Speech of Prime Minister Edi Rama at the presentation of two projects in the field of art and culture, the reconstruction of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet and the construction of the new stage of the National Theatre:

 

Good afternoon everyone and congratulations on the anniversary of the Lyric Theatre of Opera and Ballet, as it was named on the day of its creation, 60 years ago.

I believe it is a good day marked on the calendar of the Minister of Culture to celebrate this event, which aims to promote exactly the reconstruction of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet, and the construction of a completely new stage for the people of theatre.

A space that for quarter of a century was abandoned and filled with remnants of the past, used to be a hydro technical laboratory, while today it has started to being transformed into a new stage of the capital city.

Kadri Roshi used to tell his students: “If you don’t gather dust, you can never be an actor”. I believe that you agree with me when I say that had dust been the only criterion, we would have had annually players worthy of the world’s most prestigious stages, and probably we would have become the world centre for the training of actors. But, unfortunately, the dust Kadri told about is something quite different from the multi-layered dust of abandonment and neglect that has covered stage institutions, in terms of the maintenance of their infrastructure.

I’m not talking about my old wound, the National Theatre. I see here some of those who used to oppose me back then, when I said that it should be put down and built from scratch. Today, it is falling apart, and it can become any day the scene of a real tragedy, rather than an antique one. I hope it will not happen in the meantime we have started to build this new stage, which will have two halls hosting 400 spectators and 150 spectators each, as well as other environments that will not replace the National Theatre once and for all, but they will be an excellent and more standard alternative which stage directors and actors in Albania have never had before.

On the other hand, we will eventually complete the reconstruction of the Theatre of Opera and Ballet, where, according to the findings by the group set up for this project, the stage floor runs the real risk of collapsing and devouring all “Aida’s slaves” along with any one else can be found randomly on the stage. The entire backstage has become a storeroom for all old decors, while the totally amortized electrical system, not to mention the heating and cooling system are so old that no one can remember when they functioned for the last time, while the windows are a 1966 Italian production.

Some attempts have been made over the years to make some partial renovations, as those who use that stage know very well, the issue of the non-uniform acoustics of that stage has never been addressed properly, and we believe that the new project is going to give a solution to this.

It is a very significant investment for the state. Suffice to give you a figure. The investment we will do for the Theatre of Opera and Ballet only is the largest investments made in the infrastructure of art and culture in the past 20 years. The investment for this new scene here is not small either.

In addition, the reconstruction of the School of Arts “Jordan Misja” is about to be completed, and soon it will be equipped with new pianos and I hope the whole spectrum of instruments, because there is an alarming need. A new hall will be also built, a new stage for the students, along with the school of choreography, while a project is about to be implemented soon, after two years of stagnation due to administrative reasons. Some preliminary investment will continue in the Academy – the University of the Arts as they say, but I prefer to call it the Academy of Arts – I believe constitute a new, reasonable infrastructure to meet needs that have not been met for so many years for the people of the stage, from the music to the theatre.

And if I add to this the work done with the Theatre of Korce, which we believe will completed in the spring of next year, with a modern infrastructure in all respects, with the Theatre of Shkoder which is being rebuilt in terms of internal operation systems, and a series of other investments not in the field of stage art, but stretching across the range of cultural products, We have opened and are writing a whole new chapter in the relations between the government and the people of art and culture, and the institutions of art and culture. The overall volume of investments we have made is larger not one time but times two that 25 years ago. So, it would have taken 50 or 60 years to do what have done in these three years, had we continued at the pace we inherited.

Surely, it is about time to rebuild the National Theatre, which is a strategic location and it would better remain there, but it should eventually be liberated from the prejudices of the past, which have prevented its reconstruction. In collaboration with the Municipality of Tirana and with other factors, I believe that the dream of having finally a National Theatre drama and comedy, rebuilt with all the parameters that make a theatre have modern standards, will become reality.

There are many people who intentionally or unintentionally forget the great value that these investments have, and often react to these projects and to all these efforts, saying “we don’t have food, we don’t need the theatre, the museum, the stadium”, and so on. But the truth is that in no country where there is any theatre, museum, stadium, has a cultural and social life, and no food either.

Certainly that would be a long conversation, whether it is food that brings art, or whether it is art that brings food, but there is no doubt that investments in art, culture and sport, with all the infrastructure that creates a spiritual and social life of quality, are definitely investments in the economy, both in the spiritual but also material well-being for the people of a country.

So, not doing any of these because there are people who cannot afford even food, means accepting that those people will remain in that situation forever, and that you don’t have the ambition to save them.

And to provide a further and constant hop in the economic life and in the well-being of families and communities, we have to definitely invest more in art and culture, invest even more in the institutions of art and culture. Although we have really done a lot, compared with the past, it is not enough to say that we did our part in relation to this sector.

On the contrary, it takes even more. If theatres, museums, stadiums go near communities that have problems of a different nature, certainly those difficulties are eased in the medium term, and certainly they are greatly eased in the long run. Therefore, investment in arts and culture is a necessity. For us it is in the spotlight, and despite the serious problems that we have had with the budget, because of debts accumulated over the years, hidden debts, which we were forced to repay one by one, for unpaid contracts, with which we could have built tens of theatres, still we have done our best to not reduce, but rather increase the budget for the infrastructure of art, culture and sport. The truth is that the budget has increased significantly, and the goal is to continue increasing it, to implement in the future other projects waiting to be funded.

These two projects we are discussing today, on a symbolic day such as this one on which the Theatre of Opera and Ballet was founded, remain, however, two very major projects on the shoulders of the Ministry of Culture, and for the budget capacities of our state.

I assure you that this is not all, I assure you that beyond the transformation of infrastructure, we will be attentive also to increase domestic capacity, whether of direct financing of employees, trying to increase the salaries and bonuses for them, or in terms of the supporting infrastructure which is also an extremely important part, for which it cannot be said that it is in its best days. Or by increasing opportunities for more interaction between our institutions and other institutions, taking advantage of the new programs of the European Union, and so on.

You came here today to attend an activity in the shell of some ruins. Next time, you will come and see the transformation of this empty shell, in the shell of a contemporary scene with the best standards. Then it will really be a problem to find the necessary dust for young actors to abide by Kadri Roshi’s message.

Thank you!

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In the premises of the former Laboratory of Hydro technics, where work has started to build the new art centre, was held today the public hearing on two of the biggest projects in the field of art and culture, the “New Stage” Art Centre and the rehabilitation of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet and People’s Ensemble.

“These projects that are being implemented for the first time in Albania, aim at improving the quality of acoustic, at providing better conditions of service, modern technology, comfort and dignified treatment of the audience, while fully respecting artists”, – the Minister of Culture, Mirela Kumbaro said.

The project on the transformation of the former Hydro Technics Laboratory in the “New Stage” Art Centre, includes a thorough reconstruction of the building and the construction of two theatre halls with an audience capacity of 400 spectators and 150 spectators each, a space for the exhibition of visual arts and other auxiliary spaces, the funding for which is worth 3.3 million Euros. The National Theatre of Opera and Ballet is an amortized building that needs substantial intervention in all its constituent elements. The project, worth 8.6 million Euros, is expected to qualitatively improve the facilities, in addition to bringing innovation in the activity of the Opera and Ballet Theatre.