BEHIND THE CURTAIN THERE ARE OTHER CURTAINS

Naim Spahiu | Solo Show

In this exhibition — a site-specific intervention by Naim Spahiu in the spaces of Open Art Gallery in Prishtina — we encounter a new cycle of works and previously unexplored territories where technique and material are closely tied to a long process and, in the end, result in a public manifesto of the artist. The works are part of the cycle “The Notaries of Time”, an exploration of the relationship between time and human experience, where painting can be a powerful memory of the human journey and where the artist intervenes each time with a result different from the last, yet specific to the purpose of the exhibition, with all its perceived differences and similarities. Naim Spahiu’s paintings convey a powerful metaphor of transmaterialization, where the material at the starting point is thus shaped by time, into which the artist then plunges to give us another, metaphorical reading, which is then transformed into a completely different material — that of pictorial language. The metaphor here is something even more: the abstract connection of one layering with another, of one curtain with another, of one level of perception with another — for the public it becomes a sensation that holds them suspended between the expressed language and materiality.

The title of the exhibition aids the understanding of the concept as much as it splits the public into other perceptions of the curtain, between the notion of a hanging textile and the notion of a wall, of a border. Was not the Iron Curtain of the last century, too, a physical, impassable border? And once it was overcome, did we not run into other borders — physical and mental — unperceived before? And here, this artistic intervention brings us closer to our own territory, makes us one with it; our mind combines what is expressed with what is hidden into a hybrid idea, where it is impossible to examine a painting without comparing what we know with what we do not know — Spahiu’s transmaterialization does not need artistic language to express the abstraction of our reality; on the contrary, it conveys his idea of borders beyond material and process — what is born to be inside comes out, and the reverse, what is outside “plunges” us deeper inside. Naim Spahiu’s public art thus becomes a deeply political art; his works are metaphorical processes that represent transitions and revelations, from one reality to another.

“Behind a wall there are other walls” is a powerful appeal that does even more — it continues the extraordinary work of Open Art Gallery, which creates a direct and human connection with the peripheral neighborhood where it is located. This exhibition aims to further dissolve the boundaries between public and private space, engaging the local community in an open and sincere dialogue about the impact of art, politics, power and society on themes acute for city peripheries — themes such as cultural homologation, gentrification, nationalism, migration, etc. This public aspect of the exhibition aims to create a space where, beyond the “art public” of Kosovo’s capital, residents and ordinary people too can actively reflect on the barriers that surround them — those outside and those within them — in a community engagement.

About the Artist:

Naim Spahiu was born in Mitrovica in 1978 and graduated in painting from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Prishtina in 2002, in the class of Prof. Esat Valla. After graduating, he continued his postgraduate studies (Master’s) and in 2005 obtained the title of Master of Painting. Since 2003, he has worked at the National Gallery of Kosovo, initially as exhibitions coordinator, Acting Director during 2021–2022, and Curator of the Gallery today. The artist’s work is scattered everywhere, across various private and state collections in Kosovo and abroad. It is worth noting here that the Museum of Gleisdorf in Austria has three of Naim Spahiu’s works in its collection. He carries on his shoulders a full 13 solo exhibitions, 7 of them international, and has participated in over 100 group exhibitions in Kosovo and various countries of Europe. Currently, the artist is continuing his PhD studies at the Pedagogical Faculty in North Macedonia, in the Methodology of Art and the Humanities.

Naim Spahiu | Solo Show

Opening Ceremony: 19.06.2024

Open Art Gallery Prishtina (KS)

Curators: Ardian Isufi | Elton Koritari