Communist genocide, ethnographic pavilions under renovation

TIRANA, July 20 – The communist genocide and ethnographic pavilions of the National Museum of History in Tirana, currently under renovation, will reopen to the public next January, officials have said.
The museum’s director Luan Malltezi said the new pavilions have already been designed, but the funds not allocated yet.
The new pavilion confessing Albania’s 45 years of communism will be displayed in a 500 square meter area. Photos, objects used by political prisoners and torture methods will be featured in the pavilion along with documentaries.
The pavilion was first inaugurated in 1996 and comprises the events that took place between 1943 and 1992. It contains testimonies of the deputies who rebelled against the communist regime which came to power in 1944, the sentencing and execution of intellectuals in 1951, and other atrocities.
The collapse of the regime is documented through the students’ movement that bought to an end the dictatorship, paving the way to the establishment of the democracy with the first multi-party elections held in March 1991. The section ends with the list of the people who were sentenced and shot dead during the communist dictatorship.
Meanwhile, the ethnographic pavilion, also under restoration, features the traditional garments and costumes of the various Albanian regions (19th-20th centuries) such as Tirana, Zadrima, Korca, Gjirokastra, Kukes, Laberia, and 32 garments of the Arberesh community in Italy.
The photographic material is miscellaneous and displays different figures of Albanian and foreign history and culture wearing traditional Albanian costumes. Among them are late Mother Teresa, the Frash쳩 brother writers, Faik Konica, heroes Shote and Azem Galica, the famous British traveler, artist and writer Edit Durham, writer Byron, etc.
In this pavilion objects of handicraft are exhibited together with a collection of weapons. The typical Albanian musical instruments testify the ability of the Albanians in the centuries and also their rich spiritual world. In this pavilion there are also two old icons of the 18th century portraying Albanians dressed in their traditional costumes.