The above-mentioned photo is just one of dozens of photos of the Albanian Telegraphic Agency, part of the “Roads untraveled” exhibition at the Klik Ekspo Group fair in Tirana.

There are photos that show construction of roads, railways, bridges and hydropower plants in the middle of the past century, documenting people and time in work situations.

“All the people in the photos are those who worked for the construction of the country’s infrastructure. They didn’t have the proper means to do such work”, said Valbona Zhupa, General Director of the Albanian Telegraphic Agency.

The photos put on display date back to 1945 to 1952. They show the building of roads by people using simple means like picks, shovels, carts. Poorly dressed, but working hard in difficult conditions the photos show them putting their traces in construction of public works in Albania.

Sometimes, the photos show the inauguration of these public works.

Thus, there is the photo of inauguration of the Rrogozhina Bridge; on the other side, there are the youth volunteer brigades in Tepelena, and further on, there is a photo that shows the construction of the hydropower plant on the Mati River in May 1952, along with the transportation of materials for the construction of the Milot – Ulëz road.

A large number of photos immortalize the inauguration of public works in 1945 (a few months after the end of the World War Two), among them, the Bridge of Penkova. Other photos show the Vau i Dejës Bridge on November 29, 1945, as well as the Baçallek Bridge in Shkodra, next to the destroyed Buna Bridge.

On April 11, 1945, the Mirash Bridge in Librazhd was fixed on celluloid, while the reconstructed Mati Bridge was inaugurated three days earlier. Fieri comes through the bridge of Mbrostar and the exhibition offers a cold description of geography and history.

Another image shows aspects of the work for construction of the Kukës-Peshkopi road with groups of people using shovels, picks and carts. Although the photograph has been neutral, there are two elements that take the eye – bare feet people on one side and the shade tents on the other.

“However, Albania was not built in one day”, added Zhupa, while talking about the photos of the “Roads untraveled” exhibition.

The photos carry both the artistic and documentary features as they immortalize almost like a painting the workers or maybe the so-called volunteers of public works under communism in Albania. The photos reflect the time in black and white and give the impression of being on the verge of moving forward toward a delayed future. /r.e/p.s./

Elona Agolli, CEO of the Klik Ekspo Group, told ATA, that, “The main leitmotif of this edition, held from 1 to 4 December, at the venues of the Palace of Congresses, in Tirana, is: “One Balkan, Stronger Balkan”.

Agolli said that it is about, “Promoting regional cooperation, the unification of regional markets, open markets which function as communication vessels. We stick to the idea that a strong economic cooperation between the 6 countries of the Western Balkans weakens the importance of borders as a geographical and socio-political concept.

Agolli noted that, “In this 27th edition of the Tirana International Fair participate for the first time and simultaneously the 6 countries of the Western Balkans: Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Albania through entrepreneurs, businesses, but also official institutions, business organizations, chambers of economy, trade and industry as well as the non-governmental organizations”.

“The Western Balkan Chambers Investment Forum 6 (WB6 CIF) is presented for the first time in the fair. This is a joint initiative of the chambers of commerce and industry of the 6 Balkan countries.

This initiative aims to promote cooperation in major projects among our countries.

“Besides the strong Balkan feature, other countries are also present in the fair such as Turkey, Italy, numerous Italian regions such as the Marche Region, Italian municipalities such as Casalvecchio di Puglia and the only Arbëresh municipality in Puglia.

There will be fashion institutes and fashion shows, presentations, conferences. To put it in a few words, we will be a big family that will live during these 4 days exchanging business ideas, forming experiences, spreading culture, art, enjoying the fact of being together especially during this difficult time that we are passing “, said Agolli.

The fair is organized at a time when the promotion sector through exhibitions in other countries is not fully open as a result of COVID19.

There are no drastic measures and prohibitions in this activity that cause lack of visibility and meetings. Of course, there will be a health protocol with protective measures against COVID, but there will be no restrictions on the schedule or producing of vaccination certificates “, said Elona Agolli, CEO of Klik Ekspo Group./p.s./