BLACK mobile logo

international

Bunk’Art: Dealing with the legacy of Albania’s communist regime

June 18, 2026

Two museums in Albania, Bunk'Art 1 and 2, have transformed atomic bunkers built by communist dictator Enver Hoxha into educational spaces documenting the country's totalitarian past and victims of the regime. Founded by Italian journalist Carlo Bollino, who has lived in Albania since 1993, these museums aim to help Albanians confront their communist history in a country where the subject remains taboo and poorly taught in schools. The museums have sparked controversy, with some critics accusing them of whitewashing history while supporters view them as vital tools for remembrance in a nation lacking formal memory politics.

Who is affected

  • Albanians who lived under Enver Hoxha's regime (1941-1985)
  • Descendants of those who experienced the communist dictatorship
  • Victims of Albania's totalitarian regime and the Sigurimi (secret police)
  • Tourists and locals visiting the museums
  • Albanian opposition parties (who organized protests in 2015)
  • New generations of Albanians learning about their history
  • Intellectuals and activists focused on memory politics
  • Museum staff conducting daily maintenance
  • Carlo Bollino (founder and artistic director)

What action is being taken

  • Museum staff are performing daily maintenance to address erosion of materials caused by high humidity in the bunkers
  • The museums are releasing audio guides with additional content to enrich the visitor experience
  • Carlo Bollino is currently working on new ideas for exploring Albania's past to fill rooms that are currently empty
  • The two Bunk'Art museums continue to operate as "continually in progress" spaces

Why it matters

  • This matters because Albania suffers from a near-complete lack of memory politics, making institutions like Bunk'Art critically important for confronting a painful past that remains taboo. The museums provide essential educational opportunities in a country where communist history is taught rarely and poorly in schools, particularly for generations who did not experience the regime firsthand. By transforming sites once associated with fear, isolation, and atrocity into places of remembrance and education, Bunk'Art offers Albania a path toward reckoning with decades of suppressed trauma. The museums help prevent history's horrors from being repeated by cultivating collective memory and fostering deeper understanding of the country's difficult heritage under one of Europe's most isolated and paranoid dictatorships.

What's next

  • No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: Global Voices