The starting point of the workshop will be research and unveiling the tension between what is spoken and unspoken, between silence and the forgotten, the individual and the collective, “them” and “us.”
The power of preserving experiences and memories raises questions about the forms of narrative, one of which is: Who is the speaker and who is the listener? How much time — and silence — does it take for the stranger to become a speaker, and how long does it take for the listener to be able to fully hear the unwanted testimony? The workshop will focus on silence and the power of the unspoken. By encouraging active participation, the workshop aims to dismantle the double wall between those who don’t speak and those who don’t listen through the production of collective work.
Led by:
Driton Selmani was born in 1987. He works in Prishtina and Doganaj, Ferizaj, and approaches the idea of perceived reality by deconstructing formations of social, political and cultural topics that have been embodied around him. At a young age, he was told to worship a country that no longer existed, which caused him to be skeptical toward any supposedly given reality. He later used this as a beneficial tool to reconstruct his beliefs into visual artifacts. In 1999, old simulacra were replaced by new simulacra; the ornaments of a previous space have been refurbished in order to unfold with new meanings but also new uncertainties. Selmani confronts himself as a spectator of this “on-going event” and positions himself as an actor, enacting his performances based on his personal histories, beliefs and doubts. He has exhibited at solo and group exhibitions globally, including Stacion – Center For Contemporary Art Prishtina, Ludwig Museum in Budapest, Kunstraum Niederosterreich in Vienna, Casa São Paulo, and the Mediterranea Biennial 16 in Ancona, among others.
This workshop is implemented with the support of the Prince Claus Fund.
