Exhibition opening “Burning the bones of the earth. Stories of lime kilns on both sides of the Greece-Albania border”

The Boulouki team and the Regional Union of Municipalities, PED, invite you to the opening of the exhibition “Burning the bones of the earth” on Saturday, September 27, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at the historic Customs House next to the Plaka Bridge in Tzoumerka, Epirus. A tour will follow to the historic Plaka Bridge and Kalderimi, the old path leading to the bridge, which was restored by the team in 2019.

The exhibition presents the results of a three-year research project by the team on the traditional technology of lime kilns—ephemeral lime-burning structures that formed key dry-stone constructions in the mountainous regions of Epirus and Southern Albania, functioning as combustion domes for lime production. Today, they are often traceable only through their imprint on the landscape and a few material remnants; in some cases, peripheral support structures of the dome survive. The last functioning unit remains in a village near Korçë, still producing traditional lime through wood burning.

Architectural drawings, audiovisual material, and testimonies from local communities and craftsmen in Tzoumerka, Pogoni, Zagori, Korçë, the villages of Dropull and Gjirokastër, Rizë and Delvinë, reconstruct a practice—a body of traditional technology with highly significant contemporary implications for sustainable building and resilience. A shared archive of knowledge and memory from border regions, shaped by the continuous exchange of people and materials.

The exhibition will run from September 27 to October 19 2025, open on Saturdays and Sundays

The exhibition opening is organized as part of the European Heritage Days. It is supported by the Green Fund’s financial program “Natural Environment and Climate Resilience”, under the call “Extrovert Actions 2025.” The research and development of the archive is supported by the Endangered Material Knowledge Programme of the British Museum.

Educational and Public Awareness Activities, Saturday, October 18, 2025, Historic Customs House, Plaka Bridge, Tzoumerka

Under the coordination of the Regional Union of Municipalities of Epirus (PED Epirus) and with the scientific collaboration of the non-profit organization Boulouki, a roundtable discussion and open dialogue with the public and local residents will take place, highlighting the value of traditional building materials based on aerial lime. The activities will involve scientists and institutional stakeholders.

The program is co-organized by the “Boulouki” Itinerant Workshop on Traditional Building Techniques, Municipality of Central Tzoumerka, Municipality of Northern Tzoumerka, Technical Chamber of Greece – Epirus Department, Epirus Regional Union of Municipalities. With the support of the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, the Sahinis Family, the A. G. Leventis Foundation, the Technical Chamber of Greece, and the Non-Profit Civil Company AEGEAS. It is produced with the financial support of the European Union and the Council of Europe, and is supported by the Green Fund’s “Natural Environment and Climate Resilience” financing program, as part of the Call for Proposals “Extroverted Activities 2025”. Scholarship for one position in the Apprenticeship Program, sponsored by Dalkafouki Oikos. This initiative is carried out under the auspices and with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture.