European Parliament, the first host of Onufri travelling exhibition

TIRANA, Jan, 22 – The European Parliament in Brussels became the first host of an exhibition featuring the golden age of Albanian photography from the rich 19th and 20th century of the Marubi collection. “Reflecting our traditions, reflecting ourselves” which displayed in Brussels for three days from January 20 to 22 is an itinerant exhibition organized within the EU-funded project “Marubi: a cooperative model for the promotion of tourism between Shkodra and Ulcinj” in the framework of the IPA Cross-Border Programme Albania-Montenegro 2007-2013.
Reflecting our traditions, reflecting ourselves” aims to jointly promote the Marubi patrimony and the historical, social and cultural values of Albania and Montenegro. The exhibition will tour different countries such as Italy, Hungary, Serbia, France, Poland and Turkey.
For almost 20 years, Lo࣠Chauvin and Christian Raby have travelled through Albania, visiting private and public collections in the search of forgotten talented artists. They have undertaken the unique and very important work of identifying, digitalizing where possible and bringing to light the oeuvres of Albania’s first photographers in their “Albania, a photographic journey” book.
From the fall of the Ottoman Empire to the establishment of Enver Hoxha’s communist regime in 1946, in the wake of the Second World War, photography flourished in Albania. “Albania possesses a photographic legacy which, though unique among the Balkans, has gone unnoticed both inside and outside its border”.
Albanian photography started with Pietro Marubi, an Italian emigrant fleeing political repression from his country. He opened Albania’s first photography studio in 1858. Three generations of Marubis will follow in his footsteps. For about a century, the Marubi family have amassed more than 120,000 negatives. The selection of pictures reveal the political, social, cultural and religious diversity of the country.