Alush shima biography template

Small Territories of Freedom under communism

Alush Shima was born in Tirana, Albania.

Alush shima biography template

He painted in secret under Albania’s communist regime for almost two decades, being a former Parliament member. Alush Shima’s most perilous moment was in 1973, when the Sigurimi secret police seized his closest friend, fellow artist Ali Oseku, for letting slip praise of such bourgeois painters as Picasso and Matisse.

He worked as a set painter in Albania’s only film studio, Kinostudio. 

• 1949 Encouraged by his father to take up painting.
• 1960 Finishes School of Fine Arts in Tirana.
• 1965 Graduates from the Tirana Art Academy but is uninspired by the official art movement of Socialist Realism.
• 1966 Becomes a set painter for the Albanian Film Studio and nourishes a passion for bright colors and simple forms.
• 1973 Burns over 150 works (considered "decadent") after secret police arrest his closest