"Its vibrant energy, pleasant climate and affordability are widely marketed to tourists, but the city doesn't win over with tidy impressions. It reveals itself through jagged layers of architecture and history. Surprise is part of its texture, and expectations are routinely undone on arrival. As a Croatian, I didn't anticipate any particular revelation-we share plenty of the same blessings and curses, both past and present. Tirana's contemporary art scene, however, remained an open question."
"Tirana Art Weekend launched last year as the first public initiative of the Albanian Visual Arts Network, assembling key actors from the country's independent art scene under a shared, city-wide program. Last month, in its second edition, a constellation of exhibition spaces, cultural organizations and artistic initiatives once again synchronized their programs with Albania's Independence Day on November 28, which marks the 1912 declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire, and Liberation Day on November 29, which commemorates the end of Nazi occupation."
Tirana blends vibrant energy, pleasant climate and affordability with jagged layers of architecture and history that routinely upend expectations. Contemporary art activity in Tirana resists tidy, Western-flattering choreographies by centering local urgencies within an international framework. Tirana Art Weekend convenes exhibition spaces, cultural organizations, and artistic initiatives city-wide. The event aligns with Independence Day (November 28) and Liberation Day (November 29), foregrounding layered histories from Ottoman rule, fascist occupation, and communist brutality. Featured works excavate nearly forgotten antifascist struggles, recover traumatic memories of the communist era, and interrogate capitalism's corrosive effects on urban fabric and labor.
Read at Berlin Art Link
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