Notice
Jury´s motivation for the winner of ARDHJE Award 2013
Tirana, June 19, 2013,
We are glad to announce that, after artist meetings, a thorough consultation among all jurors and two visits to the in-progress work at the exhibition site at Tirana Express, the jury has determined a winner of the 2013 Ardhje award in the person of Alketa Ramaj.
The jury did not reach a full consensus and would like to note the exceptionally high quality of all received proposals, together with the fact that agreement over a majority vote could only be reached thanks to a prolonged consultation that furthermore proved how close some of the applications were in terms of artistic merit. The majority vote went to Ms. Ramaj in recognition of an emerging artistic practice which shows a high degree of creativity and competence, with outstanding aesthetical, poetical and conceptual potential. The majority of the jury found that Alketa Ramaj’s works are characterized by a distinctive poetic dimension which, together with her elegantly concise visual articulation, allows her to give form to a wide range of artistic ideas. The artwork’s openness and sense of unpredictability foreshadows a career with great potential for further development and convinced us that the artist would certainly benefit from the exposure to the specific and unique context of New York City, and deserves this opportunity in light of her promising artistic achievement and the quality of the exhibited work.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Ardhje Award Jury 2013 composed by: Elsa Demo – cultural journalist based in Tirana, Albert Heta – curator, director of Stacion Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina, and Marko Antonioni –independent curator, selected to be part of this year's jury by the Foundation for a Civil Society, New York (Young Visual Artists Awards), the American partner institute which will host the ARDHJE winner in residency in New York.
TICA AIRLAB Fall 2016
TICA has the pleasure to announce the start of the AIRLAB period for the fall 2016.
The participating artists are:
KOJA (Fitore Isufi) / (b. 1982 in Gjilan, Kosova). Her work is conceptual based, using drawing, painting, video, installation, text installation and performance. Inspiring stories and different interpretations, political maneuvers and cultural speculations, patriarchal mentality and casual gestures, freedom limits and censorship forms - this is what makes her keep notes most of the time, as a reflection of the social, historical, cultural, and political climate, imposed by the country she operates at.
Her work has been shown in various projects, individual and collective exhibitions and presentations, at a local and international level.
Currently she teaches at Akademia Evolucion, in Prishtina, Kosovo, and also she is co-founder of Autostrada Biennale/International Contemporary art Biennale in Kosovo.
Remijon Pronja is a visual artist born in 1984 in Tirana, Albania, where he currently lives and works. After his initial formation at the Artistic Lyceum "Jordan Misja" in Tirana (1999-2003), he moved to Italy. He studied painting at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan (2003-2011) and received his master degree in interdisciplinary research of contemporary visual art practices, before his ultimate return to Albania in 2011. Together with his colleagues Endri Dani and Olson Lamaj, he is a co-founder of MIZA Galeri [www.mizagaleri.com], an artist-run space in central Tirana devoted (since 2012) to the promotion and support of emerging artists from Albania and abroad through various types of cultural exchange. Since his first public presentation in 2005 at the Gallery Domus in Locarno, Switzerland, Pronja has taken part in numerous international group exhibitions in his home country (Shkodra and Tirana) across Europe (Pavia, Milano, Bari, Stockholm, Sarajevo, Berlin, and Budapest) as well as in Canada (Toronto). Rex anonimous, his only personal show so far, was organized in 2014 at the Ku/RZ/nsthalle in Bregenz, Austria.
Veronika Eberhart is a trans-disciplinary artist based in Vienna.
She studied Sociology & Gender studies at the University of Vienna and at the Academy of Fine Arts with her focus on performance art. She has released numerous records and played many shows internationally and nationally from festivals, punk clubs to galleries with the bands Plaided, Tirana and Lime Crush.
She also wrote the soundtrack for the documentary FtWTF-Female to What the Fuck (2015, Directors: Katharina Lampert and Cordula Thym) and for the movie Talea (2013, Director: Katharina Mückstein).
Her latest performances include participations in plays as A STORY OF O. & I. (Lise Lendais) at Werk X (2016), a collaboration Hinterland with Julischka Stengele for the Straight To Hell-Festival- Vienna‘s First International Queer Performance Festival (2015), a Solo appearance with her piece Drums for Two at VBKÖ- Austrian Association of Women Artists (2015) and another collaboration Birdhouse/Nuthouse with the artist Nicholas Hoffman, within the framework of the Exhibition Destination Wien/Kunsthalle Wien (2015).
The use of media in Veronika Eberhart´s works is distinguished both by its high musicality and the negotiation of conceptual issues with the sensitivity of artistic practices of feminist positions and art history. United in a transdisciplinary approach to video, sound, performance or sculptural sound installation, her practice is based on theoretical and historical research and seeks formal translations from an activist starting point.
