Curator: Barbara Haussamann, Swiss

September, 2003

Many times an occasional idea gives way to realize a courageous project. This is how it happened with the idea of Dr. Christian Zindel, director of Pro Helvetia Antenna, who noticed the will of Albanian artists to work with the photography even when there is lack of conditions to realize their ideas. He proposed to install a dark room in Lindart Cultural Center.

The fist person to grant equipments for this future dark room and willing to train the artists was the well-known photo reporter Pirro Nace. Later, in October 2001, the opening day of the exhibition „Invent yourself“, with the works of 13 Albanian artists at the Cultural Center „Karl der Grosse“ in Zurich, the initiator of the exhibition and the workshop with the same name, Monica Von Rosen, introduced us to the Swiss photographer Barbara Hausamann, who promised to bring us the equipment for a dark room, so that women artist could work by themselves to develop the films and stamp their artistic photos. In August 2002 we received the equipment and Barbara Hausamann herself worked to install the shelves, sinks, apparatuses in the room fixed to be Lindart’s laboratory.

Is not a sentimentalism to call this a historic dark room; because it is fruit of the solidarity; because now Pirro Nace made a place to himself in the Albanian history of photography, and we have the privilege to have equipment he worked with; because it is the effort of a group of artist women to do something idealistic, useful for the Albanian culture at a time when a pragmatist spirit is dominating us.This way a dark room started, the only of its kind in Albania, because it will be used to produce masterpieces of visual art from the artist women.The free photography, the trick of man with the look and light, the photography as a conscious deed of art by using the camera, is fairly new and starts just during 1990-ies. It is in its first steps, there is not even a gallery to present photo-graphy alone; only after years ’90, by the initiative of Gezim Qendro, director of National Art Gallery, the first photograph exhibition „Marubi“ was organized. It was very difficult to find an equipped and suitable laboratory to realize black and white artistic photos as per the professional requirements, whereas for the artists who wanted to work on photography it was impossible to have their own dark room. It is not any longer. Everybody has the right to see, however who, when, how. The right to see is more necessary, essential, than any other human right. Who has once consciously seen it can understand, and that I am sure, does not change this right with any other one. The glance is what gives expression to our portrait, taste to our work, value of living with the others, although we don’t yet know many things for the eyes, the glance, for what happens behind them, in the dark room of our head. By photography invention, the man had another thing to draw, to carve or paint, besides the brushes, chisels, colors: the light. To try the pleasure of painting by using the light, to try the magic force of the camera, which still is less used as a creation tool in Albania, a workshop initiated and guided by the German – Swedish artist, Monica Von Rosen, was organized in April 2001 at Lindart Cultural Center, which was just opened for the public. It was titled „Invent yourself“. The purpose was to use the camera as an artistic expressive implement to try seeing in the future of everybody. During her visit in Tirana, Monica von Rosen was impressed by the contact she had with different Albanian artists and through discussions with them she felt a spirit of pessimism and insecurity for the future. This pessimism she met in every step made her organize a workshop with this thematic.

Artists of different ages and directions were invited to participate, most of them were using the camera for the first time – and this was also a requirement of this project. This thematic required them all investigate themselves through the photos and build their future in a figure, forgetting for some time pessimism and lost hopes.

It was a kind of therapy by using the camera. The result was amazing. It was very impressive to see the thirteen participants in the workshop putting the photos they prepared during the day on the hall’s floor and selecting with Monica the ones that did not „show“ anything. It was kind of editing the history photos being „prepared by the light“.

Also in November 2002, after the photographer Barbara Hausammann finished assembling the dark room, she organized a workshop on black and white photographs. There were four young artists in the group: a boy and three girls, who tried the satisfaction that gives the „intermediate eye“: the camera as well as the satisfaction of working themselves to realize the photos on a paper. The photographic exhibition organized in November 15th 2002, showed what miracle Niepce gave to mankind in 1839 when he constructed the first camera.

The only concentration in black and white tones of what we see, made these works be more appropriate and concentrated in the essence of showing. The exhibition was the first fruit of Lindart Cultural Center dark room.

