TIRANA, July 21 – A selection of contemporary artworks from Albania and Kosovo with the freshest voices from the two countries is being showcased for the first time at Budapest’s famous Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art which is also featuring in Tirana an exhibition with works from its rich collection, giving insight into the recent past and contemporary art of Hungary through primarily photo- and multimedia-based works, often involving the figure of the artist.
“An array of 25 artists and art collectives, the selection grasps the dynamics pervading the two scenes: the exhibition at once presents works that can be considered milestones, statements that facilitated the international presence of each scene, and projects engendered as imprints or witnesses of long processes. It is through these positions that the selection explores the phenomena that have functioned as the driving force in each country and its artists,” says curator Julia Fabà©nyi.
The exhibition is arranged into thematic units along relevant issues that shape the Albanian and Kosovo scenes separately or collectively. The selected works revolve around thematic threads focusing, for instance, on the critical analysis of the geographical location and social status of the artists; visual experiments reflecting on the weight of past regimes; the attitude aiming to push the delicate boundaries between personal narratives and collective memory; the painful, occasionally absurd phenomenon of seeking an identity; gender issues through the visualization of unwritten stories; the decoding of the urban environment of Albania and Kosovo as a kind of social, economic, and political imprint, relying on “landscape schemes.”
Spanning several generations, “The whale that was a submarine” exhibition attempts to explore the powerful contemporary artistic positions of the two countries, Albania and Kosovo, outside the context of the Balkans. The selection endeavors to create a dialogue and to provide a possible interpretation of the relation between the two scenes, outlining common points, contrasts as well as delicate, subtle tones and transitions, opening up further considerations and inquiries, and providing an opportunity for the international public to get acquainted with these cultural milieus.
Until now art historians primarily studied the cultural, social, and political related questions raised by the two art scenes within the context of the Balkans: the exhibition involving almost thirty artists will be the first in Hungary to focus jointly on the artworks and artistic positions created in the past ten-fifteen years in Albania and Kosovo, initiating a dialogue about the common points but sometimes contradictory aspects of the artistic scenes of the two countries speaking the same language, organizers say.
“The whale that was a submarine – Contemporary positions from Albania and Kosovo”
Ludwig Màºzeum Budapest
Open from July 15 to September 11, 2016
Participant artists:
Albania: Endri Dani, Helidon Gjergji, Alban Hajdinaj, Edi Hila, Ardian Isufi, Ilir Kaso, Olson Lamaj, Armando Lulaj, Violana Murataj, Matilda Odobashi, Adrian Paci, Remijon Pronja, Anri Sala, Gentian Shkurti, Fani Zguro
Kosovo: Jakup Ferri, Flaka Haliti, Haveit, Majlinda Hoxha, Genc Kadriu, Koja, Dren Maliqi, Alban Muja, Driton Selmani, Sislej Xhafa
Curator: Julia Fabà©nyi
