Bratko Museum
of Oriental Art

Muzeu i Artit Oriental Bratko

About the Museum
Gift of G. Dimitri Boria

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The Museum

In June of 2003, an extraordinary museum opened in Korce, Albania. It is the gift of the late G. Dimitri Boria, who was an esteemed world class Albanian-American photographer and friend of many international notables. The new museum houses a magnificent collection of the Art of Asia, from Mr. Boria's own collection. This is a collection which Boria began during his 14 years in post-war Japan as photographer for General Douglas MacArthur, and which continued as a lifelong passion embracing all countries and cultures of the East.

The architecture of the new museum is a startling, new contribution to the variety of buildings already represented in Albania. Its style is avant-garde while reflecting elements of traditional architectures of Asia. As such, the museum itself is a contemporary masterpiece.

Towards the end of his life Boria directed that his personal fortune and art collection be given to his "native country of Albania, for the purpose of building and maintaining an art museum to be called the 'BRATKO MUSEUM OF ORIENTAL ART' and to display the art for the benefit of its people."

The name of "Bratko" Museum was chosen by G.D. Boria in memory of his beloved mother, Viktoria Bratko, who waited for him in Korçe. He died in 1990, entrusting the realization of this dream to his American cousin, Laura Bratko Schlesinger. The Bratko Museum of Oriental Art serves as a monument to an extraordinary man, his family, and his native land.

The Man behind the Museum

The opening of the Bratko Museum of Oriental Art fulfilled the dream of G. Dimitri Boria (1903-1990), artist, photographer, and collector of Asian art and antiquities. Although he traveled the world and settled in America, Boria was born in Korçe, Albania; over the course of his long life, he experienced all the tumult of twentieth century history and the immigrant experience.

Leaving Albania at the age of 17, Boria made his way to America, attending art school in Detroit before moving to Hollywood, where he worked in an early animation studio, befriended stars of the silver screen, and made a name for himself as a silhouette artist. Later, he traveled throughout the Western Hemisphere as Director of Entertainment for the large steamship lines, all the while perfecting his silhouette art by snipping portraits and imagined scenes. In time he would trademark his unique style as "Scissorettes:' a collection of which he donated to America's Smithsonian Institute in 1938.

Swept up in America's entrance into the Second World War, Boria joined the US Army in 1942. After studying photography at the War College in Washington, he served as a member of the Signal Corps with the European Command. At war's end in I945, Boria received his honorable discharge, leaving the army to become a photographer for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (UNRRA). This work took him back co Europe, where he compiled a photographic record of the conditions of postwar life in the Balkans. Later, he left UNRRA to work as a civilian employee of the East Asian Command of the US Army under General Douglas MacArthur, directing the Color Photo-Lab. He served in this capacity until I956, traveling throughout Asia to photograph generals, statesmen, and common people. His work for Japan’s Emperor Hirohito, for whom he photographed both intimate gatherings and large-scale environmental projects, granted him unique access to the famously reclusive and sequestered Royal Family. Throughout his time in Asia, he nurtured a passion for art collecting that had its origins in Hollywood flea markets and the auction houses of postwar Europe. His initial taste for Japanese art in time expanded to include an appreciation for the traditions of Thailand, Korea, and Indonesia, and his expansive taste is amply expressed in the collection on display in this museum.

Muzeu

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Ne vitet e fundit te jetes merr vendimin e tij kuptimplote: "Mbas vdekjes hiri i trupit te tij te kthehet ne qytetin e tij te lindjes ne Korce dhe koleksioni i tij te vendoset po ne Korce ne nje muze te ndertuar me kursimet e tij per ti sherbyer me mire te ardhmes te qytetit".

Emri i muzeut "Bratko" eshte vendosur nga G.D.Mborja per te nderuar kujtimin e nenes te tij qe per vite me radhe priti me kot kthimin e tij ne Atdhe. Ai vdiq me I990, duke ja besuar realizimin e endres se tij kusherires se tij amerikane, Laura Bratko Schlesinger. Muzeumi Bratko i artit oriental qe i dedikohet nenes se Mborjas, Viktoria Bratko, do te sherbeje si nje monument per kete burrë te jashtezakonshem, per familjen e tij dhe token e tij amtare.

Mborja

Hapja e Muzeumit Bratko Për Artin Oriental në qershor të vitit 2003 përmbushi ëndrën e G. Dhimitri Mborja (1903-1990) artistit, fotografit dhe mbedhësit të artit oriental si dhe të antikiteteve. Mborja ka lindur në Korçë, në Shqipëri, ndonëse ai udhëtoi shumë nëpër botë dhe u vendos në Amerikë; giatë jetës së tij ai provoi të gjitha peripecitë e historisë së shekullit të 20-të dhe ato të emigrantit.

Në moshën 17 vjeçare Mborja k Shqipërinë, ai udhëton për në Amerikë per të ndjekur shkollën e arteve në Detroit përpara se të vendosej në Hollivud ku ai punoi në një studio filmash multiplikative (me kartona), u miqësua me "yje" të ekranit të argjëndë dhe fitoi famë per vehten e tij si një artist-siluetë. Më vonë ai udhëtoi në Hemisferën Perendimore si drejtor i çfaqjeve për linjat e vaporeve të mëdhenj, duke e perfeksionuar artin e siluetës së tij me anën e portreteve dhe skenave imagjinare. Me kohë ai do të perqendrohet në stilin e tij te veçantë si "Scissorettes", nje koleksion të cilit ai ja dhuroi Institutit Smithsonian të Amerikës.

Me futjen e Amerikës në Luftën e Dytë Boterore, Mborja u mobilizua në ushtrine amerikane në vitin I942. Pas kryerjes se studimeve për fotografi ne Kolezhin e Luftes në Uashington, ai sherbeu si antar i Signal Corps me trupat europiane. Ne fund te luftes me I945, Mborja u lirua nga sherbimi ushtarak me lavderime dhe u largua per tu bere fotograf ne agjensine UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabiliution Agency). Kjo pune e solli ate prape ne Europe ku perpiloi nje koleksion fotografik per kushtet e jetes se pas-luftes ne Ballkan. Me vone ai u largua nga UNRRA per te punuar si nenpunes civil ne Komanden e Azise Lindore te ushtrise amerikane ne kohen e Gen. Douglas MacArthur ku drejtoi laboratorin fotografik me ngjyra. Ai vazhdoi ne kete punë deri me 1956 duke udhetuar neper Azi per te fotografuar gjenerale, burra shteti dhe njerez te zakonshem. Puna e tij per imperatorin japonez Hirohito, per te cilin ai fotografonte si takimet personale intime ashtu dhe projekte ne shkalle me te medha ambjentesh, i dha atij mundesi te hynte kudo ne vendet e fameshme e te veçuara te Familjes Mbreterore. Gjate kesaj kohe ne Azi ai ushqeu nje pasion per te koleksionuar artin qe e kishte origjinen ne tregun me çmim te lire te Hollivudit dhe te shtepive ankand te Europes se pas-luftes. Shija e tij fillestare per artin japonez me kalimin e kohes u zgjerua duke perfshire nje vleresim per traditat e Tailandes, Korese dhe Indonezise. Dhe kjo shije e perfeksionuar tashme, shprehet plotesisht ne koleksionin e prezantuar ne kete muzeum.