A Figurative Bunker of the Mind: The Contested Status of the Bunker within Albanian Cultural Heritage

Abstract

This paper examines how contemporary Albanian society relates to the concrete bunkers built during Enver Hoxha’s regime and the difficult past they symbolize. As a ubiquitous physical emblem of communist material heritage, the bunkers occupy a contested status within national cultural heritage. On the home front, an elite-driven, top-down model of heritage management allows state passivity to cede control to private tourism initiatives. Simultaneously, through dark heritage narratives, these sites of state repression are packaged into novel tourist attractions, as exemplified by the controversial ‘Bunk’Art 2’ museum. Ultimately, this market-driven approach reflects broader power imbalances in post-communist Albania, trivializing local trauma and excluding the public from decisions surrounding their historical legacies.