Following the denunciations of historian Auron Tare about the barbaric concreting of the Odyssey cave in Himara, the Minister of Economy and Culture, Blendi Gonxhja, reacted a day ago. The head of MEKI rejected the claims about concreting and declared that the cave is being reconstructed, publishing several photos of the project.
But the photos that Gonxha sold as the Himara cave project actually belong to a cave in China. It was Tare again, the one who called the Ministry of Economy's bluff, by publishing photos from the cave found in the Chinese desert.
According to Tare, the photos, which can be easily verified with a simple internet search, belong to a cave in Huashan province, China.
Auron Tare's reaction:
Friends of MEKI, let's be a little more serious and stop making fun of your taxpayers.
MEKI's reaction to my modest article on the actual state of the Spila Cave made me think that this institution was serious about intervening and saving this first-class monument from abandonment and surrounding vandalism. For this reason, I looked carefully at both the text and the 3 images that accompanied the text. Knowing that in Albania there are no real specialists in the interpretation of ancient mythology in modern Artificial Intelligence images, I was very surprised to see the photos from MEKI's alleged "project".
I was lucky enough to see, 10 years ago, in Singapore, as part of a UNESCO delegation, perhaps the first new AI project - the interpretation of ancient Chinese mythology, discovered in a unique cave somewhere in the deserts of China. It was a very ambitious project, where the University of Sydney, Peking and the Beijing State Opera had recreated all the images of the cave in Artificial Intelligence and used them for educational and cultural tourism. Therefore, the news that MEKI had a project for the Cave intrigued me.
But curiosity turned to disappointment and then to endless laughter.
The first image of MEKI appears to be a person, most likely a Chinese man, with a projector in his hand creating light in the illuminated cave behind him.
In today's technological world, a child only needs 5 minutes and basic information to understand where and how these images were generated.
In fact, it took me a little over 10 minutes to realize that the images of the MEKI project come from a Chinese Cave, in the province of Huashan.
My question for the MEKI friends who make fun of the citizens is:
Is there a Chinese project related to the Spille Cave in Himara? Is there a connection between the interpretation of the legend of Polyphemus in Spille and the Buddha of Huashan?
I believe that at least the citizens of Himara will laugh this evening when they sit down to drink coffee by the sea and read that our Ministry that covers culture uses images of caves in China for the Spille Cave, a cave that local myths connect to Homeric space?
Suggestion for the MEKI leader:
Gather a small group of archaeology and history specialists. Create a clear idea of what historical context can be used for the Spille Cave, based on archaeological discoveries.
This project requires real specialists who have implemented historical interpretation projects in caves, not electricians working on tenders. Look at the French models, which are to be admired, for example.
If you don't have the capacity for all of this, seek the help of UNESCO, which has on its roster a number of world-class experts who would dream of taking on a Homeric project.
Thank you.
Editorial
