In an exhibition which will remain open until late October 2015, artists are featuring in site-specific or associated works into the context of reading and understanding “Tito’s nuclear shelter.”
TIRANA, May 5 – Helidon Gjergji, Alketa Ramaj and Dritan Hyska are representing Albania in the third edition of the Contemporary Art Project Biennial in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Project Biennial of Contemporary Art, D-0 ARK Underground, is taking place in Konjic, a small Bosnian town, in an atomic shelter named ARK, which the former-Yugoslav army built between 1953 and 1979. The shelter occupies a space of 6.500m2 and consists of 12 connected blocks, resembling a complicated labyrinth, with residential areas, conference rooms, offices, strategic planning rooms, and other functional areas.
The construction and existence of this bunker was kept secret until the 1990s, when ARK was finally revealed. ARK was built as a military bunker by the former Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) to function as the main centre for military operations and as the shelter for President Josip Broz Tito, his family and his closest associates in case of war.
Speaking at the introduction of the project in Tirana late last year, Albanian Culture Minister Mirela Kumbaro said the Biennale shows cultural diplomacy can turn a small Balkan country such as Bosnia into an international art stage and an object destined for war into art energy.
In an exhibition which will remain open until late October 2015, artists are featuring in site-specific or associated works into the context of reading and understanding “Tito’s nuclear shelter,” commenting on the formation of critical social discourses and alternative ways of life during Cold war and their impacts on present-day contexts. The curatorial concept and the artworks of this edition engage with contemporary questions which the industrialized, capitalist society is facing today, and opens up a virtual space for rethinking the relationships between nature, humankind, culture and technology, say curators, among whom Albania’s Adela Demetja.
Helidon Gjergji, is a New York-based contemporary artist working in various mediums, who has also represented Albania at the Venice Biennale.
Alketa Ramaj is the winner of the 19th edition of the Onufri visual arts competition in 2012. Her Untitled video won her a six-week artist-in-residency in New York in 2013.
Dritan Hyska focuses on the observation of urban realities using painting and photography influenced by the architecture of his homeland.
