REPUBLISHED

Work at Spaç: government defends the project, activists demand a halt

Erblin Vukaj · Originally published: 6 June 2025

Minister of Economy, Culture and Innovation Blendi Gonxhja has responded to criticism of the work begun at the former Spaç prison, describing the activists’ claims as “an unnecessary smokescreen” and accusations of manipulating historical memory as “malicious misinformation”.

His statement follows the launch of a public petition by a group of citizens and activists who oppose the way work is being carried out at one of the darkest symbols of Albania’s communist dictatorship.

They claim the work has been undertaken without transparency and contrary to heritage-conservation standards.

The project to rehabilitate Spaç, now entrusted to CHwB Albania, includes conservation work and bringing several buildings into use, with the aim of turning the site into a museum. Yet part of the project appears to have been advanced in parallel to help make a film.

Gonxhja: The claims are an unnecessary smokescreen

Minister of Economy, Culture and Innovation Blendi Gonxhja described the work begun in May at the former Spaç prison as “part of a broader strategy” aimed at “restoring its heritage assets and landscape to as close to their original condition as possible”.

In a response on Facebook on Friday, Gonxhja dismissed claims that history was being altered, or that a favour was being done by carrying out the work for Namik Ajazi and Visar Zhiti’s film.

The minister recalled the approval of the management plan (2024), which aims to turn Spaç into a museum. He stressed that this plan had been approved after “a round of consultations with stakeholders” involving more than 58 people, including former political prisoners, professors, museum specialists, memory-preservation professionals and community representatives.

But, according to Gonxhja, the plan for creating the museum requires far longer than the filming schedule envisaged by the Albanian-Italian filmmaking team led by director Ajazi and writer Zhiti, who were also persecuted and imprisoned under the dictatorship.

For this reason, he said, priority had been requested for some limited structural reinforcement work to ensure safety and recreate the atmosphere of 1973, when the revolt took place at the former Spaç prison. The minister stressed that the budget and the work “are minimal”.

His post was accompanied by several photographs of the site, including a building with blue windows. He asked why there had been no reaction in the past when those elements were installed.

“This project does not aim to modify historical memory. On the contrary, it aims to ensure its continuity,” said Gonxhja, who concluded his response by labelling some of the activists “Sancho Panzas of the old politics”.

Responses to the work: collective memory versus cosmetic reconstruction

Architects and activists prominent in public debates have reacted sharply to the work at the former Spaç prison, as well as to the language and arguments used by Minister Gonxhja.

Urban planner Doriana Musai described these actions as “institutional art-washing”, in which art is used as cover for breaching the principles of cultural-heritage conservation.

According to her, plastering and repainting the walls “of a torture camp for the sake of cinematic aesthetics is like beautifying Auschwitz to shoot a more realistic drama”. She considered the work a new form of violence against memory, seeking to replace historical authenticity with a sanitised and politically controlled version of the past.

Musai stressed that the current government bears moral responsibility for preserving Spaç, as the political heir of the Party of Labour that built the camp and the repressive system. In this context, she describes Minister Gonxhja’s response as “contemptuous and shallow”, criticising the lack of transparency and the refusal to engage with criticism from civil society and the community of former victims of political persecution.

Architect Arnen Sula sharply criticised the contemptuous language used by the Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation towards its critics, stressing that the current work conflicts with the approved management plan, transforming the site from a place of memory into a false stage set.

Qëndresa Qytetare also opposed the reconstruction, warning that Spaç risks being trivialised into a “car-rental kiosk”, while what is needed is a serious project with legal and professional guarantees that preserves authenticity and honours human suffering.

Sidorela Vatnikaj, who has helped organise efforts to address concerns over this issue, considered the minister’s response “shameful” and confirmation that “Spaç is being destroyed and citizens must defend it”. Vatnikaj called on Minister Gonxhja to attend a meeting with citizens in Spaç on Saturday, a meeting she described as “the public consultation the government did not hold”.

All four responses stress the need for sensitivity, respect and dignity in the treatment of this place, laden with historical pain.

Activists launch petition: historical memory is being damaged

A public petition launched by a group of activists and citizens committed to protecting historical memory has prompted debate over the work being carried out at the notorious former Spaç prison. They say the work is proceeding without consultation and is damaging the authenticity of one of the symbols of the communist dictatorship’s violence.

The petition, published by the platform “Qytetarin.com”, stresses that plastering, painting and changes to the interiors have been carried out without transparency, without public consultation and contrary to cultural-heritage conservation standards. The signatories demand an immediate halt to the work and the inclusion of former victims of political persecution, researchers and civil-society representatives in decisions about Spaç’s future.

The activists have announced a public statement at the former Spaç prison itself on Saturday, 7 June, where they will denounce the damage caused and demand institutional accountability. They have invited citizens, journalists and institutional representatives to attend and see the site’s current condition for themselves.

Spaç opened in 1968 as a forced-labour camp for more than 1,000 prisoners, who worked in the copper mine. In the early ’90s, the camp was transferred entirely to the mine and was later abandoned and vandalised.

Calls to turn it into a museum continued over the years. The site, comprising around 7 buildings, received “Category II Cultural Monument” status only in 2007. The latest project, from 2023, appears to have secured support for implementation following the government’s decision to entrust its management to the organisation “Cultural Heritage without Borders” (CHwB Albania).

What does the project involve?

In an earlier article, Citizens.al set out details of the work planned by the National Institute of Cultural Heritage (IKTK) on Spaç’s structures. The project, worth around 100 thousand euros, is being implemented by Martini Konstruksion & Real Estate.

From January to the end of March, IKTK cancelled the tender at least three times for lack of bids.

The project envisages repairs in at least 8 spaces: the guard post, the command building, the visiting room, the infirmary, the kitchen/canteen, the dormitory, the roll-call area and the toilets.

In the technical report, the project team, led by architects Genci Tufi and Klejdia Kore and engineer Sokol Ismaili, considers the work necessary to make the site “accessible and safe for visitors”.

The work is described as partial and consists mainly of filling gaps in walls, repairing stairs, and installing railings, doors and windows.

Plans also include erecting a watchtower, installing an iron gate at the entrance and enclosing some spaces with barbed wire, such as the inner courtyard and the area where roll calls were held.

The most substantial intervention is considered to be the reconstruction of the toilets and the creation above them of the prisoners’ outdoor exercise area, which has fallen into ruin through vandalism and deterioration over the years.