In honor of the 10-year death anniversary of well-known painter Ibrahim Kodra, The Ibrahim Kodra Foundation, the Ministry of Culture, and the Municipality of Tirana have decided to fulfill the painter’s last will by relocating his remains in the Lake Hills, Tirana, on February 12.
The Ministry of Culture’s decision came after a request by Behgjet Pacolli and Fatos Faslliu, directors of Ibrahim Kodra foundation in Lugano and Durres.
“The Ministry of Culture, supporting the last wish of internationally recognized painter Ibrahim Kodra by burying his remains alongside great Albanian figures such as Faik Konica, and Frasheri brothers, will honor the great figure of Kodra and the state of Albania. This Memorial in his honor is paying respect to the name, contribution, and love for the precious figures of Albanian culture, who have exalted the nation’s name at an international level,” the Ministry of Culture announced.
Kodra’s memorial in Ishmi will be added a plaque in which it will be written:
“Ishmi is proud of his son, the great painter, the national honor Ibrahim Kodra (1918-2006), who now is resting, in accordance with his last will, in Tirana, alongside great figures of Albania’s culture.”
The relocation of Kodra’s remains was not received well by the painter fellow citizens who organized several protests in Ishmi. “I am convinced that Ishmi citizens are not well-informed about Kodra’s last wish. I really feel sorry about that, because this way, Ishmi citizens are destroying not only Kodra’s image, but the image of Ishmi as well,” said in an interview Fatos Faslliu, one of the directors of Ibrahim Kodra foundation.
Faslliu added that the foundation has been thinking about collaborating with several institutions in order to build a house museum filled with Kodra’s personal belongings.