There are a lot of books and magazines on photography in the library of Lindart cultural center, gift from association „La Courte Echelle“ in Vitrolle – France, Swiss Embassy, French and German Embassies in Tirana, Cultural Foundation Pro Helvetia in Zurich – Switzerland, Riet Van der Linden, art historian from Holland, who encouraged the wish to work with photography. The workshop „Invent yourself“ was the first step. The exhibition of Barbara Hausammann and the four Albanian artists was the second step in the way of artistic photography for Lindart cultural center and the Albanian artist women of 21st century.

Photography is very early in Albania, but only lately it became possible to express ideas through this wonderful equipment, because the low living level, ottoman domination and later the totalitarian state did not allow to have or use the camera and take photos, as we can also call „free“. Maybe, it sounds absurd to put it in such words as „free photography“, for it’s equal as to say „to have the right to look“. Cases when the look is violated are in plenty or when it’s deprived. In years ’80 of the 19th century there were only a few people in Albania who could allow themselves have a camera due to the low economic and cultural level of the poorest country in Europe. Albania, which has been part of the Western Byzantine Empire, so belonging to orthodox religion, the conservatory part of the Christian religion, later, for over 500 years, was under the Turkish Empire rule, which obliged two third of the population become Muslims so as to survive and placed other moral rules (amongst which was not to take photos of the complete human figure), However, in the most advanced Albanian cities, such as Scutary in the North and Korca on the East, the photography and even the cinema started soon after is was invented. Photographers such as Marubi and Kol Idromeno (who was painter and architect) in Scutary, Kristaq Sotiri in Korca, documented the first efforts in the Albanian photography and cinematography field. Their photos were taken for commercial purpose, ordered by clients, but also for the satisfaction of the authors. We have their landscape paintings or portraits and compositions of groups of people; and Kol Idromeno, like the French impressionists, was using the photos to make paintings of them. Today, these photographs are part of the treasuries of the Albanian photography fund. Through them we can learn about Albanian history, psychology, dresses and customs of that time. Maybe this is because the photographic portraits in the first years had the value of a black and white portrait in painting.

After the Second World War, under the totalitarian rule, which placed the country in the family of socialist countries of Eastern Europe, although Albania was in its furthest edge, and nearer the western democracy, you could not even talk about a „free sight“, about a „non-engaged photo“. Photography studios were state’s property, part of communal enterprises, part of public service. Thousand and hundred thousands portraits make the creation gallery of those years. Differently from the heroic, primitive, hard features of the portraits of highlanders, fighters, intellectuals of Marubis’ gallery, or elegant and romantic portraits with a western nuance of Sotiri’s gallery, the photos of the real socialism time are men, women, children, families, groups of people without difference on the class or intellectual level, they are human portraits posing happily in their illiteracy, portraits of the new man, having no civil right besides the conviction without conditions to the state - party. Auto censure became and extra part of the moral and culture that the orthodox canon or Turkish rule left behind; it became part of metabolism, way of living, so that is was difficult to be diagnosed as handicap to the individual. This deficiency became obvious, touchable only in years ’90, when the Albanian society „overpassed the Berlin wall“ and entered in the raw of open societies, having for the first time after 990 years the possibility to compare its own ideas with the ones of the citizens of the other part of the world, without the mediation of the state or religion.

That’s why I think the free photo, the man’s game with the glance and the light, the photography being a conscious artwork, by using the camera, is new at us and itonly started in years ’90. The spiritual freedom is accompanied with the freedom of thinking and the seeing as well. It was not easy; it is not easy for everybody to get free from the auto censure being ingrained for 990 years.

