Introduction

This year, the Global terroir section is showcasing the city of Tirana, which, in 2020, is celebrating its hundredth anniversary as the capital of Albania. Deep within the Balkans, this country, long held at bay by the Western world, has achieved fame in recent years owing to its dynamism and its many artists who have achieved recognition on the international art scene.

Since the death of dictator Enver Hoxha in 1985 and the fall of the communist dictatorship that followed in 1991, the Albanian people have committed to making up for the delay that their society accumulated under the regime and to gradually integrating the idea of a Europe that, for too long, had represented a distant mirage.

In France, several events dedicated to contemporary Albanian art have taken place: over thirty years ago, L’Albanie, un réalisme socialiste [Albania: A Socialist Realism] at the Galerie de l’Esplanade in La Défense or more recently the monographs of Anri Sala¹ at the Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris/ARC in 2004 and at the Centre Pompidou in 2012, the solo exhibition by Adrian Paci Lives in Transit at the Jeu de Paume in 2013 and, three years ago, Albanie, 1207 km est [Albania: 1 207 km East], an exhibition dedicated to the contemporary Albanian art scene, brought into perspective with the history of the country and its national collections.

One of the specificities of Albania is the figure of Edi Rama,² Prime Minister since 2013 and an internationally renowned artist. Although he has promoted various artistic initiatives – the creation of the Tirana Biennale from 2011 to 2009; the launch of a project to enhance public space by colouring the facades of buildings in the capital; or the establishment in 2015 of the Center for Openness and Dialogue (COD), an art centre housed within the building of the Ministerial Council – his presence at the head of the country has complicated the relationship between art, its perception, and Albanese civil society, attracting some harsh criticism from the local art scene. The question of the regulation of the status of artist³ notably represents one of the main demands from artists addressed to the prime minister, as it would allow new generations to enjoy legal recognition and a special retirement system.

Within the framework of a research trip for La belle revue to Tirana, we met several artists with an international profile who, in addition to their artistic practice, are contributing today in an active manner to the energy of the local cultural scene through various initiatives: Genti Korini, cofounder of the Bazament space; Endri Dani, Olson Lamaj and Remijon Pronja, cofounders of the Miza Gallery; Donika Çina, involved in the coordination of the ZETA Center for Contemporary Art; and Driant Zeneli, cofounder of Harabel Contemporary Art Platform.

Thanks to these encounters, we were able to observe the shared desire to make the local artistic milieu attractive that – despite the lack of far-reaching dialogue between the independent and institutional scenes – enjoys the pulsating energy of the city and its inhabitants. The absence of a solid institutional system dedicated to the support and promotion of artists finally leads to the appearance of new independent sites and forms of experimentation characterised by great freedom of expression.

In order to better understand the local art scene, we called in three authors – Albanian and foreigners who present a strong relationship to the territory. Adela Demetja, curator and founder of the TAL (Tirana Art Lab), proposes a brief panorama of the development of contemporary art in the capital, from the fall of the communist regime to the present day, tracing the historic and contemporary places that have formed the history of the Albanian artistic milieu. Artist and researcher Valentina Bonizzi then tells the stories of three Albanian women from different generations and the development of their careers within the local art context. Finally, Raino Isto, art historian, artist, and curator, examines the practices of certain contemporary artists who have broached the theme of heritage and its conservation – often highly conflictual – within Tirana’s public space.