06/07/2024
17:00
Palace of Youth, Shopping Arcade
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HAVEIT
(established 2011 in Prishtina, based in Prishtina)
Mission: A Reenactment, 2024
Back in 2004, the members of Charlie’s Angels, Kosovo’s pioneering female contemporary art collective, pedalled their way to nowhere for 12 hours at the Palace of Youth and Sports. Riding on stationary racing bikes, with the acronyms of the three major political parties – LDK (Democratic League of Kosovo), PDK (Democratic Party of Kosovo) and AAK (Alliance for the Future of Kosovo) – pinned to their backs, the Angels raised the issues of political stagnation, lack of direction and the mere simulation of progress. Twenty years later, the race is back on at the Palace of Youth and Sports. In place of the original performers, Charlie’s Angels Erodita Klaiqi Kasumi, Fitore Isufi Shukriu I KOJA and Sabina Tmava, this time it’s HAVEIT who takes the stage. Comprised of Alketa Sylaj, Hana Qena, Vesa Qena, Lola Sylaj, the internationally renowned contemporary female art collective returns to the site of I kemi 12 orë with their very own take on how Kosovo’s leading political parties are travelling. Through their reinterpretation of the original performance, they reframe its sociopolitical critique against the backdrop of today’s world. What changes? What stays the same? Who’s winning, who’s losing the race now?
Courtesy of the artists
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Berat Hasani
(born 1982 in Mitrovica, lives in Prishtina and Berlin)
with art students Rinesa Hoxha and Jeta Raka
A kemi ik boll? (Have we done enough running away?), 2024
Berat Hasani’s contribution to I kemi 12 orë was a banner asking people if they’d done enough sleeping. Mounted on the wall at the intersection of the three corridors representing past, present and future at the Palace of Youth and Sports, the hand-written sign addressed the overriding sense of inertia and stagnation that had taken hold of political and social life at the time. The sign was accompanied by a questionnaire which required participants to fill in their first name, last name, gender and to answer the question on the banner. For the current reenactment of his work Hasani decided to collaborate with art students Rinesa Hoxha and Jeta Raka to find the most pertinent question for our time. Having come up with numerous options, the group decided on the question “A kemi ik boll?”, or “Have we done enough running away?”. As in 2004, visitors to the Palace of Youth Shopping Arcade will be invited to fill out a questionnaire in response to this new, equally provocative question. The results of the survey will be published as part of the exhibition at Galeria 17: I kemi edhe 12 orë të tjera.
Courtesy of the artist and his collaborators
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Shqipe Ajeti
(born 1981 in Prishtina, lives in Helsinki)
with art students Jetëgzim Kastrati, Hana Kasemi, Hera Thaçi, Lira Bytyçi, Erjon Osmanaj, Donjeta Haziri, Albionë Sahiti
Past, Present and Future: A Reenactment, 2024
Shqipe Ajeti joins forces with a group of art students to reenact her performance of 2004. Now, as then, the performance centres on chess, a game of strategy. Back in 2004 the artist imagined politicians as the players and the people as their pawns. She enacted three different versions of the game: one past, one present, one future. In the game of the past, the chess pieces were represented by puppets, mere objects of manipulation. The game of the present consisted of strategic moves sketched on the board. The game of the future cast karate kids as the chess pieces, figures capable of defending themselves and defining their own moves. Cut to 2024. Two decades later Ajeti stages a very different game, this time juxtaposing only the past and the future. For the past, she invites her collaborators to position their childhood toys on the chess board as a tribute to the children who lost their childhood as a result of the war. For the future, she invites them to move freely across the board, expressing the emotions they feel in response to narratives of children affected by war, who are – or would be – about their age now.
Courtesy of the artist and her collaborators
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Oda Haliti
(born 1985 in Prishtina, lives in Prishtina)
Çfarë muzike ngon? Shqip a Anglisht?
(What kind of music do you like? Albanian or English?), 2024
Invited to recreate the emotional landscape of 2004 through music, Oda Haliti knew two things for sure: first, that it was going to be a video set and second, that it was going to be staged at Elida. There was no denying that pure sound would bring back so many memories of the past, present and future for the thousands of people who crowded into the Palace of Youth twenty years ago to take part in the happening I kemi 12 orë. Yet video clips, with their captivating imagery, costumes and fashions, with their drama, choreography and storytelling, would bring in so many more layers of memory and experience. The same can be said for Elida, Prishtina’s legendary patisserie and café. Apart from a three-year closure from 1991 to 1994 upon orders from Belgrade, it has been at the heart of social, cultural and political life in Prishtina ever since it opened its doors in 1978 – for people of all backgrounds. With her four-hour video set, which, in the open, inclusive spirit of Elida, she will share with everyone on youtube, Oda Haliti takes her audience on a journey back through time and memory to a raw, messy emotional place of joy, pain and longing.
Courtesy of the artist