It was easier for the youth, especially women artist to overpass this deficiency. Their creation is distinguished for the courage they treat the subjects, seeing first on themselves. Most of them use themselves as models. The photography is successfully used from women artists to create works, showing their wish to break all spheres that make the old moral and condition the community’s life: of restraint, hiding, timidity, fear. Rudina Memaga, Suela Muca, Silvana Nini, Fabiola Jozja, etc, put themselves, the woman, in front of the objective in their photos. This is the first act towards the elimination of the sphere of timidity. As women, especially as Albanian women they feel the masculine violation that is the base of the country’s moral, mentality. The compressing moral, which still considers the girl a lower level than the boy, makes the artists use the bodies, many times naked female body, so as to show that a naked body is not a shame, but it is a shame a shameless glance of a person who treats the woman as something that can be thrown after use. If there are prostitutes, it is because there are purchasers of this service, who quite often are „honored men“, „believers“, who reprimand prostitution in public. Aren’t we born naked? If it was a sin, why god did not create us with clothes on? Why there are no cases of sexual violation in primitive tribes. (Because there are no laws to let it start?).

The photos of „Eau de Parfum“ from Suela Muca, or „Slogan“ from Fabiola Joza, „No tittle“, „Mirela“ from Rudina Memaga, photos of Rovena Agolli, etc. have inside them the irony, sarcasm, a different view of the woman, who feels that she is not inferior than the other gender, but the moral that still has medieval nuances has the stamp of the masculine power, has the motto „hold the power“ and obliges the authors to take photos so as to illustrate the protest on woman’s treatment as a man’s property. Differently from the painting, the photo is a faster eye and hand, so nothing can be lost from emotion. On the other side, the possibility of realizing some copies at the same time enables its delivery in a short time, and presents it easier to the public. Today the value of photography being one of the arts, besides film and video, is indisputable. There are a lot of artist women in the world giving an undeniable contribute in visual arts, including photography. We can also feel this gradually in the Albanian art, in activities where women photographers are gaining the right of citizenship, but we will always remember the first photographers, even the first woman photographer Fotina Goro from Himara, as part of the book of „Albanian wonders“, which still needs to be written. Pirro Nace tells: „I have seen interesting biographies and works of women photographers from Europe and America. But I want to tell you about an Albanian from the seaside, Himara, who entered beautifully in the Albanian photography history. She is Fotina Bodini Goro, who learned the photography from her husband, Jani Pano Goro (photographer coming from Sen Etien of France). Fotina exercised photography in Himara and villages during years ’30 of the twentieth century. She did not know any foreign languages, but she could so well pronounce in French all the laboratory processes of developing and stamping: methylene, hydrokinon, carbonate, sulfate, metabisulfate, retouch, etc. Amongst others she knew that Emil Zolae, the famous writer of Zherminal and the shocking article „J’accuse“ (Accuse), was also a photographer. I knew Fotina later, at her eighties. She was telling me, telling with the beauty of a wise person. And I kissed her hand in sign of humble and honor, happy that she asked her son to take us a picture“.

With this dark room, the artists have one more chance to create through the light. Tomorrow we will have more artists „speaking“ through the photo, and this is due to the solidarity between artists in the world, who help each other with information and equipment, due to the dreams, effort of the people that made reality this dark room of Lindart Cultural Center in Tirana. (text by Eleni Laperi)

Falënderim / Special Thanks to: Maja Bühler, Beat Etter, Fotograf/ Photographer;
Barbara Hausammann, Fotograf/Photographer; Rita Jeppesen, Fotograf/Photographer;
Kodak SA, Lausanne; Geri Krischker, Fotograf/Photographer;
Henio Kruszona; Schweizer Kulturprogramm in Albanien Pro Helvetia/DEZA;
Stutz Foto Color Technik AG; Urs Tillmanns, Chefredaktor Edition Text&Bild;
Peter Winkler, Fotograf/Photographer; Pirro Naçe, Fotograf/Photographer;
Christophe Cardinaux, Fotograf/Photographer; Jean-Philippe Daulte, Fotograf/Photographer;
Philippe Maeder, Fotograf/Photographer,
që dhanë ndihmesën e tyre për ngritjen e laboratorit dhe dërguan filma negativë bardhë e zi dhe me ngjyra për artistët/
for giving equipments for the dark room and for giving black & white and color films for the artists