From Albania with love

It’s a cold January evening and the lights around the center of Tirana flicker just before the usual evening power cut. At the same time, the lights in the Balsha room of Hotel Tirana are lit and there is violin music played by children groups. Everyone is focused on the new postcards of the third edition of a very interesting activity. Young artists are presenting their works for the competition “greetings from Albania”, which gathers the postcards designed and awards prizes to the most original ones. These designs are aimed at presenting a different Albania, away from the loathed images of multiple crisis that are striking our country as hard as ever in the endless transition we are living. Thus the children and teenagers contributing to this edition of the exhibition have left the political, economic, and energy crisis behind for this evening. They have brought their colors, their imagination and that bit of love for this country that hasn’t managed to disappear yet. The three winning postcards are focused on representing colorful images of folklore. They are only some selected representing over 700 Over 700 youth from 18 communities across Albania that contributed their creativity and artistic talents to create drawings, paintings and photographs for the competition. The traditions of history and music are intertwined and presented with artistic grace. It is all they can do to promote the image of Albania. It is a lot. The winner children get digital cameras in order to capture more beauty in a more professional way. Some of them would not afford such an expensive and fancy gadget otherwise. It is reassuring that their love, talent and passion will be the introductory card of our Albanian tourism industry and Ministry in several international tourism events and the trade fairs across Europe to promote different tourist products and packages in Albania.