The exhibition will remain open to the public until 3 February 2011
TIRANA TIMES
TIRANA, Dec. 8 – Twenty-seven Albanian contemporary artists, selected to participate in this year’s edition of the Onufri 2010 competition, displayed on Thursday, Dec. 23 their newly created works at a launch ceremony in National Gallery of Arts in Tirana. The painting, photography, sculpture, and installation works by Albania and Kosova artists were selected for display based on their compatibility with the curatorial concept entitled “I am ART-ist.”
The selection is a reflection on the developments of Albanian contemporary art and the collection of the works was made based on the assessment and recognition of the artists’ creative output, organizers said.
According to the Onufri 2010 curator Suzana Varvarica Kuka, “this exhibition endeavours to display works that illustrate the conscious and subconscious actions of the artist during the process of formation and execution of the work. The works of Onufri 2010 demonstrate through images some of the themes mentioned in the curatorial concept and some of the features of the physiognomy of art and problematic Albanian life. Also in Onufri 2010 we will become aware of the direction the development and identity of young Albanian artists takes. The Albanian artist, as the producer of a work of art, tends to show himself as a human product that starts initially at the academic education, is shaped during the navigation of the conceptual road, and is determined to leave his/her signs during these creative experiences.”
The short-lifted candidates will display their specially created works until February 3, 2011, in the competition named after Onufri, Albania’s 16th century most important icon painter whose works are on display at the iconographic museum in the southern town of Berat, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2008. In many of its previous editions, Onufri was held as international exhibition bringing together artists from all over the world. The majority of short-listed participants are young artists including newly graduates who will have the opportunity to display their creations along with some established artists.
According to the exhibition’s curator, the “I am ART-ist” topic has influenced a great number of artists, the majority of whom are young artists.
