Exhibiting Collective: Kiara Asllani, Elisa Crostella, Michela Curti, Chiara De Maria, Adi Demi, Eni Derhemi, Giulia Dongillli, Ina Lisi, Lara Tonon

Guest Artists: Elischa Kaminer, Sivan Rubinstein

Title: Performative Exhibition #3 – Collective Contours

Venue: Galeria e Bregdetit, Radhimë, Albania

Organizers: Galeria e Bregdetit, Tirana Art Lab, ECUMENE Project

Photos: Giulia Dajçi

Performative Exhibition #3 – Collective Contours” is the third project within the Performative Exhibition format by Tirana Art Lab, focusing on collaborative artistic practices and challenging the self-centered method of creating. “Performative Exhibition” is a format initiated by Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art with the intention to disclose exhibitions and to make public the process of artistic creation and curating through performativity, as well to find ways to include in the exhibiting process the means of production behind and beyond the event. The concept of “Performative Exhibition” aims to find new ways of exhibiting and curating which break with the temporary / unique features of contemporary exhibiting and to propose enduring methods of working together.

In “Performative Exhibition #3 – Collective Contours” nine women artists from diverse backgrounds and nationalities brought together by Ecumene Project, focus on blurring the boundaries between mediums, art and life by disclosing the creative practice to the public.“Performative Exhibition #3: Collective Contours” is an unconventional exhibition where names, time and space leave the stage to timeless sensations. Intuitively, the projects and performance of the collective deal with themes such as the conscious relationship between beings, the connection between bodies and nature and focuses on the essence beyond bodies. They have lived and created together for 10 days in Vlora hosted by Galeria e Bregdetit. The entire exhibition is produced collectively. The individual is offered to the collective and all creation flows into a consciousness of unification. Questions of authorship disappear, while a safe environment for the process of creation to be experienced and shared is generated.

Two guest artists based in the UK, Elischa Kaminer and Sivan Rubinstein have been invited to contribute to the project.

“Performative Exhibition #3: Collective Contours” is produced by Eni Derhemi, Giulia Dongilli and Adela Demetja, organized by Tirana Art Lab and Ecumene Project and hosted by Galeria e Bregdetit. It is supported by the Creative Producers programme of which Eni Derhemi was part and developed by the British Council in the Western Balkans. The project is additionally supported by the Ministry of Culture of Albania.

GALERiA e BREGDETiT is an independent exhibition space by the sea, located in Radhimë (Vlorë), at the northern tip of the Albanian Riviera and running a seasonal programme of exhibitions, residences, and research projects. In the four years that the gallery operates, it has boldly represented the south of Albania in the international contemporary art map; while several self-initiated projects of the gallery have gradually influenced the identity of the territory. The strong aesthetics, and sublime design choices have attracted the necessary attention to the space through a new form of monumentality, creating a fresh attractor in the extreme periphery.

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Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art is one of Albania’s leading contemporary independent art institutions. Founded as a non-profit organization, on the initiative of Adela Demetja in 2010, TAL aims at promoting emerging artists and contemporary art from Albania as well as from Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe. The center is process and research oriented. Through different events like residencies, exhibitions, workshops, performances, lectures and talks, as well as publications, TAL has managed to create a space for emergent critical and reflective thoughts.

The ECUMENE Project was born during the pandemic lockdown of march 2020 as an idea of Eni Derhemi and Giulia Dongilli, lifelong friends and creative collaborators. The ECUMENE Project approaches art as a shared experience & also uses it as a medium for inner exploration. The word Ecumene is a Greek term dating from antiquity and it indicates the portion of Earth known and inhabited by man; “the house where we all live”. In ECUMENE we perceive art as a universal dialogue that can enrich the community and as an energetic area able to provide inputs to everyone. Therefore, we believe that art should be a collective thought, able to move values and souls.