A little known fact for movie buffs is that the masks worn by Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in their 1999 movie “Eyes Wide Shut” were created by the Albanian artist Edmond Angoni. They are particularly in demand in Venice because they are handmade masks, a tradition which is gradually disappearing in the Venetian mask market.

“The creation of the masks for “Eyes Wide Shut” remains the most thrilling moment in my career as an artist,” Angoni told Southeast Europe: People and Culture.  

Angoni is originally from Gjirokastra, in southern Albania, but lives in Shkodra most of his time. “I chose Shkodra to settle down and run my business because I get very inspired here,” Angoni said.

In 1991, he emigrated to Italy to try his luck, as did many of his countrymen. He found himself in many cities of Italy doing all kinds of jobs until he reached Venice, where masks caught his attention. Angoni set on creating his own mask designs, even though he faced stiff competition in Venice with over 500 years of tradition. Undaunted, Angoni began his business in 1996 after returning to Albania.

In Shkodra, he established a mask factory called Venice Art, which initially produced 3-4 simple types of masks at a low price. Initially he designed all the models on order as well as all the characters of "commedia del arte." He gathered people around him who now make up the factory laboratory, called “Arlecchino,” after the hero of Italian carnivals.  

Employees manually make the masks using the labour-intensive cartapesta technique, which involves using glue-moistened sheets of paper to create the mask structure. The masks range from simple models covering just the eyes to full-face masks embodying all the fancy elements, decorations and painted scenes. The factory shop is available to visit by appointment.

From the beginning Angoni had the goal to sell his masks on the international market including Venice. With this well-defined goal into his mind, he threw himself in this adventure. Venetian shops were invaded by plastic Chinese products and this helped Angoni’s masks to stand out. The masks ended up in the hands of Venetian wholesalers, who supplied the local market and distributed them all over the world.

“Venice was the first market I chose because I had lived there and knew its customs. Moreover, I had nothing to risk. The investment was minimal, no machinery needed, just a mould,” the artist said.  Bit by bit Angoni was able to build up his business in Venice to six shops and later on expand to Las Vegas and Dubai, in effect supplying the world with masks and carnival costumes. 

Angoni got lucky when the late American movie director, Stanley Kubrick, went to Venice to find the most appropriate masks for the cast of his movie, Eyes Wide Shut. He picked Angoni’s masks which ended up in Hollywood. This created huge publicity for the factory and was used by Angoni to expand activity into new markets, which he hadn’t considered until that point. “I decided to branch out from a small market in Venice while keeping of the tradition of top quality I had developed, and design for the particular tastes of various consumers throughout the world,” he said.

“I can’t forget that it was in 2004 when I joined Swarovski, the leading supplier of crystals. We used the crystals to create a new line of masks, which were more expensive, of course. This line became successful in Dubai,” Angoni explains.

The high demands for masks required a fully-fledged factory with specific departments for each process, the need for good materials, and real painters and sculptors.  Initially Angoni was the designer of the new mask’s models. With the increase in demand, he hired a designer who took over of the production of new models and the constant renovation of the style.

The masks are composed of cartapesta, which is found in Albania, while the other accessories and ornaments such as gold and silver leaf come from Italy. To be fully and properly finished, a mask goes through eight pairs of hands.

Angoni admits that his masks are expensive since they are all made manually. “They are sophisticated masks where every element is made with the most care possible, even the silk lace,” Angoni said.

The high cost might be one of the reasons why Albania does not have a mask market yet. In the past, Albania used to celebrate carnivals in the cities of Shkodra and Korça but this tradition is not very present. But Angoni is trying to keep it in sight through his work as the newly nominated director of the Shkodra theatre, “Migjeni.” He took on the new post with the ambition to rejuvenate this institution and revive its traditions.