Paintings inspired by Mayan Apocalypse on display

TIRANA, Dec. 19 – Thirty-seven paintings created in recent years by painter and restorer Mustafa Arapi who was inspired by the Mayan Apocalypse prophecy of December 21 are being displayed at the National Museum of History in Tirana. Divided in four cycles, the exhibition brings compositions, graphs, Byzantine works, and pencil works. The exhibition named Apocalypse will be open until December 21, based on the prophecy of the Mayan calendar. Although the painter does not believe in the Mayan Apocalypse, he considers it relates to the destruction of the environment by the human kind.
Born in Tirana, Mustafa Arapi, 62, is one of the remarkable contemporary Albanian painters. After graduating in graphics in 1979, Arapi was appointed as restorer of medieval art masterpieces in the Institute of Cultural Monuments in Tirana. The artist’s 26-year creativity may be studied in two periods: the 1979-’90 period, which is characterized by cycles of landscape paintings inspired by Albanian nature (streets of various cities, etc) and the 1990-2005 period, which in addition to landscapes comprises three important cycles. The first cycle “Life and Death” is composed of works created during 1990-’93, made of 40 graphic papers; the second cycle inspired by Albanian legends, ballads and mythology (1995) consists of 25 works and is performed in canvas through mixed technique (sepia Chinese dye, acrylic); and the third cycle tends to inspire from Albanian iconography and comprises works of the recent two years. In the cycle of social – political themes (“The throne and the power”, “Bodices”, “after battle” etc), Arapi, uses allegory enriching the tableaus with poky color and adding the mystery of “shadow” characters. These characters become possessors of the artist’s works, creating now and then monumental works (“Composition-Bodices”, “Composition-The throne”) and in some other works appearing uneasy through a shadow-light style and nebulous graphics and backgrounds (“Landscape-After battle”; “The battle-chess game”).There are 14 of the painter’s masterworks actually stored in the Tirana National Gallery of Arts. He has constantly taken part in national and international exhibitions years ’80 and on in which he has been awarded several prizes.