ARTIST PRESENTATION - TICA AIRLAB 2016 residency program
Tuesday, September, 27, 2016, 07.00pm
at: Qendra Rinore e Tiranës, Rruga e Kavajës, Tirana/Albania
T.I.C.A has the pleasure to invite you at the presentation event of the fall period of AIRLAB 2016 residency program.
From 2016 TICA AIRLAB will be run in collaboration with MAPS - Museum of Art in Public Space and Stefano Romano will be the curator/coordinator of the fall term.
The artists in residency:
REMIJON PRONJA (Albania)
KOJA ISUFI (Kosova)
VERONIKA EBERHART (Austria)
Will present for the public their artistic practice and previous projects in an open and informal event.
About the artists
RREMIJON PRONJA:
is a visual artist born in 1984 in Tirana, Albania, where he currently lives and works. After his initial formation at the Artistic Lyceum "Jordan Misja" in Tirana (1999-2003), he moved to Italy. He studied painting at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan (2003-2011) and received his master degree in interdisciplinary research of contemporary visual art practices, before his ultimate return to Albania in 2011. Together with his colleagues Endri Dani and Olson Lamaj, he is a co-founder of MIZA Galeri [www.mizagaleri.com], an artist-run space in central Tirana devoted (since 2012) to the promotion and support of emerging artists from Albania and abroad through various types of cultural exchange. Since his first public presentation in 2005 at the Gallery Domus in Locarno, Switzerland, Pronja has taken part in numerous international group exhibitions in his home country (Shkodra and Tirana) across Europe (Pavia, Milano, Bari, Stockholm, Sarajevo, Berlin, and Budapest) as well as in Canada (Toronto). Rex anonimous, his only personal show so far, was organized in 2014 at the Ku/RZ/nsthalle in Bregenz, Austria.
KOJA ISUFI:
(Fitore Isufi) / (b. 1982 in Gjilan, Kosova). Her work is conceptual based, using drawing, painting, video, installation, text installation and performance. Inspiring stories and different interpretations, political maneuvers and cultural speculations, patriarchal mentality and casual gestures, freedom limits and censorship forms - this is what makes her keep notes most of the time, as a reflection of the social, historical, cultural, and political climate, imposed by the country she operates at.
Her work has been shown in various projects, individual and collective exhibitions and presentations, at a local and international level.
Currently she teaches at Akademia Evolucion, in Prishtina, Kosovo, and also she is co-founder of Autostrada Biennale/International Contemporary art Biennale in Kosovo.
VERONIKA EBERHART:
is a trans-disciplinary artist based in Vienna. She studied Sociology & Gender studies at the University of Vienna and at the Academy of Fine Arts with her focus on performance art. She has released numerous records and played many shows internationally and nationally from festivals, punk clubs to galleries with the bands Plaided, Tirana and Lime Crush.
She also wrote the soundtrack for the documentary FtWTF-Female to What the Fuck (2015, Directors: Katharina Lampert and Cordula Thym) and for the movie Talea (2013, Director: Katharina Mückstein). Her latest performances include participations in plays as A STORY OF O. & I. (Lise Lendais) at Werk X (2016), a collaboration Hinterland with Julischka Stengele for the Straight To Hell-Festival- Vienna‘s First International Queer Performance Festival (2015), a Solo appearance with her piece Drums for Two at VBKÖ- Austrian Association of Women Artists (2015) and another collaboration Birdhouse/Nuthouse with the artist Nicholas Hoffman, within the framework of the Exhibition Destination Wien/Kunsthalle Wien (2015).
The use of media in Veronika Eberhart´s works is distinguished both by its high musicality and the negotiation of conceptual issues with the sensitivity of artistic practices of feminist positions and art history. United in a transdisciplinary approach to video, sound, performance or sculptural sound installation, her practice is based on theoretical and historical research and seeks formal translations from an activist starting point.
TICA AIRLAB 2016 is made possible through the support of the Ministry of Culture of Albania.
For the fall term the program is also collaborating with West Balkan Calling, supporting the residency of the Austrian artist, Veronika Eberhart.
WEST BALKAN CALLING is an Artist-in-Residence Exchange Programme between 6 art institutions based in Southeast Europe and 5 art institutions in Austria, taking place in 2016. The project is organized by < rotor > center for contemporary art Graz (Austria) in collaboration with press to exit project space (Skopje, Macedonia), T.I.C.A. – Tirana Institute of Contemporary Art (Tirana, Albania), Public ROOM (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina) Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art (Prishtina, Kosovo), Art Research Center 42° (Cetinje, Montenegro), Kontekst Collective / Zadruga Oktobar (Belgrade, Serbia), Cultural City Network (Graz, Austria), lend|hauer (Klagenfurt, Austria), AIR–ARTIST IN RESIDENCE (Krems, Austria), Atelierhaus Salzamt (Linz, Austria) and Kunsthalle Exnergasse (Vienna, Austria).
