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| Albanian women dressed in Xjubleta (archive) |
Yesterday, a scientific symposium titled "Xhubleta" was held in the Council Hall of the Municipality of Tuzi, with the participation of researchers from Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro. This activity was organized as part of the international and national inauguration of the xhubleta and its "të bamuni" craftsmanship as a registered intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO. Montenegro has officially declared the year 2023 as the "Year of Albanian Xhubleta." On this occasion, the Montenegrin postal service issued a postage stamp dedicated to the xhubleta.
During this event, the National Museum "Marubi" presented a photographic exhibition on the xhubleta. Mr. Nik Gjeloshi was present to greet the symposium and other activities in the same context. The speakers from Albania were Academician Shaban Sinani and Prof. Dr. Afërdita Onuzi.
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| Researchers from Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro at the "Xubleta" scientific symposium at the Tuz Municipality Assembly in Montenegro |
Following their speeches, Academician Shaban Sinani, a participant from the Academy of Sciences of Albania, presented his paper.
"The Xhubleta as an Identifying Heraldry in Ethnic, Regional, Cultural, and Social Context."
The registration of the xhubleta on UNESCO's list of world cultural heritage as an original attire with ancient significance for humanity represents a cultural event of importance for all Albanians.
There is a distinction between the narrow, well-preserved zone where these treasures are safeguarded as heritage and craftsmanship, compared to the time of their codification. In the historical Albanian space, the division into two macro-zones can be observed: Toskëria and Gegëria; polyphony and homophony, as a distinction that did not affect the Albanian identity, emerged, according to the expression of E. Çabej, "in the centuries of transition" when the shift from Illyrians to Albanians occurred. Even in terms of clothing typology, the historical Albanian space was divided into two macro-zones simultaneously: the fustanella in the south and the xhubleta in the north. The mapping of Albanian clothing according to this typology was conducted by anthropologists and their researchers, drawing on Rrok Zojzi's study of the regional division of the Albanian people and Mark Krasniqi's study of the regional division of Kosovo, which complement each other.
Based on compelling historical and cultural arguments, we can believe that the fustanella and xhubleta once coexisted in the Shkumbin region, without hindering each other from ascending or descending. Until the middle of the last century, prominent figures such as Kryezinjtë of Gjakova, Hamza Kazazi of Shkodra, and Ahmet Zogu of Mat wore and were photographed in fustanella. Similarly, the xhubleta, in a stylized form, descended as far as Berat, and even Lunxhëri. This was also the case with other cultural heritage elements related to the differences between the north and the south. According to a testimony by Vexhi Buhara, an 18th-century Shkodra bard who did not have much success in his hometown, took up the lahuta and settled in Berat, where he spent the rest of his life surrounded by many admirers, even becoming a competitor to local bejtexhins.
The macro-zone of the xhubleta began to narrow down and mainly closed off in the area that the Franciscans called Lekni, meaning from the Mat River to the White Drin River, when the Albanians found themselves as part of a superstate completely different from the Western typology of civilization, such as the former Ottoman Empire. This is also the time when the central areas of epic and lahuta were restricted, the area of kanun, and to some extent, Christianity.
The xhubleta and fustanella have complemented each other and together have embodied the Albanian identity, coexisting for at least two thousand years, and possibly even more. Not only the xhubleta and fustanella but also any other traditional Albanian attire, such as those from Has, Guri i Bardhë, Mallakastër, or Kurvelesh, have served as identifying heraldry for their bearers. Albanian clothing is an excellent heraldry that has given each region and micro-region its own identity, especially in the north, where, according to a well-known canonical expression, "houses with a roof should be built 'one bullet away' from each other." In Albanian weddings, the arrival of the extended family was anticipated with the appropriate song as they appeared at the entrance of the village: uncles as uncles, nephews as nephews, brothers as brothers, godfathers as godfathers, friends as friends. As I learned from Tish Daia during an expedition to Labëria, it was precisely the attire of the wedding party that served as the announcement, the heraldry that, just like the coats of arms and emblems of medieval patronymic families, informed from afar the singing girls and women who was coming and which song was intended for them.
The spread of the xhubleta within its macro-zone, sovereign in typology and diverse in stylization, disregarded the criteria of division and distinction that anthropologists (including Rrok Zojzi) defined with traditional and meaningful boundaries: "where the raindrop falls" or "water and more water." For the xhubleta and fustanella, the raindrop and water and more water played a role as "limits" only when they were macro-concepts. These may seem like empirical criteria, but theories also emerge from vital information.
In addition to being a national and regional heraldry, the xhubleta also identified the social status of the family. According to some data preserved in the heritage archives, the bride's dowry chest on the wedding day had to contain, according to social status and wealth, three, seven, or nine xhubletas, each for a special day. The numbers are not random; they are all symbolic numbers, mostly in Christianity but also in pre-Christian times. The colors and stylizations of the xhubleta distinguished the engaged girl, the bride on her first day of marriage, the woman who had just become a mother, the matriarch of the patriarchal family; the lady who set off on Sunday for Mass or to baptize a child.
In this sense, the xhubleta provided security to those who wore it and dictated respect from others, even unknown passersby. These are signs that the xhubleta has preserved its sacred character and the function of inviolability until recent times, which were once important factors for virtuous behavior and the preservation of morality within the community.