Over 20 artists participated in the exhibition opened by Radioblog Tirana and Bazament Art Space, entitled “Nepotik”, with Iris Nela and Olsi Hoxha as artistic directors. The exhibition took place during 15th-25th October 2020 in the premises of Bazament Art Space.
Regarding the theme of the exhibition, the participating artists – whose only condition of inclusion was the picture format: “Instax mini format / Fuji Film” – were free to choose both in terms of space and potential issues they would want to introduce. The exhibition included a variety of photos, within which every detail led to the display of the outlook of the young artists.
These were mostly casual, instant shots, photographs that transmitted moments of life – moments of everyday life that would attract enough attention to be photographed and then worked on. They introduced corners of buildings with drawings and graffiti; landscapes of various chaotic circumstances; or reflections of careless moments of social groupings. The photographers’ attention was focused also on reflecting the architectural shapes of the half-ruined buildings, such as the series of photographs entitled “Aesthetic Abortion”, through which the respective artist expressed her concern for the architectural structure in Tirana, for the transformations and their purposes throughout the change of governments, as well as the impact that all this change has on residents.
Another series of photographs was concentrated on the city of Shkodra; one photo entitled “Shkodra” stood out from this series, where in a pile of roof tiles, the artist had painted small silhouettes of people, as if they were waiting for someone to save them. Further, “Lulembramet” delivered chills with the message of “the flowers of death” placed on the side of the road, which transmit the idea of a departed but not peaceful soul; and the painful memory remains there, tied to an iron rod for everyone to see. Behind these sad flowers, you could notice another series of photographs of a plant that blooms and greens everywhere.
Each of the photographic series were placed in a “tableau” of shaped and coloured cardboard; some works were also accompanied with descriptive texts about the respective topic.
Meanwhile, in an angle illuminated by a blue LED light, a small TV showed the recording of the entire workflow in a printing office. Also, at the center of the exhibition there was a suitcase containing small art books with photographs. In the end, anyone could leave the exhibition with this “suitcase” of memories, as an attempt to return the social attention towards the value of physical forms, which carry the memory layered in time.
