On the picture Ambassador Adia Sakiqi; Her Excellency explained in her welcome remarks that the display could be considered a visual archive of Albanian history. “So much history has been played out in the Albanian part of the world,” she observed. “In this exhibition we see the normal, the vulnerable and the real – all through the eyes of an artist. It is a privilege to be surrounded by these extraordinary pictures.”
By Joe Ray.
Diplomats and friends of Albania gathered at the Foam Photography Museum in Amsterdam on 25 November 2016 for a memorable Albania National Day celebration hosted by Her Excellency Ambassador Adia Sakiqi.
Guests celebrating 104 years of the nation’s independence were treated to a remarkable display of Albanian photography dating back more than a century. The exhibition, entitled Dynasty Marubi – A Hundred Years of Albanian Studio Photography, featured a selection of photos from the archive of the Albanian photo studio Marubi (1856-1959).Three generations of photographers made portraits of a wide variety of people, ranging from the urban bourgeoisie, shepherds, the Ottoman emperor and King Zog, to criminals and famous actors and painters. Museum guests were struck by the humanity of the images, which conveyed their subjects – young, old, living and deceased – candidly and without prejudice.
