TIRANA, May 16/ATA/ The mosaic at the façade of the National Historical Museum, which underwent restoration, was inaugurated today in a special ceremony at “Skanderbeg” square in central Tirana.
Minister of Culture Elva Margariti said that, “It is exciting that we managed to give back to Tirana a real visiting card, such as the mosaic of the National Historical Museum”.
She also extended special thanks to Ambassador Soreca, who, as Margariti put it, “Believed from the beginning and extended a hand of cooperation to us”.
“Thanks also to Ambassador Hohmann for taking over at a difficult moment, when it seemed that the restoration sites had entered into big problems, but together we managed to reach this day”, said Margariti.
Minister Margariti emphasized that the restoration of the mosaic was a long and difficult job.
“Restoring a mosaic, placing some tesserae could seem like an easy job, but it was not like that. I am glad that we cooperated with the same factory which in the 80s made these tesserae and is located in Venice. To their great surprise, they saw how we had stored in our warehouses this high number of tesserae and reproduced them today with the same quality like then, to make this very symbolic business card”, said Margariti.
Margariti announced that very soon there will start the big project for the complete restoration of the National Historical Museum.
On her part, the ambassador of the European Union in Tirana Christiane Hohmann thanked all those who worked for the restoration of the mosaic.
Ambassador Hohmann said that, “You heard that it is about 123 color tones that were used for all the parts that make up the mosaic. Think how many skills have been used here and all of these will continue to be used in the future.”
The major mosaic restoration project of the National Historical Museum was made possible thanks to the “EU4Culture” program.
The mosaic of the facade of the National Historical Museum, according to the notes, is a giant mosaic with dimensions of 10 by 40 meters, which dominates the “Skanderbeg” square. The work spread over 400 square meters was completed in 1981.
The mosaic carries 13 figures presented in several groups. On the left, there is the group of Illyrian and Albanian warriors and archers of the anti-Ottoman war. Then, the National Renaissance is represented with two figures and the victorious partisan. The two symbolic figures, the worker and the peasant, are in the center of the surface, while on the right five figures symbolize the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War. /k.s/ /gj.m/r.e/p.s./
