The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo announced the passing of the distinguished painter, academician Tahir Emra, at the age of 86.

Academician Emra was born in Gjakova in 1938. He completed his primary education in his hometown, while his secondary studies in art were completed in Peja in 1959. From 1959 to 1961, he worked as an art teacher in his hometown before studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade. He graduated in painting in 1966, and a year later, he was appointed a lecturer, and then a professor, at the Higher Pedagogical School of Prishtina, in the Department of Fine Arts.

He continued his postgraduate studies from 1970 to 1974 and was appointed as an assistant professor of drawing and painting at the newly established Academy of Arts at the University of Prishtina. In 1982, he became a full professor.

He was the first Albanian assistant professor and vice-dean of the Academy of Arts, later serving as head of the department for two terms. During the 1990s, he taught students in his home studio for several years. For ten years (1994-2004), he taught drawing and painting at the Academy of Arts at the University of Tetova. He was one of the founders of the Association of Visual Artists of Kosovo and a regular participant in its activities.

He was elected as a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo in 2000, and a full member in 2008. He served one term as the Secretary of the Arts Section of the Academy.

Emra held several solo exhibitions and participated in collective exhibitions both within Kosovo and internationally. His works are part of numerous galleries, museums, institutions, and private collections worldwide.

In 2013, the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo published a monograph on the painter Tahir Emra, featuring reproductions of his most notable works and a study by the artist Kujtim Buza.

In honor of the life and work of academician Tahir Emra, tributes will be held tomorrow at the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo.

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