Mulliqi Prize

Artists:

Fidan Bejtullahu, Luca Bolognesi, Erik Bunger, Kajsa Dahlberg, Marco Fantini, Regina Jose Galindo, Dora Garcia, Khaled Hafez, Driton Hajredini, Pablo Helguera, Eliza Hoxha, Ardian Isufi, Ilir Kaso, Luljeta Leci, Ilir Lluka, Edson Luli, Ra di Martino, Bruno Muzzolini, Alkan Nallbani, Ferhat Özgür, Steve Piccolo, Helona Ruli, Helidon Xhixha, Shingo Yoshida, Kushtrim Zeqiri, Fani Zguro, Ergys Zhabjaku.

Curator: Artan Shabani

The international annual exhibition “Mulliqi Prize” will focus on the needs of the new generation of artists who today are faced with a difficult challenge.

After the explosive enthusiasm of the 1990s, which lasted until recently, today we are faced with a new series of problems. If once (let's take 1960 as an example), artists had to leave their cities to become a real part of the art system - and at that time they did not have many options (Paris, London, New York, Berlin), today this phenomenon no longer exists. Today we have museums and art centers everywhere, not only in capital cities or metropolises but even in the most isolated provinces. This is a dynamic development, obviously helped by current policies.

But does the same thing happen with the artistic product created by this generation of artists? Does it have the same visibility? Today we obviously have a super activism by all artists, but the mechanisms controlling the ups and downs of an artistic product have always remained within the same parameters. When artists like Hans Haacke, Steve McQueen or Maurizio Cattelan are on the verge of refusing to be part of the era, we understand that the era is changing, leading us to also understand that this age needs new “heroes” to tackle the new challenges.

This project is an experiment in treatment that aims to question some aspects of contemporary art, to promote dialogue and discussion rather than submit a final stand. Conceptually, the exhibition deals with the practical difficulties to “enter” today in the world of art from the “background” and the role of the art system to decide as arbitrator. Within this experiment it will strive to provide the answer to the question of Liam Gillick: What is the image of contemporary today?