E Kaluara e tashmeThe present past
Spaç: Former Poltical Prison in Mirdita
13 Aprill 2024
In our cultural heritage, either beautiful or painful, we find all elements of present social endeavours. This heritage turns into a laboratory for collective memory where history becomes livable, cultural nuances can be processed, and traces of the past can be analysed as well.
In this context, art, functioning as an alchemical element, can trigger the formation of knowledge from the past through the inner mechanisms of treatment and recovery. It is here, during the process of form, that the experience of the artwork prompts an internal imagining of specific historical aspects. Therefore, culture through art can shed light upon historical realities by revealing all possible and meaningful opportunities for future societal development.
49 portraits of Ex-politcal prisoners - one sculpture
The exhibition title comes from the title of the work itself. The Present Past is composed of 49 portraits made with plaster and 17 wooden panels that create a half-circle symbol as its base.
The Present Past is a conceptual sculpture consisting of a monumental art form, structural scale, and historical subject matter. The work is permanently installed in Spaç, Mirdita, and was part of the project Culture for Sustainable Development, conducted by Tek Bunkeri during 2023 and 2024.
Kristian Zara was the artist commissioned to create face portraits that later became part of a single conceptual sculpture.
The concept of the work is related to the memory of the past, social trauma, symbolism, art as a means to evoke self-reflection, and psychic space or states. Moreover, this work closely relates to the artist’s family history, specifically the imprisonment of his grandfather in Spaç as a political prisoner. His grandfather was released after 9 years of detainment when Kristian was just a little boy.