Ismaili at the unveiling

In the run up to independence, Kosovars were still looking for a common symbol around which to rally. The Kosovo flag had still not been presented and the Albanian double-headed eagle which had accompanied the struggle for independence was deemed to be politically incorrect. Then NEWBORN was revealed. New Kosova Report spoke to Fisnik Ismaili, who led the team that conceptualized and built NEWBORN.

NKR: For those that don't know about it, what is NEWBORN?

Ismaili: NEWBORN is a typographic sculpture spelling the word "newborn", which was unveiled on the Day of Kosovo's Declaration of Independence. During the celebrations, people expressed themselves by writing on the sculpture with permanent markers. It was first signed by the Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci, and the President, Fatmir Sejdiu, followed by the rest of the people who attended the manifestation on 17 February 2008. This included ordinary citizens as well as prominent Kosovor individuals. NEWBORN is made of metal, weighs 9 tons, it is 3 meters high, 24 meters long and 1 meter deep. NEWBORN is now the only monument that marks the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Kosovo.

NKR: Why "newborn"? Why yellow?

Ismaili: NEWBORN, intentionally in English, was the single word that could describe that special day: A birth of a new country, and the connotations of this word imply only positive things (birth, innocence, sincerity, love...). We were aware that all the foreign media will be present on the day, so we wanted to give them an image that could be understood and mark that day. Words "New" and "Born" are easily understood by people whose English is not perfect, too. The idea was to present Kosovo as a new, contemporary, trendy country, ready to be embraced by the world. The yellow colour, was intentionally used in combination with blue banners and supporting slogans, to represent both new Kosovor flag's colours as well as EU colours. The supporting slogans were: "NEW life is BORN", "NEW hope is BORN", "NEW future is BORN" and "NEW country is BORN", all presented in blue and yellow colours. In addition, yellow is a colour that represents the sunrise - birth of a new day, new hope... end of darkness.

NEWBORN

NKR: When did you realize that this was going to be big?

Ismaili: We thought of the NEWBORN idea only 10 days before the actual Declaration of Independence Day (17 Feb 2008) and we knew immediately it would be huge. That is exactly why we pushed this project very hard and made the impossible to actually bring it to life. None of our team members actually slept much during those 10 days and everyone believed on this project, which is why we actually managed to put it together in such a short time.

We knew that every newspaper, magazine and TV will take pictures of it, because it would be the most attractive piece of the day. That is why we actually started building NEWBORN without securing any financial means to cover the expenses, because the time was too short to get the money first and start building it later. In the meantime, while NEWBORN was being built, we presented the project to the Government, who liked it so much, they accepted it immediately and made NEWBORN an official part of the manifestation.

NKR: Tell us about the international prizes you have won so far with NEWBORN.

Ismaili: So far, we have entered two major international competitions and won prizes in both, in design category. The first prize was a Silver Clio Award in Miami, Florida, during the 49th Clio Awards Festival in May 2008. It will always remain dear to us, because it was the first major award ever. The second prize, which came as a surprise not only to us, but to many around the world, was the Cannes Gold Lion in Cannes, France, during the 55th Annual Cannes Advertising Awards Festival in June 2008.

A Cannes Gold Lion is considered to be the highest and most prestigious award one could win in the advertising world and only the best of the best are awarded every year. This was a tremendous privilege to us, as well as a great boost for our motivation, since we now know that even a small company in a little country called Kosovo can actually win big awards.

Both Clio and Cannes receive over 30,000 entries of the best work in advertising, design and web around the world every year and only 1% actually win an award (gold, silver, bronze or shortlist). Getting shortlisted in these events is very tough, let alone win an award.

We intend to enter NEWBORN in a few more prestigious competitions, such as London International Awards, Golden Drum, One Show and D&AD. Hopefully NEWBORN will continue to achieve its international success there, too.

NKR: "Uncle, it's done!" became the other inadvertent symbol of Kosovo Independence, denoting the fulfillment of a promise and the closure of a bitter century-long chapter. NEWBORN is forward looking and full of optimism and boldness. How are Kosovors relating to this symbol?

Uncle, it's done!

On the web:

• Newborn Kosova
• Ogilvy Albania & Kosova

Comments (7)

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Afrim said:

	... I HOPE THE ECONOMY AND THE PEOPLES MINDS THEIR CAN BE NEWBORN....THAT'S ALL I WISH FOR THAT PLACE...
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July 06, 2008
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Anonymous said:

	... Picture Credit: Andreas Welch http://www.flickr.com/photos/a...973452674/ From set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/a...973452674/
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July 05, 2008
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bluerose799 said:

... There isn’t any letter “C” in the word KOSOVA. KOS = YOGURT GJAK=BLOOD. KOSOVA = DERRYLAND GAJKOVA=BLODY LAND. Serbian version: KOSOVO – METOHIJA DAKOVICA. Serbian never are going to Play again with KOSOVA’s Land, Names and KOSOVAR PEOPLE, as they did before. After centuries in the dark and almost buried under the ground, by Serbian Chauvinism, Radicalism and Terrorism, now Kosovars can speak their language and raise their children not as Serbian’s Slave but as FREEMAN. Kosova and the Kosovars are NEWBORN.

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July 05, 2008
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detkos said:

	... -I agree with the statement made in the last comment.Even though it was effective on it's aim,it would represent Kosova in more mature way,if it was put up as REBORN instead.
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July 05, 2008
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Sebaneau said:

	... What evidence is there that "Kosovo" is not a Bulgarian, rather than a Serb name? "KOC" means "blackbird" in Bulgarian, too The Slavs invaded Dardania in the 9th century were Bulgarian, and they probably built most of the medieval so-called "Serb" churches and monasteries there.
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July 04, 2008
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Mike Z said:

... Kosova has a lot of history no doubt ! Kosovo is actually the name given by serbs ! The original name of the Kosovo territory was Dardhania. It is the original land of the Albanians which are direct descendants of the Illyrian tribe from Dardhania. In Albanian Dardh meens Pear. Dardhania meens land of the pear or pear tree. The year 2008 is a different time and place when compared to 500-1000 -3000 years ago , which most serbs always refer too (600 years) when arguing their points at the same time forgetting that when they came here from russia in the 6 century A.D.,, the ALbanians were the first people they laid their eyes on. The real ILLYRIANS . By using the term NEWBORN and by not changing the name Kosovo - was a series of steps that were taken in order to treet all it's citizens equally and make sure that everyone is represented equally and fairly .!!

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July 04, 2008
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Owen said:

... "Newborn" was certainly effective in attracting publicity but surely the message that the ad-man's concept communicates is the idea that Kosova is a simplistic creation of the (English-speaking) international community, with no historic identity and little real substance. "a new, contemporary, trendy country, ready to be embraced by the world" - of course, ad-agency speak leaves out anything that might conflict with the ideal brief. Fortunately Kosovars managed to create a monument of their own by appropriating "Newborn" and using it as the paper on which to write the people's Declaration of Independence.

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July 04, 2008
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