Tirana-Shkodra highway turns into public art gallery

TIRANA, Oct. 1 – Eight artists from Albania and Switzerland turned the highway linking Tirana to the northern city of Shkodra into an open air gallery in an exhibition organized by the Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art .
100 km Art – Tirana/Shkodra Public Art Parcours, staged on Sunday September 29th, was a collaboration of Albanian and Swiss contemporary artists. The artists had been invited to realize site specific works on the road between the capital city of Tirana and the city of Shkodra at the border to Montenegro. Whereas Tirana is today’s creative and artistic capital, Shkodra is the oldest and biggest city in the north of the country with an important tradition in art but also music and film. “Besides some historical monuments as signs of identity and statues of national heroes mostly situated in the city centre, there’s not much art in public space in Albania. Not only leaving the inside space of the museum but also the actual city, the project is about going one step further and engaging with a new territory and addressing a different public,” organizers said.
Bringing Swiss and Albanian artists together that address public space in their work is the main goal of the exhibition. Both parts are needed, as the Swiss artists are experienced with art in public space – a common phenomenon in Switzerland with a long tradition – whereas the Albanian artists are familiar with the landscape and circumstances in Tirana and Shkodra. A documentary film by Olsi Hoxha will give a tour of the exhibition.