Inevitable is the last project of Robert Aliaj Dragot, which was displayed at COD in Tirana during June 4th-19th, 2021, curated by Klod Dedja.
“The wall protects me, but also isolates me. Should I be grateful? Or do I have to be fearful?” The work representing the “Inevitable” stands at the front of the hall at COD: a brick wall extended across the space. At the opening of the exhibition the artist made a performance creating a bridge of communication through the visible and the invisible. He uses the wall as a symbol of barriers: those of communication, the mental, physical ones, etc., all products of our unconscious, the overcoming of which becomes a serious obstacle. The climax of the performance is reached when the artist approaches the wall and stops in front of it in hesitation to touch it, knock it down or kiss it. In the opening performance of the exhibition, the artist kissed the wall for a long while, whereas in the following days of the exhibition this performative act was materialized in a bronze sculpture with the actual size and appearance of the artist, placed where the performance happened.
Other authentic works of Robert Aliaj were also displayed in the COD space. Another performance takes place in the small hall on the right, inspired by the artist’s performance in 2014, Qyteti i mbrapshtë (The city backwards), which was reconceptualized in this hall: a boy traverses every corner of the space as he walks backwards, while the public is sitting in the middle of the hall; the hall door closes and the performance lasts a few minutes creating a stifling situation for the public.
On the left you could notice another work, 6080K310I (2010), a video where a Brazilian actor in the role of a police officer, performs a self-abusive act. The series from the artist’s archive follow along the corridor: Discrete Elements (2008), a cycle of works composed from nine paintings, closely related to the concept of the symbol and the antisymbol, widely found in the artist’s work. The target in the midst of urban chaos is a recurring element. Homomigratus (2016) is another work focusing on violence and abuse. This work is part of a series that concentrate on the relationship between power and the abuse happening through it; the victims have no identity while being exposed in the offices of police institutions. At the end of the corridor there are two more works, two oil paintings on the surface of an iPad. Their subject relates to the frequencies of abandonment and falling: Homomigratus (2016), Inevitable (2021).
*Robert Aliaj Dragot was born in Tirana on February 18, 1960, in an environment with a tradition in the painting field. He currently lives between Tirana and Brussels, where he engages in his artistic activities. He studied painting at the Artistic Lyceum of Tirana. Later he developed his artistic activity abroad. During the 80s-90s he began painting. In the late ‘90s, after a long career as a pop singer, he engaged as a visual artist, handling shocking social events of that period of political transition in the country and the region. Dragot’s work is multidimensional. He experiments in different mediums and techniques, such as: photography, film, performance, installation, moving images, animation, sound, contemporary painting and television. He had a considerable number of solo exhibitions in several European countries, such as Greece, France, Switzerland and Belgium. Some of his works are: Les Duex Moite (2007), Discrete elements (2008), 6080K310I (2009), Notes on Performative Urbanism, La Tulip de Gerdec (2009), Hyena (2010), I am of another world (Unë jam i një bote tjetër) ( 2013), Punch me (2013), Qyteti i mbrapshtë (2014), The Intellectual Decapitation of Image (Dekapitimi intelektual i imazhit) (2015), Homomigratus (2016), Leaflet (2016), Horizontal Tirana (Tirana Horizontale) (2017).
