WHAT’S ON

Friday, May 11, 2012
Exhibition opens at: 7.30 pm
At: Qendra Multimedia

The group exhibition GRAPHIC, NOVEL presents the results of the five day workshop »GRAPHIC, NOVEL. Sketching W. G. Sebald in Pristina.«, which took place from May 5, 2012 to May 9, 2012 at the Qendra Multimedia, Pristina. Eight emerging artists from Belgium, Kosovo, Albania, Slovenia, Germany and Bosnia-Herzegovina were invited to create new, context-specific visual narratives based on their interaction with the city of Pristina.

Taking the works of Sebald as a point of departure, the artists rethought the dynamics between the two mediums in the context of Pristina, eager to tackle what suggests itself as »grey areas«. Their individual suggestions displayed in the exhibition present a compelling picture of how to express notions of a city somewhere between what can be said and what can be drawn.

The project GRAPHIC, NOVEL is the first international collaboration dedicated exclusively to the depiction of Pristina, keen to rethink both the poetic and historical potentials of Graphic Novels. It is also the first attempt to stir a regional graphic novel scene that is nurtured by interdisciplinary research rather than by mere storytelling and classic heroism.

With: Mathis Eckelmann (*1982, Germany), Zgjim Elshani (*1990, Kosovo), Mina Fina (*1978, Slovenia), Christina Gransow (*1980, Germany), Jelle Kindt (*1981, Belgium), Neven Misaljević (*1979, Bosnia-Herzegovina), Gerta Oparaku (*1980, Albania), Ester Vanhoutte (*1985, Belgium). The artists will be present during the opening of the exhibition.

»GRAPHIC, NOVEL. Sketching W. G. Sebald in Pristina.« is a collaborative project of the Qendra Multimedia, Pristina, and Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art, Tirana, organized by Elisabeth Desta and Sonja Lau. The workshop was held by researcher Ute Friederich and graphic novelist Barbara Yelin. The exhibition GRAPHIC, NOVEL is taking place in the framework of the »POLIP Literature Festival« from May 11, 2012 to May 13, 2012.

Made possible through the kind support of the Goethe-Institut Belgrad, the Deutschzentrum Tirana and the Robert Bosch Foundation.

For further information please visit:

Concert and Exhibition:

at: Tirana Ekspres

Saturday, May 5, 2012
EXHIBITION OPENS AT: 7.30 pm
CONCERTS STARTS FROM: 8.30 pm
At: Tirana Ekspres, Rr Karl Gega, Blloku i Magazinave

Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art, and Tirana Ekspres – The Alternative Art Space, are pleased to present: “TIRANA THRASH”, the first showcasing of the British punk musician and Slam Poet Attila the Stockbroker in Tirana after 23 years. A CONCERT & EXHIBITION in homage of the artist’s clandestine performance of 1989 behind the walls of Hotel Dajti.

Attila the Stockbroker, a central personality from the British Punk scene, was also one of the very few British citizens who traveled to Albania still before the end of the regime. In 1989, Attila, the nom d’art of John Baine, achieved to gain an entry visa – ‘disguised’ as a soccer fan – in the context of the UK-Albania soccer match held in Tirana. Amongst the many anecdotes that stem from this notable journey, Attila’s visit also culminated into a spontaneous punk concert at the prominent diplomate’s Hotel Dajti. Featuring songs like “Blitzkrieg Bop” by the Ramones and supported by the resident Beatles Cover Band, the unlikely incident counts amongst the first punk performances in town.

Today 23 years later, TIRANA THRASH takes this very happening from 1989 as a starting point for an unprecedented review. Borrowing from the artistic concept of ‘Re-enactment’, TIRANA THRASH has invited the musician to perform once again his legendary concert – “a live image, in real space and real time, but simultaneously displaced” (Rod Dickinson). The adjoint exhibition offers a rare glimpse at the key memorabilia deriving from the event, such as Attila’s handmade soccer shirt from 1989, snapshots, or the actual “Tirana Thrash”: a self-published fanzine, which Attila edited during the 1980ies. “You know socialist realism. I do socialist surrealism.” (Attila the Stockbroker). In addition to the historical playlist of 1989, Attila will perform a selection of “surreal poetry”, pieces which addressed Albania under Hoxha and which will be staged in Tirana for the first time. Their strongly satirical tone is characteristic for Attila’s distinct approach towards dealing with political issues that were central to the British punk movement of the 1980ies.

TIRANA THRASH is not asking what really happened in 1989, but provides the grounds from where to transform a historical event into embodiment and involvement of the artist and the audience. It implies the idea of a difference that can be brought out to create something new. A platform for Attila’s lifelong obsession and artistic occupation with the country, TIRANA THRASH goes exemplary for the many missing bits and cultural curiosities of the the recent Albanian history.

TIRANA THRASH is a collaborative project of Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art, and Tirana Ekspres – The Alternative Art Space. 
Curated by Sonja Lau. Curatorial Assistant: Kerstin Feldmayer Production: Rubin Beqo. Made possible with the support of the Robert Bosch Foundation.

For further information please contact: Sonja Lau / Tirana Art Lab / T: +355 (0)696130410 

For further information on the artist go to:
http://www.attilathestockbroker.com/
http://www.reverbnation.com/attilathestockbroker
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Attila-the-Stockbroker/20550602416

OPEN CALL: PRISTINA

On the occasion of the project GRAPHIC, NOVEL. Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art, and Qendra Multimedia, Pristina, are pleased to announce a Call for Entries to attend the upcoming graphic novel workshop in Pristina, Kosovo, from: May 5 – May 11, 2012. The workshop is open to art students, graphic-novelists, comic artists, designers, illustrators, visual artists and writers of all backgrounds. 

                                                                                                                           

For further information and to submit your application please download the Application Form below:

Application _Form_ENGL

Application_Form_ALB

Application_Form_SERB

 

Submission Deadline for applications is: March 25, 2012

       

 

 

  

This interrelation between image and text lies at the core of the project GRAPHIC, NOVEL. Taking the works of W. G. Sebald as a point of departure, we would like to rethink the dynamics between the two mediums in the context of Pristina, eager to tackle what suggests itself as ‘grey areas’ in the memorization process by means of graphic and text. Also W. G. Sebald famously utilized in his work both image and text in order to find a momentary equilibrium between otherwise hazy or fragmented recollections, personal memories, and, at times, ineffable events. However, similar to the grid-like structure of a graphic novel, the merging of image and text in Sebald’s work produces an ‘excess of meaning’,which cannot be utterly resolved.

GRAPHIC, NOVEL. is organized by Elisabeth Desta and Sonja Lau. The workshop is held by researcher Ute Friederich and graphic novelist Barbara Yelin.