Valentina Peri (France / Italy)
Artist in Residency
Matter, Non-Matter, Anti-Matter
May – June 2022
Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art is one of Albania’s leading contemporary independent art institution. Founded as a non-profit organization, on the initiative of Adela Demetja in 2010, TAL aims at promoting emerging and established artists and contemporary art from Albania as well as from Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe. The center is process and research oriented. Through different formats like, residencies, exhibitions, workshops, performances, lectures and talks, as well as research and publications, TAL has managed to create a space for emergent critical and reflective thoughts. The center initiates and supports new productions by national and international artists, and projects critically engaged with artistic, cultural and social issues of transitional and contemporary societies. From 2014-2018 TAL operated from an independent multifunctional space located in the centre of Tirana. Its unique laboratory consisted of an exhibition space, a space for artists in residence and an open public library of contemporary art books. Since 2018 TAL has been putting an emphasis on projects rooted in research and archiving, in relation to art in publics space (Tirana Floating Archive & Tirana Floating Tours) and highlighting the practices of women artists (Secondary Archive). In 2023 TAL initiated "Curating with Care" the first alternative educational program in curating in collaboration with Istituto Italiano di Cultura a Tirana. At the moment TAL does not have a physical location but collaborates with local partners for its projects.
From 2014 TAL has refined its holistic conceptual, operational and managerial practice based on the concept of rhizome. The concept consists in three practical strings: inside-outside, bottom-up and polyphony. It is deeply rooted, both in the Albanian cultural context and new experimental methodologies in terms of research, production and management. In this manner TAL tries to resist politicization, polarization and neo-colonial practices which pervade contemporary local and/or global cultural scene.
Throughout the years, TAL has grown into a contemporary art centre, engaged in a wide range of activities and collaborations with other art institutions, museums, and academic structures in Albania, the South Eastern Europe Region and the international landscape. Through one of the members TAL was the the first Albanian institution to have collaborated with Institut national d’histoire de l’art – Paris, France. Thanks to the expertise and capacities of its members TAL was the first art and cultural organization in Albania supported, in the framework of an international partnership project between 2015-2017 (Heroes We Love ), by the Creative Europe Programme. Also as leading partner TAL was supported in 2016 by Allianz Kulturestiftung. Between 2019-2023 TAL was part of the large scale international collaboration project Beyond Matter EU in partnership with ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Centre Pompidou, Ludwig Múzeum – Kortárs Művészeti Múzeum, Tallinn Art Hall, Aalto University, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, EPFL (associated partner). Co-founded by the Creative Europe Program of the European Union. These supports followed the continuous collaboration, in all these years, with other foreign institutions and supporters, such as Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Museum of Yugoslav History Belgrade, UGM | Maribor Art Gallery, Institut für Ausladsbeziehungen, Alliance Francaise, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Robert Bosch Foundation, Pro Helvetia, European Cultural Foundation, Goethe Zentrum Tirana, Swiss Cultural Fund Albania and a large number of embassies in Albania. TAL has been supported also by the Albanian Ministry of Culture, Municipality of Tirana, Albanian National Historical Museum and other public/private national institutions. TAL has collaborated with local partners including Tulla Cultural Center, Bulevard Art and Media Institute, Galeria e Bregdetit Vlorë, Bazament Art Space.
Adela Demetja is a curator born in Tirana, Albania living in Tiran and Frankfurt am Main. She holds a master in "Curatorial and Critical Studies" of Städelschule and Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main. Demetja studied from 2002 to 2006 at Academy of Art in Tirana. She is the director of Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art, which she established in 2010. As an independent curator she has curated numerous international exhibitions and collaborated among others with institutions like National Gallery of Arts Tirana, National Art Gallery of Kosovo, Maxim Gorki Theatre Berlin, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art USA, Project Biennale D-0 Ark Underground Konjic, Action Field Kodra Thessaloniki, Lothringer 13 Kunsthalle Munich, Villa Romana Florence, Haus am Lützowplatz Berlin. She curated the Albanian Pavilion at 59th Venice Biennale represented by Lumturi Blloshmi.
ASSISTENT DIRECTOR / ASSISTENT CURATOR KLAUDIA FAGU
Klaudia Fagu is a young culture manager and curator born in Tirana living between Padua and Tirana. She graduated in Economics and Administration of Arts and Culture at the University of Venice. Fagu writes articles of art exhibitions and cultural events for Ekphrasis Blog, and has worked alongside Italian and artists of Albanian origin. She co-founded “Zanë Kolektivë” and has co-organized cultural events like "Portovecchio Festival”, “Suoni in Peschiera” in Padua and the art exhibition “Vazhdë ” in Tirana. In 2023 was part of “Curating with Care” alternative education program in curating organized by Tirana Art Lab, and has since started to collaborate with Adela Demetja and Tirana Art Lab.
PROJECT ASSISTENT / ASSISTENT CURATOR ERIDA BENDO
Erida Bendo born in 1996 in Kolonjë, Albania, is an architect and computational designer. Always curious about the multi-dimensional aspects of the built environment, from interior spaces to cities, her interests lie in understanding natural phenomena, as the driving force in her explorations of generative design and rule based systems. Erida holds a Masters in Architecture from the Polytechnical University of Tirana and a postgraduate master in advanced computation for architecture and design from the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia.
Romeo Kodra, Matilda Odobashi, Sonja Lau, Eni Derhemi, Jiri Gruber
M: info@tiranaartlab.org
tel:We don't have a permanent location at the moment.
