It was August 8, 1991, almost 30 years ago, when, for the first time, nearly 20,000 Albanian citizens fleeing to Italy landed in Bari.
Returning from Cuba loaded with cane sugar, the merchant ship Vlora was attacked during the landing operations in the port of Durres, where a crowd of about 20,000 people forced the commander, Halim Milaqi, to set sail for Italy.
The story of the Vlora is inextricably linked to a page of contemporary history: the first wave of Albanian migration in Italy.
This is the starting point for reflections by the photographer Stefano Romano, in the exhibition curated by Francesco Scasciamacchia entitled ‘Punto di Rugiada’. The exhibition is on display at the ALPHA Gallery in Vlore from 6 August.
Commissioned by the Italian Cultural Institute of Tirana as part of the project ‘La storia al contrario: Italy-Albania a 30 anni dall’approdo nel porto di Bari della nave Vlora’ (History in reverse: Italy-Albania 30 years after the Vlora landed in the port of Bari) the exhibition will be open until 10 September.
Stefano Romano’s shots reflect on the idea of travel and migration, themes investigated through an environmental installation, a series of drawings and research into archival images of the arrival of the Vlora in Italy.
For more information, see iictirana.esteri.it