Opening Red Doors – The Dictator’s Villa  

Enver Hoxha (Stalinist dictator of Albania in 1945-85) ruled over a starving population with unseen cruelty and led the country into political and economic isolation. 

Hoxha and his family lived in a luxurious, 4000 m2 villa in a secured area in Tirana. Today the building is still guarded and only used for rare governmental events. The untouched rooms give an unadulterated intimate glimpse into the dictator‘s life. The presence of the Hoxhas can be felt immediately. 

With this first ever professional documentation of the rooms I can give an insight into the taboo area of a resolute dictatorship.

The series comprises approximately 90 pieces.  

2019, C-print, 190 x 120 cm

Hoxha’s villa was built for him in 1974 in a secured area in Tirana. The rooms, predominantly untouched since the family left the house in 1991 (six years after Hoxhas death), give an unadulterated glimpse into the life of the dictator‘s family. The presence of the Hoxhas can be felt as soon as you enter the building. 

When I was asked to interpret the villa photographically I put forward a year of study on Albanian history and society, in order to be able to meet the demand.

So far, the Albanian government has not decided on the building’s future usage. As it is a symbol for a person, responsible for the death of thousands of people, Edi Rama, the current Prime Minister, doesn’t want to turn it into a place of pilgrimage. Due to more pressing problems, the fate of the villa is not an urgent topic in the current political discourse. 

I saw a chance to show an exceptional, barely accessible area of communist architecture beyond what is visible and give an insight into the taboo area of a resolute dictatorship. By carefully capturing situations – often in a central perspective – the pictures are capable of transporting the strength of the rooms and with it the character of its former residents. By not altering the furniture and restricting the retouching to a minimum, the photographs don’t give an idealistic view on the interiors but provide an opportunity to experience a direct connection with the most private areas of a person, who kept his private life and inner thoughts well secretive. If desired, this insight might provide help to the Albanian people with processing an atrocious past.  

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