The former home of Albania’s oppressive dictator, Enver Hoxha, is now a vibrant creative space for young artists around the world who mark the country’s latest step to break free from its authoritarian past, AFP reported.
Bruno Julliard, director of the Art Explora Foundation, praised the transformation and called it a trassing gesture against the legacy of censorship and oppression that once defined the villa.
Once a “Ghost Villa”, steeped in the dark story of Albania’s totalitarian regime, Hoxha’s former residence in Tirana is now a stay for artists from all over the world.
This year, 22 artists from 15 countries will be welcomed to the villa, which still has its original socialist realistic art and furniture. Among them is Genny Petrotta, an Italian video artist and researcher who finds inspiration in the house’s surreal atmosphere.
“Every day, when I wake up, I write down my dreams because I have absurd dreams here,” she explained, noting that the house caused Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and “Hamlet” that explores power and revenge.
Formerly known as “Villa 31” served the villa as Hoxha’s family house for decades, in a heavily protected area monitored by the dictator’s secret police.
Hoxha’s regime was notorious for its harsh oppression, banned religion, limits personal expression and captivating artists. Today, however, the area has transformed, with bars and cafes that are now replacing the security checkpoints.
Prime Minister Edi Rama, an artist himself, emphasized the symbolic value of the villa’s new role. At the opening ceremony, he declared it would create everything Hoxha “despised” – a modern artistic hub that would cause the dictator to “turn in his grave.”
Among the first residents is the Ukrainian artist Stanislava Pinchuk, captivated by the villa’s heavy atmosphere.
“Everything here breathes pain and tension,” she said, describing space as both a testimony of the past and a platform for artistic reflection on political events and human rights violations.
