He died at the age of 78 Agim Faja, known as one of the best Albanian painters, turned into an emblem for his little town, Shijakun, while his fellow citizens were escorted yesterday to his last apartment
Agim Faja, known as one of the best Albanian painters, transformed into an emblem for his little town, Shijaku, died at the age of 78, while his fellow citizens were escorted yesterday to the last apartment. The painter, known as the illustrator of the primer, will be remembered for many generations, identifying him as the primer painter. While some of his paintings are exhibited for a week at the Nikolet Vasia art gallery in Durres, where painter Agim Faja appeared with 14 younger colleagues from the city of Shijak. Trapped in the chair because of his heavy health the tasteful artist continued to write and write. “The name of the artist is closely related to Shijaku, the city where he was born and worked all his life. Even his simple house is located just a few meters from the noisy center on one of the narrow streets leading to the periphery. Accustomed to people, Agim Faja was not one of those artists seeking solitude to wait for ‘creative music’ “, the telegraph news agency writes. In the small studio at the entrance to the yard there were constantly people while on the desk of the studio were distinguished tens of white sheets, filled with a beautiful and proper writing as if they had been prepared in a specialized printing house. Agim Faja was the illustrator of “Abetare”, the first book of Albanian children for more than 15 years. His illustrations followed those of Abdurrahim Buzë and Qamil Guranjak, who worked with primers after 1945. The illustrations were one of the strong points of Meritorious Painter Agim Faja. In 1966 he undertook to illustrate the “Old Albanian Tales” by Mitrush Kuteli, one of the books that continues to spark the imagination of Albanian children with the legends of Mujit and Halil, with the craft and the mountains. A total of 35, all of the originals of illustrations that have been reproduced thousands of times on the pages of the great Mitrushi book, Agim Shijak has placed behind the glass-stuck glasses. Various charts, drawings, early studies and works have been put together with them. In 55 years of artistic career, Agim Faja has opened 11 exhibitions, which have wandered in different cities, inside and outside the country. His works have been exhibited in Egypt, China, Algeria, Turkey, Romania, Kosovo, France, Italy and Germany, and some have remained there in private or state collections. Several years ago, together with the sons of Ardit and Ergysin and with the nephew Francin, those painters, the Faja artists commemorated Shijak’s 50th anniversary of the first figurative exhibition in the small town. The dawn will also be remembered for its contribution to the design of Shijak’s story, a work in 5 volumes, gathering for years of memories from the elderly, the area’s folklore particles, documents and photos, some of which have been published in the form Of brochures.