TIRANA, April 11 – “Dictatorship and democracy in the age of extremes: Spotlights on the history of Europe in the twentieth century” an exhibition featured in the 2014 edition of the German October events in Tirana has travelled to the southwestern UNESCO town of Berat where it is being displayed at the local Edward Lear gallery.
The exhibition tells the tale of Europe’s 20th century as a dramatic story oscillating between freedom and tyranny, democracy and dictatorship. It marks the conjunction of a number of anniversaries in 2014 which illustrate how closely intertwined national histories were in the
“century of extremes”: 100 years ago, World War I broke out; 75 years ago, Germany unleashed the Second World War; 25 years ago, with the fall of the Berlin Wall peaceful revolutions took place ending the division of Europe; and finally, 10 years ago, the European Union saw its first wave of eastward enlargement. All of these events and developments had immediate implications and consequences for Albania as well.
The exhibition presents on 26 billboards 190 photographs from European archives. It was put together by the Munich Institute for Contemporary History, Deutschlandradio Kultur and the Foundation for the Study of the SED Dictatorship and is supported by the German Foreign Office.
The exhibition, organized by the German embassy in Tirana, will be open at the Edward Lear gallery from April 21 to 30.