We are looking for a new location
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From its beginning in 2010 until 2014 TAL organized different types of events in the cities of Tirana, Shkodra and Pogradec in art spaces and public spaces. From 2014 to 2018 TAL operates from an independent multifunctional space located in the centre of Tirana. Its unique laboratory consisted of an exhibition space, a space for artists in residence and an open public library of contemporary art books.
At the moment we don't have a permanent location and we organise our activities in different locations. Meanwhile we are looking for a new space to relocate.
Tirana Art Lab hosts an international residency program that is open to artists, curators and theoreticians from all fields of contemporary culture. The residency gives the participants the opportunity to spend a distinct amount of time in Albania, to meet and to collaborate with artists and experts from the region, and leads to the production of a new work informed by the research on site. The duration of the residency depends on the respective project proposal.
At the moment there are no open calls for residents.
Artist in Residency
Matter, Non-Matter, Anti-Matter
May – June 2022
Artist in Residency
Matter, Non-Matter, Anti-Matter
April – May 2022
Artist in Residency
Matter, Non-Matter, Anti-Matter
November – December 2021
Artist in Residency
Exhibition Artists in Residency
September – November 2021
Artist in Residency
Exhibition Artists in Residency
May – June 2021
Artist in Residency
Exhibition Artists in Residency
November – December 2020
Designer in Residency
October 2018
Artist in Residency
June – July 2018
Artist in Residency
March – April 2018
Artist in Residency
September – October 2015
Artist in Residency
April – May 2015
Artist in Residency
March – April 2015
Artist in Residency
April – June 2013
Artist in Residency
April – May 2014
Artist in Residency
Pipifax – Through the Looking Glass and what we found there
May – June 2011
Artist in Residency
Monument Ginger Society Tirana
April – May 2011
Double Feature is an exhibition format introduced by Tirana Art Lab with the aim of systematically displaying in our premises, two artistic positions to the Albanian, the regional and international audience. By exhibiting two artistic positions together, we would like to construct the ground for contextualization of the artists and their works as well as build up a historical narrative necessary for the developments of contemporary art in Albania and the Region. The structure of the event enables us to pair artistic positions with every exhibition differently, making it possible to create mutual connections and references for both the positions. Especially in the Albanian context such exhibition format is needed and can be very successful. The small scale of the project enables us as organizers to engage deeply with the artists, the works and the context as well as enables the public to have a greater accessibility to a small-scale showcase. We primarily aim in conceptualizing; curating and delivering exhibitions with a high artistic quality and relevance as well as to motivate and create a space for discussion starting for the discourses initiated by the art works. Double Feature is a series of exhibition that will bring together national and international positions; positions from different disciplines; positions belonging to different generations. The creation of a dialogue between the two positions in relation with the history of art will be ensured by detailed exhibition text, artist talks, documentation through publication, interviews, photo documentation, video material etc.
Performative Exhibition is a new format initiated by Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art with the intention to disclose exhibiting and to make public through performativity not only the process of artistic creation and curating, but also find ways to include in the exhibiting process and the means of production behind and beyond the event itself. The concept of “Performative Exhibition” aims to find new ways of exhibiting and curating which break with the temporary / unique features of the contemporary exhibition and propose enduring ways of working together.
The program is eager to tackle new hybrid formats of contemporary music and visuals arts by means of new audio-visual productions, concerts, talks and screenings.
"Curating with Care" is an alternative educational program initiated and developed by Tirana Art Lab - Center for Contemporary Art. The first edition of the program is promoted and supported by Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Tirana and curtated in partnership with Spazio Taverna Rome.
The program was created as a response to the need for additional educational opportunities for young local culture workers in the field of exhibition making from a local perspective.
"Curating with Care" is a program that reflects on curating, taking into consideration the developments and conditions of art production in Albania and the Southeastern Europe region. Its primary goal is to offer knowledge and practical information to culture workers, equipping them to challenge and bring new perspectives to the local and international art scene. Additionally, the program aims to create a connection with international discourses about contemporary curatorial practices, particularly new strategies and modes of curating that aim to offer meaningful, sustainable, and relevant approaches in curatorial practices.
100 KM ART
Tirana/Shkodra Public Art Parcours
An art exhibition on the road between Tirana and Shkodra with works by
Nikolin Bujari, Kueng Caputo, Ledia Kostandini, Matilda Odobashi, Guadalupe Ruiz, Susanne Schär & Peter Spillmann, Studio 203 & Romeo Kodra, Johannes Willi
Curated by Adela Demetja and Eveline Wüthrich
100 km Art – Tirana/Shkodra Public Art Parcours is a collaboration of Albanian and Swiss contemporary artists. The artists have been invited to realize site specific works on the road between the capital city of Tirana and the city of Shkodra at the border to Montenegro. Whereas Tirana is today’s creative and artistic capital, Shkodra is the oldest and biggest city in the north of the country with an important tradition in art but also music and film. The street connecting the two cities and leading to Kosovo is a main axe, driven by many people on their everyday ways. Besides some historical monuments as signs of identity and statues of national heroes mostly situated in the city centre, there’s not much art in public space in Albania. Not only leaving the inside space of the museum but also the actual city, the project is about going one step further and engaging with a new territory and addressing a different public. Bringing Swiss and Albanian artists together that address public space in their work is the main goal of the exhibition. Both parts are needed, as the Swiss artists are experienced with art in public space – a common phenomenon in Switzerland with a long tradition – whereas the Albanian artists are familiar with the landscape and circumstances in Tirana and Shkodra.
Bus Tour starts at 11:00 am, Sunday September 29th 2013 at Mother Tereza Square in front of National Archeological Museum. The tour is free and will guide the public through the art works on the road between Tirana and Shkodra.
The exhibition is organized with the generously supported by Pro Helvetia.