Maps 3 -The Making of a Scene
2024-02-05
The Albanian ethos has a marked element of self-reliance, which is reflected across its culture and identity through the decades. In Albania's cultural practice it is not uncommon to encounter hacked and Do-It-Yourself solutions permeating every aspect of life - an attitude often born out of necessity and lack of better alternatives. Whether by repurposing cheap motorcycles into urban transport vehicles - welding on them makeshift baskets on bicycle wheels - or by repurposing Communist residential façades and informal constructions into canvases for international contemporary artists, these strategies employ an added layer of creativity to make up for the lack of technological resources or technical capacities to be found locally.
The transitional instability and the fluctuating dynamics of the Albanian political landscape since the collapse of the Communist regime, have ensured that no centrally financed cultural vision could be sustained long enough to establish a structure for creative producers. Consequently, contemporary culture found itself constantly struggling and barely nurtured from above, enduring mainly due to the individual passion of a number of cultural practitioners. The spaces that emerged from this environment were inherently experimental and multidirectional. This artistic ecosystem survived through self-organization and personal investment – through artists running their own spaces in rented storefronts, and "culture-preneurs'' creating independent cultural centres out of abandoned warehouses. Though at times being rough around the edges, and not always cohesive as a single voice, the independent Albanian art scene continued to nurture emerging contemporary artists, many of whom would later seek opportunities and achieve success beyond Albania's borders, making artists (and not art) into one of the country’s most successful exports.
Read the full study of MAPS 3 here.
