Ubi sunt by Ervin Hatibi

“Promenade Gallery” exhibits for the first time the works of artist Ervin Hatibi. Known to the Albanian public as a writer, Hatibi has progressively emerged in recent years through visual art. After a series of exhibitions in Paris, Ferrara, Skopje, and Istanbul and recently in the Prague Biennale, “Ubi sunt” marks the first personal exhibition of artist in his hometown. It reflects a selection of artist’s recent work inspired by the Ottoman era.
Pulled away from city centres and Albania itself, the poet now a visual artist, resurfaces with early childhood memories. “I’ve spent my childhood knowing that my house, the house where I used to sleep was built on a cemetery” says the author.
The exhibition, themed “Ubi sunt”, dedicated the grave stones and opened up in “Promenade Gallery”, in Vlora. “Ubi sunt” … refers to the Latin expression Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt, or in English where are now those who were before us?
To present the idea of the exhibition, a reflection by Mitrush Kuteli, N롐rizren, mes t롶dekurve dhe t롧jall췥 (In Prizren, amongst the dead and the living) May, 1943.
“It’s hard enough to visit all the numerous and widespread graves, of a city so large and so old. And many traces have disappeared. But we do what we can. Here, let’s pass by the Stone Arched Bridge, near Sinan Pasha Mosque and let’s head slowly to some narrow, serpentine alleys (I like these better than the monotone, straight roads of the new towns) up to Bajrakliu Mosque. In front of the mosque with surprisingly thin, threadlike minarets, there is a court yard and some old gentlemen’s graves from a powerful time. Now, with no one to take care of the graves, the marble tiles have fallen down to be pulverised by the time. I am longing to learn what the writings say, but I can not read the fantastic Arab calligraphy and I’m afraid I’ll never will. However I like to look and to touch with fingers. For it seems that when the finger touches these sculptural works of art, it touches the artist’s soul. The exhibition will remain open till December 10th, in “Promenade Gallery” in Vlora.
A Short Bio
Ervin Hatibi was born in Tirana, Albania, in 1974. At the age of 14, Ervin Hatibi published his first poems in the literary pages of the main newspapers of the epoch. His first poetry collection P쳤it롓hoh Qiellin, prefaced by Ismail Kadare, was published in 1989 when he was only 15 and was widely acclaimed by the critics. His first painting exhibition was held in spring 1991 at the National Gallery of Fine Arts. In 1992, while finishing up his studies at the School of Foreign Languages “Asim Vokshi” in Tirana, Ervin Hatibi co-founded the literary avant-garde magazine “e p청7-shme”. In the ensuing years, he wrote extensively on matters of social and literary import, and also actively took part in youth movements, which preceded the democratic changes in his country.
Along the years Ervin Hatibi’s writing has progressively intensified in the genre of essays. He has periodically written and published articles and essays in different Albanian newspapers and magazines. His collection of essays, Republick of Albanania, is a colourful collage of some of his best essays written during this past decade.