Despite protests, artist and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama demolished Tirana’s historic National Theater this weekend, ...

... and has proposed to replace it with a €30 million renovation.

Albanian police dispersed dozens of protesters who gathered Sunday morning at the National Theater in the capital city of Tirana in an attempt to stop the demolition of the 80-year-old structure, despite a nationwide ban on group gatherings. The Teatri Kombëtar, built in 1939 during the Italian occupation, has been at the center of controversy for years since Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama shuttered the building and proposed its replacement with a €30 million (~$32.8 million) design by the Danish architecture firm the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).

Protesters gathered Sunday morning at the now-demolished Albanian National Theater (Teatri Kombëtar) in Tirana before being dispersed by police
Protesters gathered Sunday morning at the now-demolished Albanian National Theater (Teatri Kombëtar) in Tirana before being dispersed by police © Wendy Morava

In an open letter released this week, a group of artists and cultural workers are not only condemning the theater’s destruction but bringing attention to what they deem the “artwashing” of Rama’s politics. The prime minister, who ascended to power in 2013, is also a practicing artist who has achieved status and visibility in the contemporary art circuit, with exhibitions at venues including Marian Goodman Gallery in New York City.

The letter’s authors, cultural theorist Jonida Gashi and journalist and publisher Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei, express concern that mediagenic portrayals of Rama as an artist-politician have served to obfuscate abuses of power by the Albanian government he helms, citing among them the state repression of free press, which has also been flagged by watchdog organizations such as Reporters Without Borders.

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