Marubi National Museum opened its doors on Europe Day on May 9, 2016 in Shkodra. During the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Edi Rama stressed that with the inauguration of the museum was completed a long and dangerous journey that had forgotten a remarkable archive. “Today is the day to be proud in Shkodra and achieve a great success, just how we will for Migjeni Theatre project. Many Shkodra visitors will come to Shkodra to visit the National Museum of Albanian Photography with Shkodra artists,” said Minister of Culture Mirela Kumbaro during the opening ceremony.
According to Ministry of Culture, the idea of ”‹”‹establishing a National Museum of Albanian Photography English came as a necessity of exposing to the public one of the most precious Albanian and world heritage- the photography archive of Marubi dynasty enriched with works of nine other fellow photographers in the history of Albanian photography.
“I am very happy that for a few days the treasure of Marubi dynasty will be included in the newest National Museum in Shkodra. After many years of abandonment, this precious treasure of our national culture as well as the European civilization, will be preserved and exhibited to the public in the most optimal conditions. I am proud for this important contribution of government for saving the Maruibi’s treasure. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to that handful of people in Shkodra, who with the passion of love for culture and faith towards work, in the most appalling conditions and without any support, have guarded this treasure from a serious risk that could destroy it ultimately,” according to Rama.
On April 18, 2016, the Cultural Department of the Albanian Embassy in Berlin organized an exhibition of the pioneers of Albanian photography Marubi, entitled ‘499965’ which took place at the Irrgang gallery in Berlin. Featuring 35 unique photographs with historical and artistic values of Photo Studio Marubi photographers, the exhibition stayed open until April 25, 2016.
Nowadays, the landmark Marubi photo Collection in Shkodra houses over 500,000 photos and negatives compiled by three generations of photographers that trace the beginning of Albanian photography and carry within themselves a lot of history along with artistic and cultural values that depict how Albania looked like from 1858 until 1940.
Last year the landmark Marubi photo collection was restored under a project supported by the Albanian-American Development Foundation (AADF) with over 1.5 million euros made available by the Albanian government, the AADF, and the European Commission.
Featuring photographs by Pietro Marubi, Kel Marubi, Gegà« Marubi, Mati Kodheli Marubi, Kel Kodheli Marubi, Kol Idromeno, Shan Pici, Dedà« Jakova, Pjetà«r Raboshta, Angjelin Nà«nshati, etc, the Marubi archive was transferred into a new building in the center of Shkodra last December.
One of the largest photo libraries in the Balkans, over 100,000 photos of the late 19th and early 20th centuries of the Marubi archives were made available online at the Marubi virtual museum in October 2015.