The project is organized by < rotor > center for contemporary art Graz in cooperation with the Directorate General for Cultural Policy of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs.
ARDHJE 2016 PERZGJEDH ARTISTET FINALISTE
Artistet finalist per CMIMIN PER ARTISTET E RINJ, ARDHJE 2016, jane: Donika Cina, Driant Zeneli, Lek M Gjeloshi dhe Matilda Odobashi
Artistet e perzgjedhur kane ndjekur shkollime te ndryshme dhe kane prejardhje te ndryshme artistike, te cilat reflektohen ne qasjet, prodhimtarine, metodologjine dhe ndjeshmerine e tyre artistike.
Donika Cina niset nga ngjarjet e vogla personale te cilat zene nje vend qendror ne krijimtarine e saj. Permes perdorimit te mediumeve te ndryshme, artistja hulumton boten e saj te brendeshme, duke e transformuar ate ne nje univers te kuptueshem per te gjithe.
Kerkimi i Driant Zenelit fokusohet me shume ne riformulimin e kuptimit te deshtimit, utopise dhe endrrave. Videot dhe performancat e tij rikrijojne gojedhena me atmosfere, duke i ofruar shikuesit mundesine per te reflektuar mbi testimin e kufizimeve dhe tejkalimin e kapaciteve personale, pa qene nevoja te shnderrohemi ne super-heronj.
Lek M Gjeloshi nga ana tjeter perqendrohet ne hapesiren e brishte, pothuaj te paperceptueshme mes asgjese dhe shpresave e pritshmerive. Ne punet e tij ai tregon se c’ka i ndan keto dy pozicione te kunderta eshte vec nje teke e mendjes qe na ben te nderrojme qendrim ndaj botes, duke kaluar nga zbrazetia e mohimit tek pamatesia e premtimit. Ne instalacionet e tij, Gjeloshi qendron pezull mbi kete kufi ndares, duke krijuar nje zbrazeti te mbushur me pritje per shikuesin.
Bota e pare me syte e nje femije dhe e realiteti i therrmuar shqiptar jane ne qender te punes se Matilda Odobashit. Ne instalacionet e saj te thjeshta ajo krijon nje lloj qarku te shkurter mes ketij kendveshtrimi “nga poshte” te femijeve, me realitetin e ndertuar “nga lart”, nga te rriturit. Ne punet e saj shikuesit i duhet te perjetoje nje lloj cudie, vetem per tu perplasur serish me realitetin e ashper te situates sociale te kohes.
TICA falenderon te gjithe artistet e rinj qe aplikuan per fazen perzgjedhese, si dhe kuratoret e artistet qe bashkepunuan ne nominimin e artisteve.
SHORTLISTED ARTISTS FOR ARDHJE 2016
The artists selected for the 2016 Ardhje Prize are Donika Cina, Driant Zeneli, Lek M Gjeloshi, and Matilda Odobashi.
They have all received different training and have different backgrounds, which are reflected are in their artistic production, approaches, methodologies and sensibilities.
Donika Cina starts from small personal events, which become the center of her production. Through the use of different media of expression the artist explores her inner world, transforming it into a universe accessible to all.
Driant Zeneli’s research rather focuses on the redefinition of the ideas of failure, utopia and dreams. Zeneli’s videos and performances create atmospheric fairy tales in which the viewer reflects on the possibility of superseding their own limits without assuming the role of a superhero.
The research of Lek M Gjeloshi rather focuses on that subtle and almost imperceptible space between the void and demands of expectation; and he shows that what divides these contrary positions is merely a mental switch that changes our approach to the world from the nothingness of denial to the infinitude of promise. In his installations Gjeloshi seems to hover over this boundary by bringing the viewer into a void filled with expectations.
The world as seen through the eyes of a child and refracted by Albanian realities is the main focus of Matilda Odobashi’s work, which short circuits this view "from below" (by children) by the construction of reality " from above" (made by adults) in simple installations in which the viewer has to experience wonder to only confront the harsh reality of the today's social situation.
TICA thanks all young artists that applied for the selection phase of Ardhje Award, as well as all curators and artists that contributed with nominations during the process.
Stefano Romano / Helidon Gjergji, selecting committee for Young Visual Awards ARDHJE 2016