ARTIST: Shpend Bengu

Thank you for attending this very special exhibition of Albania Beautiful and Primitive.

The brainchild of Dr. Shpend Bengu, this exhibition is based upon 16mm motion picture films shot in the early 1930’s by missionaries Elliott and Burta Taylor.

The Taylors were sponsored while in Albania by the Near East Foundation of New York (neareast.org) and the Rockefeller Foundation and lived here in Albania from 1929 to 1935.

Elliott Taylor was Assistant Director of the men’s section and Burta Taylor helped establish the women’s school at the Albanian-American Institute at Kavaje, Near East Foundation.

While in Albania the Taylors often roamed the countryside, and documented their travels in still photographs and 16mm motion pictures, offering a rare glimpse into Albanian life, intangible cultural heritage, and landscapes of nearly a century ago.

The motion picture films are archived at the US Library of Congress and were filmed in Albania c. 1932-35.

It was my pleasure to arrange for digital copies of the films to be supplied to Dr. Bengu for this project, as well as to collaborate with him on the English language intertitles.

Dr. Bengu and I sincerely hope that you enjoy this collaboration.

My personal thanks to the Center for Openness and Dialogue for realizing this exhibition.

Ken Weissman

Director Emeritus for film preservation, Motion Picture Division at the Library of Congress