Crying bus driver visits photo exhibition. What's wrong?

In Tirana last week, the photography exhibition opened The Other Side. There's a side to that that wasn't actually intended.

Tourist in Tirana

In the pool on a rooftop terrace in Tirana, a bald man leans against the wall in the water. He appears to be a tourist but is in Albania for work. As soon as I ask him if it is nice work I fear a report on agricultural exports or industrial machinery. But I am in luck.

The man turns out to be photographer Ad Nuis. He will open his photography exhibition in a few hours at the National Museum The Other Side and warmly invites me to come. Or 'his' exhibition: he is actually curating a collection of photographs.

#Albania during communism, pictures secretly made by #Dutch photographers. Even the driver of the tour 30 years ago came to the opening. pic.twitter.com/Wvn8rOr3LK

- Dewi van de Weerd (@dewivandeweerd) August 18, 2017

(Ad Nuis is pictured on the left, the bus driver on the right.)

The huge museum attracts about a hundred and fifty people that evening. Everyone is sweating from the summer heat and hoping for the cool white wine after the speeches. But the opening can be called a success. Especially because of the bus driver who arrives on his bicycle when the opening is almost over.

Sneaking pictures

It was he who in 1987 drove photographer Piet den Blanken around in the bus with foreign 'comrades'. He disliked the guide who showed only what the government allowed people to see at the time. Piet, who secretly took pictures of everyday life, managed to smuggle a roll of film out of the country. It does much to the driver that 60 photos from the roll now hang in the National Museum. It makes him cry.

Mission accomplished you might say.

But there is a double bottom to the exhibition.

The Other Side

The Dutch embassy in Tirana wants to use soft art to make Albanians more familiar with their past. Instead of scaring them off with horror images, the exhibition of human, recognisable photographs should make the past more accessible. Especially for young people. By showing them that life went on despite the black side.

You can see that in The Other Side: twelve Dutch photographers shot images of everyday life in Central and Eastern Europe around the time of the revolution. Lots of black and white, many sombre tones but also surprisingly bright colours.

So the embassy's idea of bringing the exhibition to Albania is fine. To what extent the young people will care remains to be seen. After all, their lives go on as usual too. And that life seems to consist mainly of taking selfies on mobile phones, earning money and going out.

On to the EU

However, that does not matter to the lady who walks up to Ad Nuis and congratulates him. She works for some EU-funded institution. 'To become a member of the EU, Albania has to become more European,' she explains decidedly. The Other Side contributes well to this for her. Indeed, Europe wants Albania to deal well with its past. Presumably to prevent one and all in the future.

From bunker to museum

Hence also the new Bunk'Art: the capital's bunkers converted into museums. And the House of Leaves, a museum about the former security service. Noble projects. Vincent van Gerven Oei, however, thinks otherwise. The Dutchman lives in Tirana and writes prickly pieces for a website with the telling name exit.al.

In 2015 I spoke to Vincent for Culture Press already. Back then, he was still passionate about art. That, he says, is now largely on the backburner in Albania. Hence also why he throws himself into political reporting. How a project like Bunk'Art comes about, how the use of public space is planned: he knows all about it. Albania has been commercialised.

Albania is over, also argues a writer friend. But she feels the same about Croatia and Italy. The entire culture there runs on profit. With EU membership as the holy grail.

Infected with the EU virus

After all, who argues that EU membership actually raises living standards? After all, more money does not necessarily make people happy. On the contrary, it rather seems to blunt a population. Hence why some Albanians wonder whether some things were not better under dictator Enver Hoxha.

Art as massage for EU membership

It is therefore unfortunate that an exhibition like The Other Side a little too much fits the bill of EU strategists: because the EU train needs to rumble on towards more market and more prosperity.

And the young? Those, of course, see the route to EU membership all the way. It serves their goal of personal advancement. For the older Albanians, however, it will all be fine; their lives just go on. With or without the EU.

Art as a lifeline

What The Other Side nevertheless shows in a positive sense is that sincere art seeps through time scraps. As a constant factor, it captures movements of humanity.

That offers comfort even to a bus driver.

Ad Nuis on The Other Side: 'The idea for it actually started as a joke. I posted a somewhat unsuccessful photo on Facebook and fellow photographers spontaneously sent in their own photos of the Eastern Bloc. It's great that they are supporting this exhibition: the overview really shows how photojournalism worked at that time.' Participating photographers are: Vincent Mentzel, Bertien van Manen, Bert Verhoeff, Hans van der Meer, Piet den Blanken, Sabine Joosten, Ad van Denderen, Hans van den Bogaard, Bert Spiertz, Ton Broekhuis, Leo Erken, Ad Nuis.