TIRANA, March 31 – Three days of cultural events will conclude a four-month exhibition featuring the treasures of Albanian cultural identity in Rome and Turin. The exhibition featuring Albania’s archeological heritage from prehistory to the 17th century was inaugurated in Rome in November 2012 when Albania celebrated its 100th anniversary of independence and also travelled to Turin where it remained open until this week.
Organized by the Albanian Cultural Centre in Italy, the “Views on Albania” events scheduled for April 4 to 6 will conclude the successful display of the archeological exhibition with the screening of a movie on Albanians’ exodus to Italy just as the communist regime collapsed in the early 1990s, the launch of a book on Albanian travel, tourism and migration and a meeting with new Albanian Ambassador to Italy, renowned archaeologist Neritan Ceka.
Events opened on Thursday, April 4 with the screening of the La Nave degli Albanesi (The Ship) documentary by Albania’s Roland Sejko featuring the exodus of Albanians to Italy in the early 1990s just as the 45-year communist regime was collapsing.
Events will continue on Friday April 5 with a meeting aimed at promoting Albania tourism with the launch of the Hotel Albania book by Italian anthropologist Francesco Vietti. The three-day events conclude on Saturday, April 6 with a scientific conference on ancient Albania known as Illyria and the influences of the Greek and Roman civilizations.
Albania’s archeological treasure
For the first time in Italy, an exhibition of 150 archeological items on loan from Albanian museums were displayed in Rome’s Complesso del Vittoriano museum and Turin’s Palazzo Madama. The exhibit included earthenware, furnishings, objects for daily use, helms and shields, coins, devotional statues and icons, dating from prehistory through the 17th century. In terracotta and ceramic, bronze, copper and iron, marble and wood, the objects documented not only the daily customs of a people but also its cultural and esthetic values, its traditions and its spiritual life.
Titled ‘Treasures of the Albanian Cultural Identity’, the exhibition sought to rediscover and promote the European component of Albanian culture. ”It is a way to let the Italian public know about Albanian art and culture as we celebrate the centennial of our independence,” former Albanian ambassador to Italy, Llesh Kola, told reporters at the show’s press launch.
The exhibit was divided into three sections. ”The prehistoric age, from the Neolithic to the Archaic age; antiquity, which goes from the fifth century to the high Middle Ages, and the Byzantine era,” curator Apollon Bace explained.
