Campaign Story

LUMBARDHI Public Again!

LUMBARDHI is a former cinema and cultural heritage site located in the heart of Prizren, aiming to be a central point of cultural expression, performance, learning, doing, co-working and civic exchange in Prizren and Kosovo.

Lumbardhi Cinema: A brief history

Built after WWII, LUMBARDHI includes both an indoor and outdoor cinema that operated for half a century as the main cultural venue of the city, housing film screenings, concerts, festivals, meetings and social gatherings of different kinds, being an important part of the collective memory of its city and 3 generations of audiences. After 1999, as a socially-owned enterprise, the cinema became devoid of a management and institutional support and was left into decay.

As a response to this, in 2002 in its outdoor part, a group of citizens started the documentary and short film festival DokuFest, with the aim of bringing back cultural life and film to what had been a city of cinephiles. Nevertheless, in spite of the needs of the cultural scene and the citizens, the local and central authorities pressured from real estate speculations, have attempted twice to demolish the building and turn it into a commercial area with parking lots and a shopping mall. First in 2007, citizens gathered around the time of the festival and collected 8000 signatures to oppose this process, while in 2014 got together under the “Initiative for the Protection of Lumbardhi Cinema” with 58 civil society organisations, to protest its privatisation, nominate it for the cultural heritage list and propose alternatives for its future use and re-vitalisation. Amidst great media attention, public pressure and a persistent work of the activists, the cinema was rescued and became an enlisted heritage property, paving way to its becoming functional again, with the continuation of the initiative in the form of an organisation.  

Lumbardhi Foundation 

Lumbardhi Foundation emerged as a follow-up entity to the Initiative, with the purpose of running programs, improving the infrastructure and reviving LUMBARDHI as a community-based independent cultural space. Since the re-opening in May 2015, mainly in the outdoor part of the cinema, the organisation has run film programs, lectures from artists, theoreticians, makers and filmmakers, organised various conferences, workshops and educational activities, organised concerts and music programs, hosted festivals and many activities, giving its space to grass-roots initiatives, small start-ups and various actors of the city and building a big family of partners, supporters and associates who helped the community go through all these phases.

Why LUMBARDHI?

Despite being the second largest city in Kosovo, Prizren lacks adequate indoor public spaces. Due to this, the city has a very poor cultural and social life throughout the year, in contrast to its dynamic summers. Making a site located in the heart of the city functional, would in itself make the city more livable for its youth. Accommodating a screening, performance and concert venue, that could be a rehearsal space, workspace, conference and seminar room, LUMBARDHI will be at the service of the citizens and youth, including architects, activists, artists, filmmakers, hackers, scholars and various community groups, becoming the favourite public space of the city again.  

What do we need?

Having completed the necessary emergency interventions that included the construction of a new roof, improving the basic sanitary facilities, installing electricity and fixing the damaged parts of the interior, the organisation aims to make the indoor part functional with another set of works, that can make the building usable throughout the year and responding to various needs of the local community.

With your support, we will be able to create and furnish a small library, a co-working space and a seminar space within the cinema, isolate parts of the multi-purpose hall, buy basic equipment including lighting and sound system for the indoor hall, which besides making the building usable and accessible, will also support the initiative in becoming more sustainable in the mid-run.

Your support will add great value to this peoples-driven initiative and expand the network of individuals and institutions involved in building an entity that belongs to the city and its future.

Estimated costs

Adapting a multi-purpose work and conference space – 5,000 EURO

Lighting fixtures and installation for the indoor hall – 2,500 EURO 

Furniture for public programs and the workspace – 3,000 EURO 

Isolation of the cinema hall and elementary heating facilities – 7,000 EURO 

Sound system for film screenings, conferences and performances – 5,000 EURO 

Platform costs (10% of total goal for bank transfers and maintenance) – 2,500 EURO