Students of the high school “Aleks Buda” became part of the educational program “Impressions”.
The educational program “Impression” is an art competition involving high school students. The competition is held in the following genres: 1- visual arts (painting, sculpture, installation) 2- literary creation (essays, poetry, etc.), 3- music (melodies, songs). Some of the objectives of this competition are: engaging, encouraging young people to participate in creative / educational activities, acquainting them with the albanian communist regime as well as familiarizing them with the repressive [...]
Prologue: The story of the house
The House of Leaves was a maternity hospital at the beginning. It was built in 1931 as an obstetric clinic at the initiative of the distinguished physician Dr. Jani Basho and it was run by him. It is the first of this kind in Albania and this has been its function during the thirties. During the early postwar years, the House of Leaves was used as an investigation center, thus [...]
Sector 01: Bugs and other creatures
The technique is neutral only when it is not in use. Electronic interception is a technique used to control people. Control purpose depends on the type of regime. Interception is as the regime is. Special funds were provided for the purchase of costly surveillance equipment and protocol agreements between allied states were signed for the specialization or training of employees of the technical and scientific branch. In this [...]
Sector 02: Living microphones
The electronic interception work is closely linked to Security agents, the living microphones. Usually, they preceded the electronic microphones with information, and in many cases, they carried the bugs in talks with potential to be arrested. A statistic presented in one of the museum rooms shows about the four categories of collaborators, the number for each category over the years, etc. Related to this statistic, visitors will be acquainted with [...]
Sector 03: What is the enemy?
Perception of enemy determines the control and repression manners. Conversely, these ways reinforce the perception on the enemy. The vicious circle of totalitarian dynamics. In the rooms of this sector, visitors will get acquainted with some of the most sensational trials during communist dictatorships accompanied by photos of these court proceedings. One of the rooms is dedicated to the long list of innocent people who were imprisoned or [...]
Sector 04: The external enemy
Interception of foreigners constituted essentially an extension of control and repression within the country. A feature of the communist dictatorship in Albania was the ever-complete self-isolation from the world, by proclaiming Albania as the only socialist country in the world, which was under siege and comprised the target of the two superpowers and their blocks: the entire world against a small country. At the same time, in the totalitarian mentality [...]
Sector 05: Intermezzo
Private life under the communist regime was completely unprotected from State intervention, because the ideology had a collectivist character and the party-State was omnipotent. With regard to the family, the state played the role of the patriarch, who should know everything and decide everything. Secret interception via microphones was just one of the ways in which the State penetrated every home, capturing intimate conversations whenever and how often it wanted. [...]
Sector 06: Every day life
Surveillance was used for all social strata and categories, because none of them was immune from persecution; a priority was that class or category that was considered as potentially dangerous at a given moment. A word, a song, a casual meeting could quite well be considered hostile activity. A telephone interception list is shown. This list was taken from the archive of the Ministry of Internal Affair. Tirana of the [...]
Sector 07: Voices of the past
These are voices captured by electronic interception decades ago. But they cannot be a curiosity object. They come from the darkness, from the abyss. Regardless of their words, they are voices that invite for a reflection on the past. The transcription model of an interception made by State Security employees is shown in one of the rooms.
Sector 08 : Panopticon – Panakustikon
It can be translated as “the place from where you can see and hear everything”. The other meaning of the first word, according to which the second was built is that of an ideal prison, conceived more than two hundreds years ago by the utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham. The Utilitarian did not believe in the utopia of a perfect society. Communism was such a utopia. The claims to realize it [...]