By Ervin Lisaku
“Coming from the art field myself, I knew where things didn’t work and I have tried establishing this centre as an institution serving this need,” says Valentina Korca, the founder and director of Zeta gallery.
TIRANA, April 17 – Preparations for the next event are almost in their final stage. The artworks on display will be some very interesting creations which Kosta Korca, the next artist at the Zeta gallery in Tirana, has produced mixing industrial materials, elements of painting and graphics.
“Fix you” is the second exhibition Zeta is hosting in April and the several in a row for this year which has also seen solo and collective exhibitions, artist-in-residence programs and even theatre and film productions by Albanian and foreign artists.
Since 2007, when Zeta was launched with a personal exhibition by Edi Hila, it has become among the few private galleries with a tight agenda of events focusing on visual arts and young contemporary artists, providing huge contribution to their support and promotion.
Valentina Korca, the founder and director of Zeta gallery says that the establishment and direction of a private gallery has been a challenge because of the difficulties art encounters in Albania.
“In Albania, it is impossible for an artist to make a living relying only on art, this also because of the fact that there is no group of real collectors,” said Korca who has graduated in painting from the Academy of Art in Tirana.
Zeta was established as a non-profit centre with the idea of supporting prominent young Albanian artists but also foreign ones, and promote the artistic value in cooperation with artists, curators, and go beyond visual arts.
“Coming from the art field myself, I knew where things didn’t work and I have tried establishing this centre as an institution serving this need,” says Korca.
During its seven years of operation, Zeta has established itself with a cooperation network with international galleries and art centres representing Albanian in many events.
Asked about visitors to the gallery, she says there is great interest especially from foreigners living and working in Albania, while the Albanian public, especially the younger generation, is somewhat passive toward visual arts.
“Parents must breed love for art among children at a young age,” says the artist.
Zeta has planned a series of other events in the coming months, among which a solo exhibition by an Albanian artist living in Canada and a collective exhibition by several Austrian artists.
The gallery says it pays special attention to the generation of Albanian artists who have graduated abroad during the past two decades of Albania’s transition, as huge potential who are more open to new views and trends of contemporary art.
After almost five decades under the socialist realism frame, Albanian artists are successfully experimenting with contemporary art, participating in many important international events.
Anri Sala, a contemporary artist who belongs to the last generation of artists who grew up under communism and the first generation to set contact with the international art stage, represented France in the 2013 Venice Biennale of international art.
