Dispatch from Venice: Kosovo's inaugural year

Originally published at in Apollo Muse 31 May 2013.

“The birds built it for us,” says artist Petrit Halihaj, pointing to a giant nest that has taken up most of the space at the Kosovo Pavilion - the first ever at the Venice Biennial since the country's independence in 2008- which opens to the public tomorrow. The small room nestled between Turkey and Chile in the Arsenale, smells of fresh soil, which holds together the branches brought from Kosovo for the installation.

Though bulky on the outset, Halihaj’s piece is delicate. The light-coloured branches stand out against the dark soil, like “a collage,” as the artist sees them. A small tunnel leads you inside the large mass of earth and wood. It is pitch black apart from a small hole, where one by one, the audience peers through, into a bright white space where a yellow dress hangs at the end. “It belongs to my mother,”  he explains. The space is also intended as a home for his canaries.

“What drew me to Petrit’s work,” curator Kathrin Rhomberg tells me, “is that it is one the one hand lyrical and personal, but it also appeals to collective emotions. His work can be understood by everyone.” The artist and curator had collaborated before, two years ago at the Berlin Biennial.

Participating in the Venice Art Biennial for the first time is an important step for Kosovo. The country made its debut at the Venicce Architecture Biennial last year. “It is a young country which some EU nations do not recognise, so taking part in an event  like the Biennial is symbolic” says Rhomberg “art and culture can play a really crucial role in estabilishing an identity for a nation.” The Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Memli Krasniqi, sees this as an opportunity to spotlight Kosovo’s “rich and dynamic contemporary art scene, which has been absent from the most important event there is, the Venice Biennale”.

How much is the work in the Pavilion about Kosovo? And how much does it have to be? The commissioner Erzen Shkololli,  National Gallery of Kosovo, and Mr. Krasniqi insist that the work is deeply connected to the country  - but it appears to be a piece that can be enjoyed without knowledge of Kosovo and its history.

As director the National Gallery, Mr. Shkololli has showcased young contemporary artists such as the photographer Alban Muja, as well as older generations of more established painters like Engjell Berisha. His vision for the pavilion can be seen in his choice of an early career artist and a foreign curator. Rhomberg describes this as a progressive step, which, rather than looking at Kosovo’s cultural past, gives a “perspective on the future of the arts in the country”.

The Kosovo Pavilion at the 55^th Venice Biennale opens June 1^st -24^th November 2013