Greece and Albania “enjoy excellent relations”, underlined the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias, in his speech at the opening of the exhibition “Improvisations” of the Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama at the Zappeio Megaro.

“Lately our contacts are very frequent”, noted Mr. Dendias. “The fact that we have the opportunity today to host your works, today in Zappeion, is proof of the friendly feelings that exist between us and that represent the strong bond between our peoples.”

He pointed out that the choice of Zappeio for the realization of his exhibition, “has a very strong symbolism, because here in 1979 the Treaty of Accession to the then European Economic Community was signed”.

“I was then a young student at the University of Athens, there behind the columns and I watched Georgios Ralli and Konstantinos Karamanlis sign at this exact spot,” said Mr. Dendias and added:

“In this way, it shows the way we treat Albania as a neighbor, a close friend and I would like to say that we hope that soon it will also be a member of our European family.”

Mr. Dendias referred to Mr. Rama’s artistic career – from Paris as a young painter, to the artistic transformation of the city of Tirana and the “Mayor of the World” award in 2004.

“As the mayor of Tirana, he revived the image of the city with minimal means, changed it, transformed it,” he said. “She painted with bright colors, with geometric shapes, the distressed facades of her old buildings. A work that, beyond its artistic value, contributed, if not created a feeling of social cohesion. He thus inspired the feeling of belonging among the inhabitants of the Albanian capital” said the Greek Foreign Minister.

As he recalled, the international promotion of this project was the reason for the organization in Tirana of the first Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2001.

The exhibition that had its opening on Monday in Zappeio, presents mixed media works and sculptures by Edi Rama. The title of the exhibition echoes the artist’s particular way of working.

As Mr. Dendias explained, Edi Rama improvises on A4 size papers, which are already used in his office. With bright colors, with the ability to follow the artistic gesture.

“As he himself has confessed, this automatic artistic writing helps him to concentrate on his prime ministerial duties as well,” he noted.

“It thus formulates in practice an extroverted collaboration of art with the practice of politics. A common element of his works is the sense of flow and movement and the biomorphic shapes, which seem to emerge, to be born from one another.”

“Edi Rama’s work is linked to his perception of an art that is closely connected to life, an art that has a social role, an art that is accessible to all.”

“Today, we will have the opportunity to see that Edi Rama’s work overturns conventional divisions. It can be seen with artistic eyes, but it can also be seen with political eyes,” he pointed out.

Finally, Mr. Dendias thanked the Prime Minister of Albania “for his practical, whole-hearted support to the Greek society after the tragic accident in Tempi”.

As he recalled, the Albanian prime minister declared March 5 as Albania’s Day of National Mourning – the only country other than the Republic of Cyprus to do so.