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Presentation at SparwasserHQ, Berlin:
29 May 2007, 6pm
“KOSOVAR CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS ARE THE AVANGARDE OF __________________”.
Rene Block, Prishtina 2003
Albert Heta
Sokol Beqiri (presented by Albert Heta)
Flaka Haliti
Jakup Ferri (presented by Flaka Haliti)
Moderator: Tobi Maier (curator,
Frankfurter Kunstverein)
After initial encounters at the Academy remix Symposium at Städelschule
in Frankfurt (2005) and the project Prishtina Sounds at the National
Museum of Kosova (2006) critic and curator Tobi Maier has, together
with SparwasserHQ, invited the Prishtina based artists Albert Heta and
Flaka Haliti to Berlin. They will present their work and those of two
fellow artists from Kosovo: Sokol Beqiri and Jakup Ferri within the
context of Kosova’s changing socio-political realities.
The starting point for this evening talk and screening will be a text
by Shkelzen Maliqi on the new work by Albert Heta “KOSOVAR CONTEMPORARY
ARTISTS ARE THE AVANGARDE OF __________________”. Rene Block,
Prishtina 2003, which takes the form of a flyer promoting a new centre
of a contemporary art in Prishtina. While this work of Albert Heta directly
deals with the concept of the avant-garde, it implies a critique of
the fetish of art originating from South-East Europe and most importantly
the uncertainty of Kosovo’s very own existence. With the recent
referendum on the instalment of Serbia and Montenegro as two independent
states, how does this affect Kosovo – which is technically speaking
still part of __________________ ? And how is the work of Kosovo –
Albanian artists in the region negotiating with their nations longing
for independence?
One example entering transactions with these questions is the work of
Heta, who for the Cetinje Biennial in 2004 created the Embassy of the
Republic of Kosovo, Cetinje. In another instance Heta’s Kosovar
Pavilion in Venice Biennial 2005 was distributed as factual information
by e-flux and sparked controversy with officials from the Albanian pavilion.
Didn´t the fact that the majority of the people believe that there
will be a Kosovar Pavilion, and that there will actually be a party
called the Kosovar Pavilion, make this Pavilion a reality?
In his photographic series Peoples, Sokol Beqiri accompanies the monuments
of local heroes with a bodyguard as if to say, that like in the past
wars the monument could be damaged, destroyed or substituted. Coming
close to questions of public space and the relevance of architecture
in Kosovo, where mosques and churches were destroyed in reciprocal manner,
Beqiri addresses the change of national icons and heroes in Kosovo over
past years. While curating the regional or national has long surpassed
current discourse in western curatorial practice, the question of national
identity in regions such as Kosovo plays a vital role in the early stages
of local conceptual art practice. If curator Rene Block, an almost symbolical
figure for putting artists from South Eastern Europe on the international
map, attributed the Kosovans an avant-garde status he was re-emphasising
the concept of competition along national and geographical boundaries
which in turn was affirmed through the series of Balkan exhibition since
2000.
Like Flaka Haliti, Jakup Ferri however ironically questions these definitions
of his practice at home and within the international art circuit. Acting
as a protagonist in many of his videos, Ferri is concerned with history
and memory, when like in a recent video he continues Croatian artist
Mladen Stilinoviç´s thoughts expressed in the famous 1992
embroidery: An artist who speaks no English is no artist with his own
broken English. In light of the 52nd Venice Biennial opening early June,
this discussion aims to engage the Berlin audience with a set of questions
of national identity, an identity that in the case of Kosovo cannot
be celebrated, because it does not exist, yet.
A selection of works of each artist will be presented, followed by
open discussion.
This evening will be held in English.
Kosovar Contemporary Artists are the avant-garde of ___________________”.
Albert Heta’s flyer is a quotation of Rene Block’s statement,
which says, “Kosovar Contemporary Artists are the avant-garde
of ___________________” . The quote has been taken from an interview
that was published at the time of his visit to Kosovo in July 2003.
Block actually said that Kosovar artists are the avant-gardes of art
in the region. However, Heta leaves out this part of the determination,
thus implying that this issue has to remain open. Perhaps he likes the
idea that Kosovar artists are the avant-gardes, and thus emphasizes
it as the motto, while producing hundreds of thousands of copies of
this leaflet. However, it also seems that he has doubts about the appellation.
Primarily, Heta appears to be one of those sceptics who despise the
label “the art of the region” or “the art of the Balkans”.
This may be the reason why he leaves Block’s determination blank.
Yes, they are the avant-garde, although you cannot figure out which
or whose avant-garde they are.
The other possibility is that Heta intentionally made this crippling
denunciation of Block’s statement, to intentionally provoke. If
common sense is that contemporary Kosovo’s artists are not the
avant-garde of the region, then we can state that they are “the
avant-garde of European art”, or even better “the avant-garde
of world art”.
However, it seems that Heta does not want to make this interpretation.
This is not because it would sound too pretentious or incorrect, but
rather, he wants to challenge the lone Block’s construction on
the avant-garde.
Today, we cannot be certain if being in the avant-garde has any precise
meaning or significance. In this actual case, this looks more like a
blank observation, without any content.
Declaring a Kosovar artist to be an avant-garde artist, as a given,
as made by this reknowned contemporary art connoisseur, is a glorifying
qualification that is very important and valuable.
