Tirana Times
Tirana, Oct. 18 – The Austrian Parliament hosted this week the “Albanian Day” event dedicated to Mother Teresa, the 100th birthday of famous nun of Albanian origin and her seventh anniversary of beautification, the Albanian Parliament’s press office said in a statement.
The event held under the auspices of Albanian Parliament Speaker Jozefina Topalli and her Austrian counterpart Barbara Prammer featured a photo exhibition called “Albanien im Gegenlicht”
The “Albania Backlighted: Photography after the political transformation of 1990” exhibition which runs until November 26 at the Galerie ArtPoint is dedicated to Albanian photography which, twenty years after transition, has undergone rapid developments both in its approach to documentation and as an art form.
The works on display at the Galerie ArtPoint, by the artists Alketa Kurrizo and Leonard Qylafi as well as by Albes and Bevis Fusha, Albania’s most famous photographers – all of whom live and work in Tirana – present arresting images of this development. The exhibition is being mounted by KulturKontakt Austria in the context of “Eyes On – Month of Photography in Vienna”.
The four participating artists all studied at the Academy of Arts in Tirana. By taking part in international programmes they expanded their outlooks to include European and global artistic movements, but they have never repudiated the influences of the long tradition of photography in their homeland. The exhibition includes documentary cycles as well as individual studies, portraits and new video works.
Events celebrating Mother Teresa’s 100th birth anniversary in Albania culminated on October 19 when the “Millennium Road of Peace” project was inaugurated at the entry of the of the Artificial Lake of Tirana, where square plaques bearing the signature of many Presidents from around the world will be placed in a symbolic gesture for peace and tolerance in the world.
In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, and in 1985 she received the Medal of Freedom from the United States. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 19 October 2003, placing her one step from sainthood in the Catholic faith.
