Tirana Declares: WE ARE THE REVOLUTION

Tirana, 16 July 2019 – International Biennale of Contemporary Art “Autostrada Biennale” holds its press conference.

In a very cozy environment at the “Reja” in Tirana, Autostrada Biennale held its first conference for media. Surrounded by many friends, artists, and journalists, the cofounders Vatra Abrashi, Leutrim Fishekqiu, Bariş Karamuço and the curator Giacinto Di Pietrantoni presented the theme of the festival “Revolution is US”.

The host, Klod Dedja, in addition to organizing the conference provided a strong message. Among other important messages declared that:

“Autostrada Biennale is the Future or the Novelty. This Balkans based festival has a lot of potential and it is a very important event in the contemporary art scene. Art is imperative and makes more sense when it derives from a country that has no contemporary tradition. Kosovo is very privileged to have a Biennale of this kind."

The program of this edition, alongside all other events that are planned to take place from the 20th of July – when the inauguration of this festival will take place, followed by three international contemporary art conferences planned to take place on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of July, all the way to the end of the festival on the 21st of September, each day will bring a new and unique activity.

Activities of such nature serve as an important announcement on the verge of opening the second edition of the Biennale. This edition comes as a result of two years of intense and proactive work. We have already published our book entitled: “Autostrada Biennale: The Common Book” in many countries of the World. Launching the first book was indeed a true pleasure because we launched and promoted the work that we are all proud of. The credits for this amazing achievement go to Manray Hsu, the curator of the first edition, who brought a novelty and refreshment in event of similar nature in the entire region. We are continuing to build up on that work and further scale it by contentedly cooperating with Giacinto. As such, in this edition we are introducing new places in which we will present the work of famous artists.

We have a fully-functional gallery in Prizren, however, in the first edition we have managed to open the doors of the emblematic houses full of tradition, and use them to present a contemporary world, hence bringing a unique blend for the visitors. When speaking about the concept of the “Revolution is Us!” the curator Giacinto Di Pietrantoni, is inspired by the work Joseph Beuys.

From his concept for this edition, Giacinto Di Pietrantoni, shared with us the following:

What “La Rivoluzione Siamo Noi” makes me think of is not so much the political revolutions, but the personal ones, and in the case of art, the linguistic ones. Art is, even when it does not seem to appear that way, always a bearer of novelty, openness, change, and above all freedom. I never thought of art as merely aesthetic, or pure contemplative pleasure, but as a human expression full of ethics and aesthetics. But above all as an aesthetic at the service of ethics. The work indicates the journey towards and in and for the world. As “La Rivoluzione Siamo Noi” suggests, we must move towards the future, because we are not angels being blown by the storm of paradise, and neither are we immobile and contemplative wayfarers of a sea of fog, the metaphor of an uncertain future. But, like art, we are beings in movement, walking towards the future, that, even if uncertain, we must always look for.

There are two months of the festival. In our program we have decided to organize group visits every Wednesday, and every Sunday we are planning to organize “Family Day” in which parents can take their kids to the festival and will benefit from half-priced tickets.

Because the Biennale has an educational purpose, we have crafted the program to fit weekly debates with the youngsters to reflect and initiate critical thinking. Students are an integral part of the team that is organizing most of the work of the Biennale.

Looking forward to meet you on the inauguration day!

Special thanks to : Bashkia e Tiranës , Reja.al, Istituto Italiano di Cultura a Tirana & Klod Dedja for having us!

Photo credits: Tuğhan Anıt

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