Mezuraj Museum Tirana – Archaeology and paintings

Mezuraj Museum is one of a kind in Tirana. It is an initiative that creates a convivial space of exposition for both archaeological objects and contemporary pieces of art. Located right in the centre of the capital, a few steps from Skanderbeg Square, this innovative museum is my favourite place to go to when I feel the need to deepen the knowledge of my country’s past and at the meantime, to look at its future.

The archaeological collection of Mezuraj Museum is vast and mainly composed of objects found in the south of Albania. In their exposition, I could find an impressive collection of ceramic vases, amphoras and objects dating from prehistoric ages (out of stone and bronze) to the somehow more contemporary Illyrian culture (iron). What I mostly appreciate in this museum though, is the collection of paintings. Various well-known Albanian contemporary artists are represented, like Helidon Haliti, Kole Idromeno, Fatmri Haxhiu, Gazmend Leka and my favourite, Artur Muharremi.

Muharremi is an Albanian allegoric painter, with landscapes filled with internal movement and plunged into a magical but realistic world. Sometimes they are scenes from the painter’s childhood, sometimes they look like they have emerged from a dream. In addition, he should be considered as the Albanian painter of nudes -- he has got an impressively large collection at Mezuraj Museum.

I believe that Albania has got very talented artists and a challenging past, which is why a merging space like Mezuraj Museum is needed in Tirana.