MARUBI NATIONAL MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Opened in 2016, this museum (Muzeu Kombëtar i Fotografisë Marubi) houses the collection of over 100,000 photos taken by the Marubi studio in Shkodra between 1858 and 1940. Taking over from the Photothèque Marubi founded in 1970, it is housed in a 1920s administrative building renovated by a Dutch architectural firm. Admission is high by local standards, and the museum suffers from a lack of maintenance. But here's an opportunity to discover the epic story of the "Marubi dynasty", 3 pioneering photographers who captured the changes in a fast-moving country mainly through portraits. The permanent exhibition is divided into 3 rooms. The ^1st houses photographs by the founder of the "dynasty", Pietro Marubi (1834-1905). This Italian artist from Piacenza escaped the jails of the Austro-Hungarian Empire by taking refuge in Shkodra in 1850, and soon changed his first name to Pjetër to make it more Albanian. Continuing his work as a painter (some of his paintings are exhibited at the National Art Gallery in Tirana), he was attracted to photography in its infancy, founded the Foto Marubi studio and eventually made a living from it. Note the full-length portrait of a mustachioed old notable wearing a few fearsome blades on his white dress. This is Hamze Kazazi (1779-1859), one of the leaders of the Shkodra uprising of 1835. He was immortalized in 1858, and this is the first photograph ever taken in Albania.

An unchanging setting. The^2nd room traces the life of Kel Marubi (1870-1940). When Pjetër died, his Albanian apprentice Kel Kodheli swapped his name for Kel Marubi and continued his mentor's work. Regarded as the artist of the line, his work is nevertheless a continuation of Pjetër. In front of their camera, the whole of Albanian society poses in front of a scenery that has barely changed over the decades, a painted canvas with trees and foliage. The^3rd room focuses on Gegë Marubi (1909-1984), son of Kel. Trained at the Lumière brothers' school in Lyon, he produced portraits and reportages, and experimented with landscapes and celluloid film. Winner of several awards, he was forced to close the studio in 1940 due to the Italian occupation. After the war, refusing to work for the Communist regime, he became the archivist of the work of the 3 generations. In 1970, he handed over this collection to the State, which created the Photothèque Marubi.