Albanian dictator’s fortress-like palace becomes ‘hub for artistic experimentation’
Vila 31, a Brutalist compound in the Albanian capital Tirana, was once home to Enver Hoxha—the hardline communist who ruled for more than four decades. Long after his death, the site was a symbol of exclusion, isolation and repression. Now the Art Explora Foundation has transformed this relic of his tyrannical regime into a centre for artistic freedom.
Vila 31—Art Explora, which opened in April, is the latest initiative by the Paris-based foundation. Established in 2019 by the French entrepreneur Frédéric Jousset, it aims to democratise access to culture across Europe.
The fortress-like family residence has been converted by NeM Architectes into a “hub for artistic residencies and experimentation”, welcoming up to 30 international artists annually, with programming planned in collaboration with the École nationale supérieure d’arts de Paris-Cergy, the Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje and the Oral History Kosovo initiative.
Rather than erasing its history as the former residence of Hoxha’s family, the conversion aims to “reinterpret it by preserving key elements while radically reimagining the interior”, according to Blanche de Lestrange, the artistic director of the Art Explora Foundation.
Hoxha rose to power as the leader of Albania’s resistance during the Second World War and established a regime rooted in Stalinist ideology. Under his rule, from 1944 until his death in 1985, Albania became one of the most closed and autocratic societies in the world.
Political dissent was brutally suppressed, religion was banned, and the country severed ties with both the Soviet Union and China in pursuit of ideological purity. Thousands were imprisoned, tortured or executed in labour camps and prisons, while the population lived in constant fear of surveillance by the Sigurimi, the notorious state security service tasked with monitoring and suppressing dissent. It is thought that high-level surveillance co-ordination by Sigurimi officers took place at Vila 31.
The Art Explora project originated at a meeting four years ago between Jousset and the Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama, who trained as a painter before entering politics.
“The villa was a ghost in the very centre of Tirana,” Lestrange says. “At the time of the dictator, artists were completely banned, so it was important for the prime minister to give a central and major place to artists—a kind of ‘thumbing our noses’ to a history of censorship.”
The new residency at Vila 31 will provide commissioned artists with accommodation, studio space and production grants. Facilities include workshops, a library and a screening room. The space will also pair international curators and researchers with local art groups, opening the villa to public use for the first time.
Albania is one of Europe’s poorest nations, with a GDP per capita of around $8,575 in 2023, a fifth of the European Union average. According to Eurostat, nearly one in four Albanians are at risk of poverty and youth unemployment remains above 20%. But under Rama’s leadership, it is now asserting itself as an emerging cultural centre. Rama won a comfortable majority in elections last month.
The launch of Vila 31 coincides with another Art Explora venture: the arrival of its floating museum festival in the coastal city of Durrës. Beginning on 10 April, the Art Explora Festival marked the first stop of its 2025 Mediterranean tour with immersive virtual reality experiences. Onshore, exhibitions in quayside pavilions include Présentes, a Louvre collaboration, Under the Azure, featuring work by Etel Adnan, Joan Miró and Albania’s own Anri Sala, and a photography show examining exile and migration.
