If I were a thief is a solo exhibition by the Italian artist Valentina Bonizzi, exhibited at Bazament Art Space. This exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Culture of Albania and will be open from April 7 to May 8, 2022, Tirana.
In the exhibition If I were a thief the artist presents a film from chapter 29, from a plan of a movie scenario and then two installations exposed in the same space.
The short film is shown in the first room on the left, while its audio and subtitles narrate an event. This film shows two actors who are on an abandoned island of the Adriatic Sea, in search of the traces that history left behind. Through this film the director wanted to explore how we can tell about the story of the sea that surrounds that island, also the excavations that took place in the remaining rubble of concrete in it.
Some concrete cubes with sketches of hearts, initials and various dates engraved on them are placed at the end of the corridor.
An installation is exhibited in the second room, where some maps and guide information used for this film are kept inside a horizontal structure of glass.
If I were a thief is already part of chapter 29, followed by the artist from January 29 of this year.
* Valentina Bonizzi (born in Milan, 1982) currently lives in Tirana and works with a variety of media such as: film, photography, literature, audio and interventions in public spaces. Bonizzi completed a Master in Glasgow, School of Art and a PhD in VRC (Dundee University, DJCAD) for which she was nominated for Best Film Search by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Her work focuses on researching archives and communities, also Valentina Bonizzi’s work highlights social justice issues related to the politics of the time in specific contexts. She has conducted her work and research with communities in Scotland, the Molise region in Italy, the Deheisheh Refugee Camp in Palestine and the city of Kamza in Albania. Important exhibitions include: Autostrada Biennale, Prizren, Kosovo, MAXXI, Rome, National Gallery of Scotland, British School in Rome, Stills Gallery in Edinburgh and Fondazione Fotografia Modena. She has also presented her work at the Ramallah Academy of Arts, Palestine, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Cittadellarte Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella, Villa Romana, Florence, CCA in Glasgow.