Kosovar contemporary artists should feel honored and thankful for this
appelation. However, I fundamentally believe that this is Heta’s
point, too: the qualification of avant-garde has no exact meaning and
will always remain empty and incomplete.
Finally, this provocation is functional in the sense that it refers
to the Kosova art scene, provided that it is understood as an open invitation
for reflection with more courage concerning the situation, capacities,
achievements and aims of this art form. The scene, as much as it is
provoked by Block’s remarks, should be provoked even more by the
echo of the emptiness, which undoubtedly is accompanying the praise.
Shkëlzen Maliqi, June 2006.
Artist Bios:
Sokol Beqiri
Born on 1964 in Peje. He lives and works in Peje, Kosove
Selected group shows
2004 - "LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT"CETINJE BIENNIAL 5, Curated by Rene Block and Natasa Ilic, Cetinje;
"M’VYN NDRIM RADIKAL / TREBA MI RADIKALNA PROMJENA", Curated by What, How & for Whom / WHW, Gallery Nova, Zagreb, Croatia;
"The failure of the beauty/Beauty of the failure" Curated by Harald Szeemann, Fondacione Joan Miro, Barcelona, Spain;
''the joy of my dreams''seville bieennial/seville.spain.
"The Balkans - a crossroad to the f uture", Arte Fiera Bologna,Italy;
2003 - "U-topos" 2th Tirana’s Biennial, Curadet by Branislava Andjelkovic, Tirana, Albania;
"In Den Schluchten des Balkan" , Curated by Rene Block,Kunsthalle Fredericianum Kassel,Germany;
"In Progress", 56th Locarno Filmfestival , curated by Harald Szeemann, Locarno, Switzerland;
"Blood and Honey - Future is at Balkan", Curated by Harald Szeemann, Essl Collection,Vienna, Austria;
" Bitter / sweet harmony ",Digital ArtLab, Curated by Edi Muka ,Holon ,Israel;
Albert Heta
Born in Prishtina Kosova (1974). Lives and works in Prishtina
Solo Exhibitions, Public Projects and Interventions
2006
SOMETHING ELSE ( in collaboration with Maria Jose Rojas), Galeria Concreta, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
2005
HOMESICK
5 x 8' Albanian flag on the Santa Fe Art Institute
Building, 3 - 21 August, 2005., Santa Fe, Mew Mexico, USA.
KOSOVAR PAVILION VENICE BIENNALE 2005 | SISLEJ XHAFA
Vernissage 9 - 11 June 2005
12 June - 6 November 2005
La Biennale di Venezia 51. International Art Exhibition
distributed by e-flux: www.e-flux.com.
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVA, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
public media intervention; official notice on DNES Daily Newspaper, 11.02.2005, Prague , Czech Republic:.
2004
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVA, CETINJE, SCG
5th Biennial of Cetinje
public intstallation; vandalised and removed after 3 days, Cetinje, SCG.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2006
Archeology of Today?, The Kosova Gallery of Arts, Prishtina, Kosova.
Els Hanappe Underground, Athens, Greece.
2005
7 BIENAL DE VIDEO Y NUEVOS MEDIOS DE SANTIAGO, Museo de Arte Conteporaneo, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
2. BERLINER KUNSTSALON 2005., Berlin, Germany.
KOSOVA.EXE, The Brno House of Arts, Prague - Brno, Czech Republic.
A NEW PAST, Marronnier Art Center & Insa Art Space of the Korean Culture & Arts Foundation, Seul, Korea.
Jakup Ferri (1981) Prishtina, Kosova.
Lives and works in Prishtina..
Solo Exhibition.
2006
Artists Space, New York
Group Exhibitions
2006
,,Ethnic Marketing,, Azad Gallery, Tehran
Galerie Adler, Frankfurt (Main) Germany
,,This is not America,, ByArt Projects Gallery, Tel Aviv
2005
,,Istanbul,, International Istanbul Biennale, Turkey.
,,e-flux Video Rental,, The Moore Space-Miami, KW Institute for Contemporary Art-Berlin,Manifesta Foundation-Amsterdam.
,,Kosovo.exe,, The Brno House of Arts, Brno.
2004
,,e-flux Video Rental,, e-flux, New York.
,,Mediterraneans.Arte Contemporanea,, MACRO al Mattatoio, Roma.
,,Onufri prize,, National Gallery, Tirana.
,,Coalesce: With all due intent,, Model Arts and Nilland Gallery,
Sligo, Ireland.
Flaka Haliti (1982) Prishtina, Kosova.
Lives and works in Prishtina
Group Exhibitions
2006
„Prishtina Sounds", Audio Installation , National Museum of Kosova ,29/4/2006 .
2005
"Akademy REMIX"- 18-23 November 2005/ Portikus -Frankfurt Main .
"Belegrade Artist Reporter " , REX & B92 / 3-14.2005 –Beligrade .
„Missing Identity" ,/ National Museum of Kosova / 30/9/2005 –Prishtinë.
"Liria e Lëvizjes" culture campaign performance, organized by„Urban FM 103.5", July /2005/Prishtina. Presentation at StadtRaum /Frankfurt/Main – July 25 /2005.
"Studentët për Studentë", Students Galery Center , 24/5/2005 Prishtina.
2004
Rahovec- workshop/exhibition,2004.
"Art Without Borders" Regional Young Artist–Workshop 3-9 /Maj 2004 ,Artaid .
"Kinse ART" 2004, organized by "KAN" and radio "Urban FM " 2004
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