Marubi Route features giant pictures in Shkodra streets

TIRANA, July 10 – Sixty giant pictures from the 19th century Marubi photo collection are being displayed in Shkodra exactly where the famous Marubi photographic studio was set up in 1856 by Italian photographer Pietro Marubbi.
The Marubi Route project is featuring giant pictures by several renowned 19th and early 20th century photographers such as the Marubis, Idromeno, Pici, Jakova, Nenshati in the city’s main attractions.
The EU-funded project targets promoting the art of photography in Shkodra and raising awareness on the protection of this piece of cultural heritage.
Speaking at the project’s launch ceremony’s, Lu諡n Bedeni, the director of the Marubi Fototeka, said the selected pictures target bringing back Shkodra’s prosperity as a reference point in Albania’s cultural heritage.
“The Marubi Fototeka will always be a memory site even when people forget, it is always there to testify the identity through the truth of photography,” he said.
Earlier this year, Marubi’s golden age of Albania photography was displayed at the European Parliament in Brussels, in Kosovo and at the EU Info Centre in Tirana.
“Reflecting our traditions, reflecting ourselves” is an itinerant exhibition organized within the EU-funded project “Marubi: a cooperative model for the promotion of tourism between Shkodra and Ulcinj” in the framework of the IPA Cross-Border Programme Albania-Montenegro 2007-2013.
The travelling exhibition is aimed at promoting the Marubi patrimony and the historical, social and cultural values of Albania and Montenegro. The exhibition will tour different countries such as Italy, Hungary, Serbia, France, Poland and Turkey.
Meanwhile, some 1,000 pictures from the Marubi 19th and 20th century collection are being digitized under a United Nations funded project aimed at establishing a virtual museum of Albania’s golden age of photography.
The Marubi collection of more than 100,000 negatives hosts pictures by Pietro Marubit, Kel Marubi, Geg롍arubi, Mati Kodheli Marubi, Kel Kodheli Marubi, Kol Idromeno, Shan Pici, Ded롊akova, Pjet철Raboshta, Angjelin N쯳hati
The Marubi archives are considered as one of the largest photo libraries in the Balkans, with a collection of more than 100,000 photographic negatives dating back to 1858.
Albanian photography started with Pietro Marubi, an Italian emigrant fleeing political repression from his country. He opened Albania’s first photography studio in 1858. Three generations of Marubis will follow in his footsteps. For about a century, the Marubi family have amassed more than 100,000 negatives. The selection of pictures reveals the political, social, cultural and religious diversity of the country.