My team and I were able to travel into the rural corners of the country to talk to some women that had personal experience with the dress. Several of them had worn the dress as young adults while others were only able to see their mother's wear it. It was very interesting to see how something that was a major staple of Albanian dress has nearly disappeared in the last couple generations.
In my junior year of University I was able to travel abroad for a term. I had the opportunity to work with three other students in Albania as we partnered with the non-profit Go2 Albania. The goal of our project was to uncover some of the fading histories of the Xhubleta, a historical dress from the region of northern Albania. The dress' origins date back almost 4000 years, making it one of the oldest symbols of cultural heritage. For 8 weeks, my team traveled through Albania speaking with the women that had worn the dress as little children. The experience was amazing, and something that I never expected to be apart of as an engineering major.
The Xhubleta used to be the common everyday attire for Albanian women. The dress weighs nearly 30 lbs and was worn for all occasions. During the cold war, communism swept through Albania from the USSR and China. At this time the Xhubleta began receding from everyday use. Now, the dress is only worn for special performances or very special occasions.
Now, the dress remains a part of the culture mostly through ceremony. At festivals it is common to see people performing in traditional Albanian attire. We were able to see some dancers at a market outside of Shkoder.
This was an amazing experience to be a part of; I really enjoyed exploring Albania, an area of the world that not many people visit.
I built a website for our sponsors to share al of the information that we found. You can read all about it at Xhubleta.org!
A little update to this project. In 2022 the Xhubleta, skills, craftsmanship, and forms of usage have been accepted as a part of UNESCO's safeguarding list of intangible heritage!
