The special Korçar collector/ Passion to keep heritage alive

2023-11-22 20:19:00, Qyteti im CNA

City News Albania brings to viewers a very special character of the city of Korça. Collector Mirgen Shamblli has been developing his passion for unique and valuable objects belonging to the early years and different themes for 15 years.

A variety of collections ranging from glass, ceramics, postcards, as well as crafts, make Mirgen's gallery one of the most beautiful.

Mirgeni shows how his passion for collecting old objects, not only Albanian but also foreign ones, started, and also states that the difficulty in finding them is great and requires time and effort.

"The passion for collecting started 15 years ago, finding special objects, photographs, postage stamps and selecting them according to genre and gender, and creating special collections for each object. I didn't inherit it, it's just a passion mine. There are several collections, in the first place the one I like the most is tax stamps, in philately. I have the glass collection, after I created an identification guide and catalog with numerous Albanian objects from 1954 to 1992. Also, I collect Albanian ceramics, photography, handicraft objects, copper and bronze, as a separate theme, as well as childhood toys and drink bottles. I find these in antique markets, in old houses, even people who know my passion, they give me gifts. There are also cases when I buy them within my means. The difficulty is great because you have to have some capital, as they are all blocked. My family also plays a big role, who cooperates with me and understands me, girls and wife."

In the two-story building, Mirgeni has selected each collection and placed it in different parts of this building, to give the focus and also the proper importance to every material and object that is in it. The edition of postcards located in one of the corners of the rooms remains one of the most special for the history they carry over the years.

"In these postcards is an edition that I got at an auction in Germany as it really appealed to me. The cars are mostly Fords and Mercedes, from the 1900s-1910s. I have framed it as a nice collection. Here we have old postcards, with artists cinema with a view of Venice and Italy, and below different people from Korça, Korça families. It's interesting. They have more of a spiritual value than a monetary value because we find these even in online auctions that cost a few cents. The postcards with actors are special, because they are very few and limited edition. We can especially mention the actors of the 1910s and 1930s."

Old postcards belonging to the years 1970 to 1990, which include a part of the 20-year history of some of the cities of Albania, occupy a place in Mirgen's collection. In addition to the most picturesque places, the postcards also contain other themes, which were used by Korcars to send holiday greetings.

"The postcards are a very special collection that I have created. It has to do with a theme related to the cities of Albania, their views and the most spicy places reflected in the postcard. This is from the 1970s to the 1990s. Another theme is art figurative of the national gallery, by the most famous Albanian painters, another part are postcards with flowers, with images of children, folk costumes. These were used as greetings that people sent on holidays."

The biggest project and perhaps closest to the collector's heart is precisely that of ceramics. Korça is one of the cities that years ago had a very developed ceramic art, even with some factories that are no longer there today. A number of objects have become part of this extensive collection, which includes various plates, pipes, ashtrays, figurines in folk costumes and flower pots that the corsairs placed in the courtyards of their homes.

"The next project is that of Albanian ceramics. There are many objects that I have collected over the years and I think of creating an identification guide for these objects. They are mainly products of Albanian factories over the years, such as earthenware, porcelain and ceramics. Here we have plates, ashtrays of tobacco which are very interesting. We have porcelain objects from Tirana which I describe as rare as they are from 1965 during the relations we had with the Chinese. We have different figurines, with animals, cups of tea and coffee. Let's move on to an interesting part of the collection, here is the Fajanca of Korça, with rare objects such as water jugs, as well as figurines in folk costumes, pitchers, and the collection extends to the bust of Skanderbeg with 3 dimensions, flower vases that housewives used to decorate their homes throughout courtyards. We also have objects from the ceramics of Tirana with Illyrian objects, miniatures from the art of Vlora, Korça and Kavaja, sideboards and savings boxes."

For Mirgeni, the passion for collecting old objects is not found in today's youth. He finds the opportunity through this interview to address a call to young people.

"I don't know if there are young people who deal with this kind of hobby or passion. Maybe they see it as something strange and I appeal to all young people to try to collect something from every kind of field. In this way we save our cultural heritage , and our history as each object speaks for itself and tells something."

Although with a different profession, Mirgen Shamblli has developed his passion of collecting old objects, to keep alive not only the cultural heritage of Korça, but also to keep alive the Albanian history that very few young people are aware of nowadays . For all those interested who are curious to see these objects up close, City News Albania made available the contact number of Mirgen, who is always welcoming to every visitor inside Albania and abroad. / CNA