One of Shkodra's most interesting success stories is the Venice Art mask factory. Founded by Edmond Angoni, a local who lived in Italy, it employs 60 people to manually make 20,000 masks per year using the labour-intensive cartapesta technique, which uses glue-moistened sheets of paper to create the mask structure and relief. Ranging from simple models covering just the eyes, the most extravagant full-face masks are true works of art, incorporating various types of decoration, including painted scenes. The masks are popular at the Venice carnival celebrations, and are exported mainly to Italy, France, Greece, Japan, Canada and the USA. The workshop is also known for providing the masks for Stanley Kubrick's film Eyes Wide Shut. The factory shop can be visited by appointment and has hundreds of different designs at prices well below Venice levels, ranging from €20-150. You can ask to have a quick look at the workfloor too. [...]

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