SIMON DUFF relishes the cross contamination of Damien Hirst’s greatest hits by street artists from France and the US
Albania the enigma
HENRY BELL is intrigued by an account of Albania that grapples with the changing nature of history and memory
UNEXPECTED: Tirana adventures in architecture
[Pic: Z Blace/CC]
In view of the grooming gangs inquiry, SIMON PARSONS feels the relevance of this powerful examination of trauma suffered at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
JOHN GREEN doubts the motivations of a US war photographer who never questions why, or for whom, she is producing images of imperialist conflict
MARIA DUARTE reviews Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Hedda, The Mastermind, and Regretting You
TONY CONWAY welcomes a thrilling and concise history of Hope not Hate, that is also a manual full of tactical advice
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes an inspiring account of living with deafness that has important lessons for the treatment of deaf people in today’s UK
Enver Hoxha’s Long Shadow – Travels in Albania
John Watkins, Signal Press, £14.99
ALBANIA is an anomalous and perplexing country to many outside of it: a heartland of European Islam and long an atheist country, dominated by a language that has no close relatives, geographically a wild mix of forest, mountain and sandy beaches, but firmly associated with brutalist cities, heavy industry and metal mining.
Surrounded by the tumultuous history of Greek and Balkan nations, Albania has remained apart through the centuries. Both despite and because of its long domination by the Ottomans, then the Italians and the Nazis, it has forged a strong and unique national identity. Yet its people are spread around the world, with more Albanians in the diaspora than living in the country.
Albania remains perhaps the most exotic place in Europe.
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