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21/12/2008

Bert Theis

Tirana Art Center, Tirana

Tirana Art Center presents in collaboration with Onufri Prize (curator Riccardo Caldura) and The National Gallery of Arts Tirana (director Rubens Shima) the second artist, Bert Theis with the project "Suprematist Platforme".

I conceived the "Suprematist Platform" for Tirana Art Center (project director Fani Zguro) starting from a consideration about Albania's history of art and architecture. Today Albania has an interesting art scene, important artists, and Albanian Art speaks in its own way the same language than contemporary art in any developed country does. As far as I know, the country's culture before the big change was strongly influenced at the beginning of the last century by Italian architecture, than by the so-called "Socialist Realism" first in its Soviet and after in its Chinese version. Many sculptures in the National Gallery are an illustration of this fact. But In the country's past there is a missing link: the early soviet art vanguards who were suffocated at the end of the twenties by Stalinist repression. The form of the "Suprematist Platform" is inspired by the research of this early eastern modernism and by the concepts of WChUTEMAS, the Soviet "Bauhaus", that tried to link together art, design and architecture (Bert Theis).

Bert Theis born in Luxembourg, resident in Milan since 1992. He has worked on contemporary art projects at the Isola since 2001, as an artist and subcurator. In 2002 he created OUT (Office for Urban Transformation), with offices in Milan and Mexico DF. He has taken part in international art events like the Venice Biennale 1995, Sculpture. Projects in Münster 1997, Arte all'Arte 1998, Manifesta 1998, Biennal of Melbourne 1999, Biennal of Gwangju 2002, Biennal of Tirana 2003, Biennal of Emergency in Chechnya 2005, Biennal of Busan 2006, Biennal of Istanbul 2007, Biennal of Taipei 2008 etc.

TAC is a non profit public space that promotes contemporary art. TAC's purpose is not collecting or creating a museum of contemporary art. Starting from the month of october 2007 this space will represent the realization of expositions consisting in selecting some of the best artists in the international art arena. The fact that the Albanian capital city, among many others, doesn't have a market for contemporary art, makes it almost paradoxial that TAC will represent emergent artists, because this will not help to launch anyone.

Following from this fact this space will try to bring to the capital city the most well known contemporary artists, offering to the albanian spectator that particular fragment of art, which this spectator for different missed many art events, such as The Venice Biennale, Munster, Manifesta, Art Basel, Kassel etc. In this way TAC becomes a 'satelite' that wants to deliver to the Tirana's spectator, an essential selection of the contemporary art, through a context absolutely international.

During the first year of activity (2007-2008), starting from month of december Tirana Art Center has invitied Museo Aero Solar for Onufri Prize 07 – "Betrayal in Art", curated by Rubens Shima and Ervin Hatibi. Museo Aero Solar is a long term art project conceived by Argentinian artist Tomas Saraceno in collaboration with Alberto Pesavento and each time built up a new in a different context and place, in cooperation with local communities and art scenes.

The 15th International Onufri Prize
DO YOU KNOW THE LAND WHERE PARADOXES BLOSSOM?
Curator Riccardo Caldura
THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ARTS TIRANA
22 december 2008 – 29 january 2009
http://www.onufri.info

Idlir Koka, Eltjon Valle, Elsa Martini, Dritan Hyska, Alban Hajdinaj, Heldi Pema, Orion Shima, Pleurat Xhafa, Driant Zeneli, Gentian Shkurti, Yllka Gjollesha, Shpëtim Kërçova, Fani Zguro and Bert Theis

Tirana Art Center
Blv. Deshmoret e Kombit, Tirana

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