Albania during WW1 showcased in Vlora

TIRANA, Aug.5 – Rare pictures featuring Albania during World War I under the Italian occupation, part of the collection of Italy’s War Museum, are being displayed in Vlora, the southern Albania coastal city, in an open air-exhibition.
“These are rare pictures of World War I seen through the eyes of Italian officers in the Albanian frontline,” says Auron Tare, a cultural heritage specialist in charge of the National Coastal Agency, which is organizing the exhibition.
“Even though Vlora’s Skele area and other Albanian regions were areas which warring armies considered as only strategic spots, in general, the Albanians’ contact with European armies left deep traces in the country’s culture and infrastructure,” says Tare, pointing out the railway lines built at that time.
“The exhibition which seeks to commemorate this great event of human kind is a modest effort to share with the frontline public memories and images captured by the eyes of Italian officers. Even though a clear effort for propaganda, thanks to these images, we can recognize a different Albania, an Albania which doesn’t exist today,” adds Tare.
Several Albanian cities, and in particular the capital city, owe much of its characteristic architecture to Italian architects, who designed major public buildings and squares in Albania from 1925 to 1943. In Tirana, Italian planners and architects designed the main square named after the national hero Skanderbeg, the central boulevard, the ministry buildings, the national bank and the town hall.
Founded in 1921, the Italian War Museum is one of the main Italian institutions dedicated to contemporary history. Located in the Castello di Rovereto, it preserves a rich portrayal of not only military, but also cultural and social aspects of the First World War.
The Museum displays weapons and uniforms, photographs and paintings, documents and memorabilia.
It puts on temporary exhibitions dedicated to the memory of the Great War and modern conflicts, also promoting studies and research, publishing historiographical and documentation works and participating in film productions.