ALBANIA, Shkoder: Venetian Art Mask Factory

During Spring Break week we took a short (4-day) roadtrip -- from Skopje to Prizren (Kosovo) to Shkoder (Albania) to Budva (Montenegro) to Dubovnik (Croatia). 5 countries in 4 days. We hired a driver (thanks, Goran!)  so we could sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Here are some pictures from our visit to the Venetian Art Mask Factory in Shkoder, Albania.

Did you know that this region used to be a part of Venice? (up until the Ottoman Empire)  People here are still speaking Italian. While in Shkoder, we visited this Venetian Art Mask Factory.

From our Bradt Albania travel guide:  "Italian influence has always been strong in Shkoda -- the city was part of the Venetian Republic from 1396 until it was surrendered to the Ottomans, after a long siege, in 1479. Almost all Shkodrans speak Italian.....in an intriguing twist on the historic links between the two cities, many of the masks worn by revelers at the Venice Carnival are produced in a factory on the outskirts of Shkodra. They are handmade with paper mache (cartapesta in Italian)...Once it is dry, it is then painted, decorated with sequins, gold leaf, lace and feathers, and finally garnished to give it an antique look -- the whole process has 15 stages."

We had an interesting tour, and our guide described in detail the various steps of the process. We were not able to take pictures where the artists were working - but we could take some here in the gallery/shop.