Artists: Alban Hajdinaj, Ergin Zaloshnja, Eva Mahr, Robert Pichler,
Robert Krenn, Matilda Odobashi, Dritan Hyska, Gentian Shkurti

Title: shitet toka

Venue: HDA, Graz

Curator : Michael Petrowitsch (European Cultural Network Austria – EPeKA Austria)

The exhibition draws attention to the rapid socio-political development of Albania in the last few years, and also addresses the Austrian view of this development.

The country is increasingly developing internationally into an object of active action and a valuable political player on the European level. In addition, the status of Albania as an increasingly popular destination continues to increase. At the same time it increasingly loses the aura of the “exotic”. Despite all this, EU accession negotiations are currently being delayed – for a variety of reasons. How do artists react to these discrepancies and related heterogeneous transformation processes? For example, the Albanian “shitet toka” stands for “land / reason to sell”. The term is often found on signs in the Albanian landscape and thus develops a momentum that points to atmospheric.

The exhibition brings together Albanian and Styrian positions – the works shown were developed especially for the exhibition – which, as it were, act as a snapshot and illuminate architectural aspects.