Esma Redzepova's House at Kale — Robbed and Decaying
The villa of Esma Redzepova at Kale that was supposed to become a museum has been looted and left to decay amid ongoing legal disputes.
The house at Kale where Esma Redzepova Teodosievska lived and which she bequeathed to the state is in a deteriorated condition: broken windows, doors forced open, scattered personal belongings and stolen pieces of furniture.
From the street the building still bears the mark of its former splendor, but from the rear and especially inside the reality of abandonment is visible — tall weeds, garbage and rooms where decay prevails.
Morbid details among the dust and scattered photographs
Journalist teams that visited the house that was supposed to become a museum and humanitarian center noted that doors and furniture have been taken from the interior, stage costumes and lavish dresses left on the gallery to the dampness, and according to the family, even the urn of her late husband Stevo Teodosievski has been removed. In the abandoned living room the large wooden cross of Stevo still stands among dusty photographs and unpaid hospital bills.
Esma Redzepova spent most of her life in that house and raised 48 adopted children there; her wish was for the house to become public property. "I earned the money from concerts, from the people who bought tickets and therefore I want to leave this home to my people as a cultural center and museum," the queen of song used to say.
After her death in December 2016 a complex property-legal dispute followed between the state and some of the relatives and the adopted children, and even after years of court proceedings the institutions failed to provide adequate protection. Nine years after her death, the house remains a target of robbers and many people wonder whether, as a society, we have truly repaid one of our most famous musical ambassadors.
Photo: press material from the event
