Well-known Albanian writer Ismail Kadare was awarded by the President of the Republic of Albania Bujar Nishani, with the “National Flag” award at the International Conference entitled “The century of Kadare” which was attended by several important figures from all over the world. Nishani said during the ceremony that Ismail Kadare’s work does not belong to Albanian only, but to the entire world as it Kadare’s work is a world value.
“I am touched by this honor. […] I like this honor not because I want to come out as a moralist but because for us writers, there is no personal honor and I like that the head of the country takes part in this cultural celebration. I also thank you who probably expect to hear great things from someone who’s written all these great novels. I thank all of you in this room, fellow writers, fellow researchers, Albanian translators who are the mother of everything. They have noted that they feel a bit forgotten. Maybe the entire world can forget about you, but not we authors never forget about you.
As is it was not enough that you have been tortured with our complex language but very valuable for art, you have undergone hundreds of kilometers to get here and I hope this event will enter in our brain as a positive memory which sometimes is missing in our lives,” Kadare said after receiving the award.
Declared as the year of Kadare, several events have happened during the last few months in honor of the worldwide known writer. The Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Gjirokastra signed an agreement on the revitalization of the Ismail Kadare House on January 7, 2016.
“Kadare’s House is not only a revitalization project of the museum and cultural center, but it also aims to create a successful model that can be followed by other municipalities in Albania. In cooperation with the Municipality of Gjirokastra, we will share common policies and the same approaches, creating new administration and management cells in our culture and heritage, and shift the poles of culture from the center to the outskirts,” said Mirela Kumbaro, the Minister of Culture.
The calendar of activities opened with ‘Gjirokastra reads with Kadare’ event, which was followed by other cultural and artistic activities in Tirana and Gjirokastra on January 28-30, 2016. Several weekends were dedicated to Kadare, who was recently honored with the highest medal in France, Commander of the Legion of Honor, given by the president of France.
Managed by the Ministry of Culture, Kadare’s House is a well-known destination for anyone who visits Gjirokastra. Located within the city’s historic center, the building was declared as a first category monument on July 5, 1991, and was recently restored by UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture.
