TIRANA, May 9 /ATA/ The exhibition inaugurated on Saturday under the title “ATA – A Journey into the History of Albanian News” is not merely a retrospective glance at the past, but rather an endeavour to comprehend the structure of public information in Albania and the manner in which it has shaped society’s perception and understanding of reality.
This was the message conveyed by Valbona Zhupa, Director General of ATA, in her welcoming remarks at the opening of the exhibition, which brought together admirers, media professionals, and journalists within the premises of Tirana Castle.
“Through this exhibition, our intention has been not only to revisit events but also to recreate the atmosphere of different eras: the traces of the first transmission machines, black‑and‑white photographs developed in laboratories, early radio stations, urgently printed bulletins, cameras, negatives, telegraphs, newsrooms, and the individuals who stood behind the news,” emphasised Valbona Zhupa.
She explained that, through the archival materials of the Albanian Telegraphic Agency, in cooperation with the General Directorate of Archives, previously unpublished photographs and documents have been put on display. “From the earliest records of the Albanian press to the establishment of ATA as the central news institution, this exhibition presents fragments of Albania’s information history through photographs, documents, and archival testimonies that have accompanied the nation’s most significant moments,” underscored ATA Director General Valbona Zhupa.
According to her, among the materials on display are ATA’s historic agreements with international agencies, the 1931 press law, documents concerning news transmission during wartime, photographs of journalists in the field, as well as materials reflecting the institutional development of news over the years. Zhupa further emphasised that the exhibition also serves as a tribute to the individuals who have built ATA across decades.
“From Mihal Sherko and the agency’s first directors to journalists, photojournalists, editors, translators, technicians, and archivists — each has left an indelible mark on the history of Albanian information,” she emphasised. In this journey, the work of ATA’s photojournalists plays a special role. “As chroniclers of their time, they have borne witness to political events, social transformations, daily life, celebrations, the political, social, and economic life of the country, moments of crisis, and epochal changes. Many of the images that today form part of the collective memory of Albanians first passed through their lenses,” Zhupa observed.
An additional significant dimension of the exhibition is technology, as the history of news is inseparable from the history of its transmission. “From the earliest telegraph communications to radio, television, and today’s digital platforms, information has continually evolved in form, speed, and influence. With these transformations, the way in which people have perceived and understood the surrounding world has also changed,” she emphasised. Returning to the ATA archive, Zhupa noted that the long‑awaited process of digitalisation is underway.
“This collection encompasses more than 300,000 photographs and film negatives, including early glass materials, which are currently undergoing digitisation to ensure their preservation and to enhance accessibility for the public and for future generations,” she emphasised. “In an era when information circulates at tremendous speed and risks disappearing just as swiftly, the preservation of the archive remains a vital means of safeguarding memory. As Milan Kundera observed: ‘The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting’,” Zhupa underscored.
“It is no coincidence that this exhibition opens on 9 May, Europe Day — a commemoration that reminds us that free and reliable information constitutes the very foundation of every democratic society,” concluded Valbona Zhupa, Director General of ATA.
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