"feedback 1989"

29.10.2009-15.11.2009

Hotel Dajti Tirana Albania

www.feedback1989.wordpress.com

An exhibtion with: Roland Albrecht, Stephan Balkenhol, Nikolin Bujari, Uroš Djuri c´, Jakup Ferri, Driton Hajredini, Julia Kissina, Ledia Kostandini, Petrit Kumi, Armando Lulaj, Istvan Laszlo, Jin Lie, Peggy Meinfelder, Anke Mila Menck, Petrit Kumi, Beatrice Minda, Juli Ndoci, Alketa Ramaj, Albrecht Schäfer, Zuzanna Skiba, Kamen Stoyanov, Gabriela Volanti

Curated by Adela Demetja and Julie August

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was not only an important historical event for the Germans in East and West leading to reunification and changing Germany’s position in Europe. At the same time it was a signal for the start of political transitions in other socialistic countries that caused new formations even in the cultural field. Taking the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin wall as a cause, the exhibition »feedback 1989« thematizes the transformation while asking for the different reception of the historical event in those countries whose political and economical situation has changed seriously. Today, the meaning of the word »feedback« is used mostly to express »reaction to something« – we use it in the meaning, that is has in acoustics: »unwanted, perturbing feedback (back coupling) in an acoustic system, where microphone and loudspeaker (e.g. sender and receiver) are located in the same sound area«. Pertubing noises, screaming tones – the opposite of »harmony«.

The maybe naive vision of a unified Europe with equal conditions for all european residents is far from reality 20 years after the End of the Cold War. Most notably in the balcan regions and the former Soviet »brotherlands« there were years of gory conflicts and civil wars that led to a fragmentation of the European map. Today, many of the former »East-Block-States« are members of the European Union meanwhile, but the living conditions in Germany and Bulgaria, in France and Romania are more than unequal. It is no coincidence that this exhibition takes place in Albania despite a political opening and democratisation you could still talk about a wall that still exists: it is no longer a »antifascist protective barrier« (the official terminology of the GDR leadership for the Berlin Wall), but the restrictive visa-politics of the majority of EU-Countries, that refuses to the inhabitants of this country to benefit from the most wanted achievement of the Fall of the Wall and the change of the political systems: the freedom oftravel without any restrictions. The location of the exhibition is calculated: It is in a Hotel, that the artists show their works dealing with the last 20 years. Structurally, Hotels and Museums are not so different: Both locations offer space which is only available for a delimited period they are empty spaces, whose »inhabitants« (travellers or artwork) change currently. During the communist regime under Enver Hoxha, Hotel Dajti was exclusivly open for members of the communist party or for state guests and powerful foreigners. Today it is owned by the Ministery of Exterior of Albania, who will use the building after renovation both for administration and representation. It can be seen as a perspective on the building’s future function that with this exhibition (and others, e.g. the Tirana Biennal) it offers a forum for international artists. So to say, Art and Culture act out as »embassadors«, demonstrating a cooperation, that cannot be achieved as easy in the political area.

The exhibition is divided into three parts:

 1 Reflections – The Fall of the Berlin Wall in European School Books

What historical events that took place 1989 were formative in Germany, in Albania, in other countries? Can a european history be »objective« at all? By confronting extracts from european schoolbooks a unidirectional interpretation is avoided, offering a »multi-sided« ramble trough the years of the mostly peaceful revolutions.

2 European artists about memory and history

In the representative spaces of the hotel in the ground floor, artists from Romania, Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo and Germany show works that deal with the theme »memory«. Some refer directly to the incidents of 1989, some deal more generally with the changes since that time. Nearly uninvolved, Balkenhols oversized »woman« seems to be a silent observer.

3 »Artists in residence«

The rooms in the first floor of Hotel Dajti are given to artists from Berlin and Tirana, who present their work / their way to work, often with site-specific installations. The diversity of work and space-treatment is hereby reflecting the main points that were made possible by the Fall of the Wall: pluralism, multiplicity, heterogeneity. A short film with artist’s interviews tries to answer the question, if the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the cultural transitions that took place since then play a role for the artistic work.

Adela Demetja and Julie August