after 100 years,” he said.
The old goldsmiths of Prizren mainly worked at the Çarshinë e Kujungjillëk, which is considered the center of filigree craftsmanship even outside the Balkans. Historian Ahmedi notes that the Çarshinë e Kujungjillëk in the Prizren’s Shatërvan was close to the Gunsmith Bazaar, since weapons and other military equipment were also decorated.
“Jewelery reached its highest level of development in the 19th century. According to data from the French consul in Shkodër, E. Vit, in Prizren in 1866 there were 47 goldsmith workshops,” Ahmedi wrote in his book “Theranda-Prizren through the Centuries.”
In 1922, around 35 goldsmiths were identified in Prizren. By 1990, 145 people were employed in the cooperative that had opened in 1947.
“We had a broad market and our own stores. But with the passage of time and with all the turmoil, the enterprise began to go bankrupt. After the war, we tried to do something, but we could not save it from the claws of privatization,” said Bamja.
After the turmoil of the ‘90s, marked by the war in Kosovo and the subsequent political, economic and social changes, Filigran failed to recover. It was privatized in 2006 and most of the active filigree artists from Prizren moved to other countries in search of better working environments.
Bamja was among those who stayed, hoping that the enterprise could be revived.
“After the privatization of the company, a group of 10 colleagues mobilized and in 2006 we started working,” said Bamja, adding that in 2007 they registered the company Filigran LLC.
Initially, they operated out of the former tobacco factory in Prizren. Since 2017 they have been located in their current workshop, which is a municipal property in the city center.
In the workshop where they work today, they also have the machines for creating the silver wires. First, silver granules weighing 100 or 200 grams are melted and then are poured into the ingot mold. This rod is subsequently thinned in the machine into silver wires. These wires are between 1 mm and 0.25 mm thick and are ultimately transformed into handmade filigree pieces.
For several years, with the support of the Municipality of Prizren, this workshop has been conducting eight-month courses for young participants. This initiative is led by four filigree artists who aim to prevent this traditional craft from becoming extinct. With an average of 20 participants per year, approximately 125 participants have been trained since 2018.
26-year-old twins Drilon and Dren Gashi attended the eight-month course in 2023. This year they have decided to continue the training for another eight months.
“The past eight months have gone quickly and we decided to come again to learn more about this craft, where beautiful products are created from a thin wire. We have learned the basics, such as the shapes of eyes, birds and so on, but we still need more skills for larger and more complicated formats,” said Drilon Gashi.
Similar to the twins, 31-year-old cultural activist Fitore Rexhepi is continuing with the second eight-month filigree training cycle. She finds that working with silver wires has given her peace and pushed her creativity.
“I like the fact that we start with a thread and turn it into a shape … figures of eight and birds are used to complete the jewelry, be it earrings, brooches, necklaces. The whole process gives you peace of mind,” said Rexhepi.
In addition to welcoming new students, the last Filigran artisans have collaborated with international artists, thanks to the organizers of the contemporary art biennial, Autostrada Biennale, in Prizren.
In her work titled “A Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose?” artist Camila Rocha from São Paulo, Brazil, collaborated with filigree artists in 2021 to create intricate floral portraits and her first jewelry line. Rocha also presented a video documentary of her drawing process and the filigree artists slowly and precisely creating their work.
In 2023 they were involved in creating the “Mamma perdonami” video installation by Italian artist Genny Petrotta, which explores the cultural heritage of the Arbëresh community in Sicily and the history of peasant uprisings.
Tourists have often been welcomed at the artisans’ work desks, where the process is explained to them. Additionally, the artisans have welcomed various delegations from accredited embassies in Kosovo, where they gave the guests the opportunity to create simple shapes with silver wires.
However, their ambitious idea of integrating filigree as a subject in vocational high schools remains unrealized.
“We are trying to start a school subject in the high school, in order to produce new cadres. We are trying hard with the course, but within the school it is different, because the candidates get certified. If new cadres are not created, then Prizren’s filigree tradition is at risk,” said Tejeci.
Part of the filigree process. Photo: Atdhe Mulla/ K2.0.
Bamja said that they tried to convince the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) to incorporate filigree as a subject in school, but were unsuccessful. “We are trying to preserve the heritage of Prizren. Prizren is proud of its filigree, but one cannot live only in memories. Continuity must be ensured, and the state also has responsibility to ensure this,” said Bamja. “We have the will, but there are many challenges. Now, there are only four of us and I don’t believe that anyone continues this work as a team like us.”
According to him, another idea presented in 2020 by the Municipality of Prizren and MCYS was establishing the Filigree Museum.
“It was an initiative. We even expressed our willingness to donate the desks to the museum,” said Bamja.
In the Law on Budget Appropriations from 2024, MCYS has allocated funds totaling 200,000 euro for the Filigree Museum.
“As far as we are aware, no concrete steps have been made towards establishing the Filigree Museum,” said Bamja.
Feature Image: Atdhe Mulla/K2.0
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- This story was originally written in Albanian.