Statement
Valdrin Thaqi is a visual artist based in Prishtina. Studying at the Academy of the Arts, Prishtina, he was first focused on painting and later has been working in a more conceptual approach. His practice shifts between experimental painting, sculpture, installation and intervention. Realistic – dreamy, poetic and intuitive in its content, his work points out personal as well as collective emotions. His perspective on life and art is influenced and inspired by passion and conflict evoking emotions that have been drawn from experiences and observations as an artist. He likes to treat absurdity on his artwork, existencialism and social stereotypes. Analyzing is closely related to his work whether is biological or metaphysical.
Profile
GlogauAIR Project
Totem is an Installation that uses parody on the subject of symbolic narratives. The word Totem Itself is a term that describes a natural object or animal that is believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance and that is adopted by it as an emblem. This plays a role on a national narrative as a nation’s story of Itself, articulating on It’s ideology and ambitions that rationalizes It’s existence and provides a sense of community , interconnectedness and shared identities that underpin the structures of nationhood. As a kid I remember the traditional rooms “Oda” that we Albanians have. A room for welcoming guests and where men gathered and discussed and where the most important decisions were taken. Women were not allowed inside and there was always an eagle embalmed up on the wall. Back then I could not extract meaning from It but I was always amazed by the figure of the frozen animal, standing tall and proud in the room with It’s wings wide opened. Growing up and learning about my country’s politics and issues I wonder what Totem can we project on ourselves that we have much in common with.
The Installation emphasizes on the objective and the subjective giving a philosophical approach on the relation and interaction between them. What is an object? In simple terms we can say that an object is a thing that can be observed and wich exists independently of our observation. What is a subject then? To summarize we can say that a subject is a being with a unique consciousness and unique personal experiences. A subject is an observer and an object is something being observed. Looking at the Installation we have a visual view of a spinning top that It is spinning Itself, and the dilemma now is – has the object become a non object, a subject or does it remain an object?! On an Interaction between the object and the subject when does the object fulfill or lose It’s meaning? Without the participation of the being in the form of the object , the spinning top losses It’s meaning and and objectness because the spinning top acquires new properties in order to function- the interaction with the being in order to put it on function. – What It is like to be something is beyond the reach of our inquiry since our understanding requires an objective perspective by definition.
CV Summary
EDUCATION
- BA Fine Arts at the Academy of Arts in Prishtina
EXHIBITIONS
- 2019 “Its been a while since I saw a cloud in the sky“, Gallery “Motrat”, Prishtina.
- 2018 “Muslim Mulliqi” at the National Gallery of Arts in Prishtina/ Kosovo. “External”, Prishtina.
- 2017 “Emerge”, Prishtina.
CURATED EXHIBITIONS
- 2019 “Where are the seeds ?” Dardan Murseli, Faculty of Arts Gallery in Prishtina/Kosovo.
- 2018 “4 minute walk” by Arbnor Karaliti, Gallery of Arts in Ferizaj/Kosovo.
