Albania hosts EU Week

TIRANA, May 8 – A ballet performance at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet featuring a group of Albanian dancers with successful careers in various EU countries opened this year’s EU Week calendar of events. Events continued with a political cartoons exhibition at the EU Info Centre in Tirana featuring the works of artist Bujar Kapexhiu.
The exhibition, which consisted of 45 political caricatures and was accompanied by a catalogue, was produced with the backing of the Delegation of the European Union to Albania, in cooperation with the EUIC.
Clive Rumbold, Charg顤’Affaires of the EU Delegation to Albania, opened the exhibition. “That old adage of how drawings have, for centuries, shaped the conversation about governance and leadership holds true today with political cartoons,” he said during his speech. “They are not only a weapon in the journalistic armoury, as they tend to deliver powerful and smart messages in a pleasant way, but also are a vital component of political discourse and a cornerstone of democracy.”
May 7 saw the launch of the European film nights at the EUIC Tirana with the screening of the La grande bellezza /The Great Beauty (2013, Italy) directed by Paolo Sorrentino, a movie which has won the 2014 Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Movie along with Golden Globe and Bafta awards under the same category.
On May 9, Europe Day will be celebrated with a ballet performance choreographed by Angjelin Preljocaj in two parts: La Stravaganza and Royaume Uni at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet.
The EU Info Centres in Shkodra and Vlora are also hosting paintings contests on “My Europe” in an effort to encourage young talents in expressing through art their perceptions of Albania’s integration process and its future in the European Union.