Barely 1,207 km separate Marseille from Tirana, the capital of Albania. This catalogue is devoted to the country's contemporary art scene. One of the most vibrant in central Europe, it reveals an identity currently undergoing metamorphosis. Since 2009, after enduring one of the worst dictatorships of the post-war period, the turmoil of the post-communist period and the indirect consequences of the war in the Balkans, Albania has been a candidate to join the European Union. Furthermore, since 2013 it has been one of the few countries to have a prime minister,
Edi Rama, who is an artist. The mayor of Tirana from 2000 to 2004, he attracted attention for having the city repainted in bright colours, giving material form to an artistic utopia often expressed but rarely carried through, and based on the hypothesis that artists can change life. This initiative made a big impact and still resonates on the country's art scene, whose protagonists are pondering how best to rebuild the country's collective memory and cautiously exploring its folklore heritage. This exhibition catalogue probes these various subjects and explores the question of the links between art, power, imagery and history 25 years after the fall of the communist dictatorship.
Published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition at Mucem, Marseille, in 2016-2017.
