Retired artistic director Nikolin Gurakuqi has addressed a letter to the Minister of Culture, Elva Margariti, denouncing some violations that according to him have been committed at the National Theater of Opera and Ballet (TKOB)by the current director Zana Çela.
In the letter, Gurakuqi asks the minister to set up a commission to verify whether the new TKOB logo is plagiarism. Earlier this month, a scandal erupted whereby people noted the similarity between the new logo for the institution and a stock image for sale online. While the design company that created it denied any plagiarism, artists were furious that some 1.8 million ALL (EUR 14,555) was paid from the state budget for something they considered to be copied.
Gurakuqi says in his letter that none of the members of the committee that decided on the logo were experts in the field. He further accuses the director of TKOB of destroying various scenographies of the active repertoire by saying they were damaged by rain and rats in the warehouse where they were stored.
According to Gurakuqi, the claim that 102 young people are supposedly employed by the institution is not true. He said there are “only three people in the choir, four in the soloists, five in the orchestra and some in the administration”.
The artist Nikolin Gurakuqi, who has been retired for some time, said that he has been raising his concerns for some time now but after nothing happened, he decided to write to Minister Margariti.
Nikolin Gurakuqi worked for 43 years in TKOB. During this time, he staged 78 performances. He also taught at the University of Arts for 25 years.
