Readers and visitors of the National Library of Albania from Thursday can learn more about a different history of Albanian literature for almost half a century. In the lobby of the highest library institution in Albania, the books banned during the communist regime are exhibited. Among the literary works are also manuscripts, parts of books that were considered unsuitable for publication, as they were not in the spirit of socialist realism, and also works for which those who carried them could be punished.
The exhibition "Books banned under communism" has been opened for the first time in the National Library of Albania, within the framework of "Memory Month". According to the organizers, the special value of this exhibition lies in the fact that, in addition to the display of banned books, it is also accompanied by a series of archival documents related to the policies, instructions, orders for the banning of books, made possible by the General Directorate of Archives.
"This exhibition outlines the history of censorship in Albania through archival documents of ordinances on banning the circulation of publications, erasing the names of editors or translators, throwing books into cardboard boxes, suspending and banning the publication of authors declared as enemies, cleansing of publications by enemy elements, Albanian and foreign authors, publications within the Republic of Albania and abroad", it is written in the clarification made by the BKK for the exhibition. How the communist government conceived of literature appears in the letters exchanged between those who were supervisors of publications. Censorship and the ability of a small group of people to control what should and should not reach the hands of the readers are clearly visible there.
As part of the "Memory Month", initiated by the Ministry of Culture, the National Historical Museum also organized an exhibition one day before the Library. In the hall at the entrance of the building, there are personal belongings of people who suffered from the communist regime, as well as the paintings of Lekë Tasi from Shkodran. The director of the Museum, Dorian Koçi, was present in this historical and commemorative activity, who said that it is a special pleasure to develop this activity. He thanked Lekë Tasin as a friend of the National Historical Museum, for the evidence he left in his well-known book "Robbery at the foot of the hills".
"In this book, one of the most painful stories of communist persecution is told, it is the not-too-distant truth that has been experienced, it is the life of those families who suffered in Albania", said Koçi. The painter was interned in the Grabiani camp, located between Karavasta National Park and the city of Lushnja. Tasi said that his book reflects a black and bitter reality, which many Albanians have only heard.
"The book is a living mirror, with shocking truths, that those who have experienced them will never forget, what keeps you stuck in all the anxiety, about the episodes from real life, presented fluently, simply with an absolute truth, in that painful and terrible reality", said the author of the paintings that present the infamous camp.
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The month of February has been designated by the Albanian Government as the "Month of Remembrance" during which different segments of life under the dictatorship are remembered.
© KOHA Daily
