It was Valentine’s Day this week, and to mark the event, the Municipality of Tirana positioned a cascade of inflatable hearts appearing to fall from a window of the municipal building onto the street below.
Firstly, I find it ironic that hearts would fall from the window of one of Albania’s most unkind people. This is a man who evicts citizens without a second thought, calls journalists stupid and idiots, and whose recent and secretly recorded outbursts make Trump sound like a mild-mannered poet.
To have hearts flowing from his window is a contradiction as this man displays contempt for citizens, journalists, and anyone who attempts to stand in his way or question him. The only time he has displayed anything worthy of a heart is when his PR teams cameras are rolling, and there is a child he can hug in the vicinity.
But my real criticism is because it appears to be, once again, a rip off of someone else’s work.
In London, between July and November 2014, 888,246 ceramic, red poppies were displayed cascading from the Tower of London into the moat below. Each bloom represented the life of a British soldier lost during WWI.
The installation was called Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red and marked 100 years since the first full day of Britain’s involvement in the conflict. It was created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper and was installed with the assistance of 21,688 volunteers. The poppies were put into place gradually until they completely encircled the tower, creating a place where people could remember the fallen while appreciating the considerable sacrifice they made.
Every day at sunset, the names of the fallen were read out from a Roll of Honour, followed by a salute from the Last Post.
I am a British citizen, and I lost my ancestors in this war. This installation was emotional, moving, haunting, and incredibly meaningful for many Brits, regardless of their stance on conflict. Almost every British person, even today, was touched somehow by what happened during those years, and it remains a very sombre and respected subject.
To see it plagiarised as propaganda for the Mayor of Tirana is incredibly disrespectful. It is also ethically and morally questionable. But more than that, it continues a pattern of consistent plagiarism from the Municipal office, paid for with taxpayers money.
Just to give you some examples. In 2020, the Municipality plagiarised the work of artist Clet Abraham when it replaced many road signs around the Blloku area of the city. Abraham’s work involved turning typical street signs into humorous images while still retaining the essence of the message. In many cases, the Municipality directly copied his images, and in some cases, appeared to be heavily inspired by them.
Exit contacted Abrahams to ask if the Municipality had asked for his permission. He assured us they had not, and he did not consent to his images being used. When Exit asked Veliaj, he responded by calling me a fascist and troll and not answering the question.
The Municipality also plagiarised a song and video called What is London to You? created by the Mayor of London’s office in 2020 Veliaj’s knock-off version was called What is Tirana to You? and was almost identical in content, tone, and even tune. Again, Exit contacted the Mayor of London’s Office to ask if the Tirana Municipality had licensed the idea or used the same writer. They were most surprised at the similarity and confirmed no discussion or sharing of ideas with their Albanian counterparts.
In 2020, the Mayor posted pictures of the new Tirana University Campus. The image was stunning- a modern, rectangular design with two-tone light features and the extensive use of glass throughout.
The problem is that the image he posted is actually the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, designed by architect Diller Scofidio + Renfro in New York. Exit contacted the architects in question but no response was received.
In the same year, the mayor unveiled Tirana’s new logo for its 100 year anniversary. But again, it appeared to be plagiarised from artist Rosie Manning. The winning design, strikingly similar to Manning’s was chosen following a competition and the winning company denied any foul play.
Other examples include posting pictures of California and passing them off as Tirana, his previous Facebook tagline “Tirana, a place beyond belief” stolen from artist Nathan Coley, and many more examples too numerous to list here.
Some eagle eyed media has even noticed the mayor attempts to copy former US President Barrack Obama in the way he presents himself.
The long and short of it is that our money is being spent on ripping off other people’s ideas. Instead of focussing on decent public transport, creating green spaces, recycling, education, improving air quality, and having drinkable water 24 hours a day, our money is being used to create knock offs. The Municipality PR machine is very well oiled, as I found out for myself.
Erion Veliaj is full of ideas that find themselves at home amid the fake Gucci personalities and handbags of Tirana. But as citizens and residents, we really should be demanding more.
