Yesterday evening, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with Telekom Albania organized a promotional activity for the photographic contest #ColoursofAlbania.

This initiative, which follows #ColoursofAlbania 2015, invites the foreign and Albanian public to participate in this photo contest on social media, so that everyone can play their role as "ambassadors of our country." It also aims to promote Albanian beauties through the eyes of citizens, youth or photography enthusiasts.

Present at this event were Prime Minister Edi Rama, Ministers, Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj and representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Albania.

The #ColoursofAlbania contest is a platform which supports "digital Albanian diplomats" around the world in promoting a vivid, historic and cultural Albania.

The initiative was launched for the first time in 2015, at the end of which 10 best pictures were selected and turned into a traveling exhibition, still displayed at Albanian diplomatic missions around the world.

The contest will be carried out in social media, on Instagram and Facebook platforms, where photos of all participants will be collected through the use of # (hashtags on Instagram) and @ (tag in Facebook).

#ColoursofAlbania Initiative will last for 6 months (May-October 2016). The end of the contest and selection of the best pictures by a jury of professional photographers will be in September. The subject of this contest is free. Participants are invited to take pictures of nature, art, culture, labor, tourism, everyday life in the city and villages of Albania.

#ColoursofAlbania is supported by ambassadors of the Albanian culture and image in the world: the National Football Team, Saimir Pirgu, Ermonela Jaho, Olen Cezari, Kledi Kadiu and Rafting Albania Federation.

In his welcoming remarks, Prime Minister Rama dwelt on the importance of this initiative in promoting the values ​​and beauty of the country, as well as opportunities that technology provides for increasing human capacities to communicate with others.

Executive Director of Telekom Albania Dimitris Blatsios noted his positive experience in Albania, full of bright and vivid colors in all areas of life, focusing on the country's natural beauty, tradition, rich culture of the people and hospitality of our society.

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Address of Minister Bushati at the opening ceremony of #ColoursofAlbania contest

Honorable Prime Minister,

Dear Mirela,

Dear Erion,

Ladies and gentleman,

Thank you for your participation in the promotional activity of the photographic contest #ColoursofAlbania in Instagram.

Abraham Lincoln once said that "there are no bad pictures; that's just how your face looks sometimes.” 

With this in mind, I would like to say that "Colours of Albania" is not a beauty contest. Although the first 10 winners will receive a modest reward thanks to the generosity of Telekom Albania, I hope that pictures published in Instagram reflect fragments of our Albania, thus displaying our values, tradition, nature and geography, which are worth revealing to others.

Photos are themselves tales frozen in time, where the instant dances with infinity. Susan Sontag once stated that pictures are "memento mori" - a reminder of your mortality. Capturing a moment gone forever, of something unrepeatable - this is what makes photography, a unique form of art.

"Colours of Albania" is a combination of the classic art of photography with modern instruments of online communication.

Herein lies the uniqueness of this contest - the use of modern communication channels, such as Instagram and Facebook, to reach not only a wider audience, but also show another side to our homeland. A welcoming Albania of breathtaking nature; a magical, transforming Albania, full of generous people.

We are aware that the image of our country in the world calls for improvement, for in the past 25 years, our homeland has undergone radical changes. For our cities, until yesterday ghosts of an abandoned cinematographic set, today, thanks to the Urban Renewal, have now been revitalized.

Once, famous painter Salvador Dali stated that "we are all hungry and thirsty for concrete images." And at this point, our contribution and especially that of young people, is irreplaceable.

"Colours of Albania" - an exercise of public and digital diplomacy - is also an exercise for Albanian citizens to promote themselves and their country without fear or complex.

Public diplomacy, which constitutes one of the main pillars of our foreign policy, consists of effectively communicating with the public and establish a dialogue to inform and disseminate the ideas and values ​​of our country.

We conceive public diplomacy as a tool to assist the process of Albania's integration into the European family and underscore inalienable values of Albanian inter-religious brotherhood, hospitality and generosity.

Monochromatic world master Ansel Adams stated:

'When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.'

Therefore, let us communicate among ourselves and with others through our images!

Thank you!