US embassy hosts cultural management workshop

TIRANA, Oct. 11 – Charge d’Affairs Deborah Jones hosted a reception on October 7 in the Embassy’s Rose Garden for participants attending the Cultural Management Workshop, designed for museum and gallery directors, curators, and specialists from all over Albania, the embassy said in a statement. The workshop, which ran from Oct. 7 to 9 in Tirana, was organized by Pamela Griffin of the Foundation for Albanian Visual Arts (FAVA), in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture. Ward Mintz and Ruth Coggeshall, consultants from the Fund for Art and Culture, are offering their expertise as workshop trainers. Those present at the reception included workshop participants, FAVA board members, experts from the tourist industry, and grantees who have worked on projects for the U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP). Participants connected with the USAID-funded project “Growth Albania,” which has supported capacity development throughout the country and increased the number of tourists, were also in attendance. Mr. Auron Tare, Director of the Center for Water Archaeological Research, an Albanian-American who spends time in both the U.S. and Albania, confirmed that his entity, in collaboration with foreign partners, brought about 5,000 Americans through Corfu this past summer, to visit Saranda and South Albania. About 50 guests attended the reception in all.