Author

Ariela Mitri

Head of Sector
Anti-trafficking and Migration
Caritas Albania

The Dreams We Carry’ photo exhibition organised by Caritas Albania and UNHCR

Albania has become a migrant-hosting country. Since 2015, our country is a transit route for thousands of refugees and migrants who are forced to leave their countries and seek a safer life. They travel in groups, alone or as a family. The journey from their homes lasts a long time and is in part organised by smugglers who demand large sums. Some of them walk for days on foot, putting their lives in danger and many are separated from their group or get lost. Others die on the way. 

Caritas Albania and UNHCR in Albania decided to mark these journeys in a photo exhibition entitled ’The Dreams We Carry’. The opening ceremony was held on 8 November 2021 at the National Historical Museum in Tirana, in the presence of the Deputy Minister of Interior, representatives of the Border and Migration Police, leaders of religious communities, diplomatic representatives, Resident Coordinator and heads of UN Agencies, representatives of Caritas Albania, Caritas Austria and Caritas Italy, refugee families and media partners. The photographs taken by Renuar Locaj and the exhibition curated by Oltsen Gripshi portray the resilience and aspirations of people forced to flee their countries due to conflict, violence and persecution. 

The idea of this exhibition was born from a need to present to the public the issue of migration through photography, conveying the images and identity of these people. The pictures depict the suffering of both the individual and the family, but also the desire for life. The images unfold over time, portraits of children, women, men, families or of a grandfather with his niece, revealing a great human saga. The exhibition also displays objects from their journeys, including items of clothing, shoes and photographs taken by refugees and migrants – mementoes of such significant and traumatic experiences. 

The soles of their feet are the most painful evidence of the long journey they have made. Abandonment of their home, and the physical and spiritual connection with their land, is the most indelible mark they take into the future that awaits them. 

Mr. Andi Mahila, Deputy Minister of Interior, stated that the Albanian government will continue to work for the protection of refugees. He also stressed the importance of integrating refugees and asylum seekers. Monsignor Angelo Massafra, President of Caritas Albania, pointed out that our mission is about those who are unknown to us, invisible, insignificant, but who in our Christian culture are ’first’. To address the reality of them, we need to develop effective projects and new approaches to protect their dignity, improve their quality of life, and meet the challenges that are emerging from modern forms of neglect, denial or persecution. He called for this exhibition, these images, to remind us that our main task is to focus on the human, on the one who is on the journey, on the one who has lost the hope of life due to war and violence. ’The voice and moral authority of religions and faith-based organisations is fundamental to sustaining the debate over migration, centred on the essential aspects of dignity and human rights’, said Mr. Pablo Zapata, UNHCR Albania Representative. 

I had a very difficult journey. I never wanted to leave my country. I am grateful to Albania for enabling me to regain a dignified life.

A Congolese refugee 

‘The opportunity to be part of such a project is definitely a privilege for every artist,’ said Mr. Renuar Locaj, the exhibition artist, during his speech. ‘In addition to being a privilege for me, it is also a reflection. One of the main missions of photography is to inspire people to appreciate life. This is done by drawing their attention to things that most of the time we take for granted and that sometimes even seem unimportant.’

His Grace, Haxhi Dede Edmond Brahimaj, Chairman of the Interfaith Council Albania, delivered the closing speech. He said: ’In every religion, the protection of children is very important. The creator’s desire is to support children at every step, to guide them to the right path.‘ He called for collective efforts by all communities to address the plight of people in need of humanitarian assistance. 

The curator of the exhibition Mr. Oltsen Gripshti closed the ceremony with a poem written as part of this initiative. 

For the loves and abandoned soul in the lands left behind,
to utopias and in pursuit of safety,
to the pain in their eyes,
to the wounds in the soles of their feet,
burnt in the boundless deserts,
thirsty among the shores traversed,
to those who touched the bottom,
to their smiles,
and to those who have stopped at the edge of hope.
In fact, in the house of all of us, because the house of the Albanian belongs to the Friend and God. 

The exhibition is now shown in other parts of Albania.