Albanian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale
Albanian Trilogy: A Series of Devious Stratagems
Artist: Armando Lulaj
Curator: Marco Scotini
Deputy Curator: Andris Brinkmanis
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture
Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale, address
Armando Lulaj, It Wears as it Grows, 2011, Film, RED transfered to full HD, duration 18min, b/w, color, sound 5.1.
Courtesy of DebatikCenter Film, Artra Gallery, cinqueesei.
Stepping into the Albanian Pavilion at the Arsenale and into Tirana-based Armando Lulaj’s “Albanian Trilogy: A Series of Devious Stratagems” will send you backward in order to look forward. Lulaj—who is no stranger to the Venice Biennale, having previously exhibited in the 2007 edition—uses his diverse background as a playwright, author, and video director to examine regions in conflict and territories in danger. In his view, the collective memory and cultural traditions of Albania are at risk of being lost.
Armando Lulaj, NEVER, 2012, Film, Full HD video, duration 22min, b/w, color, sound.
Courtesy of DebatikCenter Film, Paolo Maria Deanesi Gallery.
Armando Lulaj, NEVER, 2012, Film, Full HD video, duration 22min, b/w, color, sound.
Courtesy of DebatikCenter Film, Paolo Maria Deanesi Gallery.
For the Biennale, Lulaj’s visual expressions of the Cold War period in his home country tap the pulse of a troubled past and rework an embedded narrative to bring Albanian history into the present moment. The three-part series begins with It Wears as It Grows (2011), followed by the popular NEVER (2012), and ends with Recapitulation (2015), created specifically for the Biennale.
Armando Lulaj, Recapitulation, 2015, Video, RED transfered to full HD, duration 13min, b/w, color, sound.
Courtesy of DebatikCenter Film.