Archive prints
Northern life since the 1800s.
Marina Binoshaj — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arianit — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Edukatori — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada — CC BY-SA 2.0
The Marubi National Museum of Photography in Shkodër holds the legacy of the Marubi studio, one of the oldest photography studios in the Balkans. It shows rare images of life in northern Albania since the 19th century, and appeals to lovers of art, history and photography. The Italian painter and photographer Pietro Marubbi founded the studio in 1856 after settling in Shkodër. Three generations ran it until the early 1950s, when Geg Marubi was forced to join a public cooperative. In 1970 the Marubi archive was created with about 500,000 negatives, and some of its images were used for official propaganda at the time. The present museum, by the architects Casanova + Hernandez, sets out to link old and new by restoring a historic building designed by the artist Kolë Idromeno, a student of Pietro Marubbi. The rooms show archive prints, photographic equipment and changing exhibitions, including faces of Shkodër figures and scenes of its old streets. It stands on Kolë Idromeno Street, the city's liveliest pedestrian street, so it pairs well with a cafe stroll, or an hour out of the heat or rain. Sources differ on hours, one giving 9 am to 7 pm, so check the official site. Lake Koman is 26 km away in a straight line.
Northern life since the 1800s.
Designed by Kolë Idromeno.
From heritage to contemporary.
32 Kolë Idromeno Street, Shkodër
Pietro Marubbi, an Italian photographer who founded the Shkodër studio in 1856, carried on by his successors.
An hour is usually enough, longer with a temporary exhibition.