• Qëndresë Deda: Ship of fools, ship of the state, Plato,
Ship of fools, ship of the state, Plato, spaceship earth, Robinson, all that are conditioned  like that ship…

Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina

Ship of fools, ship of the state, Plato, spaceship earth, Robinson, all that are conditioned
like that ship…
Qëndresë Deda

Curated by Vala Osmani and Albert Heta

20/12/2019 – 08/02/2020
Opening: 20/12/2019 at 20:00

Address: Boxing Club, Mark Isaku st. 8, 10000 Prishtinë, Republic of Kosovo

Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina is pleased to present “Ship of fools, ship of the state, Plato, spaceship earth, Robinson, all that are conditioned like that ship…”, a solo exhibition with Qëndresë Deda.

Are you tired?

The journey started from sharing stories from childhood with a friend, and this one is a beautiful real story… that turned into something else... something more.

We paused on a wall... small wall, but a wall, held and embraced by big walls, with one brick missing, and a paper ship. If this is it, is it enough?

A paper boat, and a wall. A paper boat ready for rough waters. A paper boat of a childhood. A wall, a hole in a wall, a sculpture, a paper boat pushing the wall deeper, and further, in circumstances when you have to do something beyond one yourself.

And whatever is the strength of your body, heart and mind, you are easily exploited if you are positioned and conditioned to be misused. Or if you are "one of them, one of the chosen ones that is not them!" And you face the wall, while those who build walls will enjoy seeing your face facing the wall.

One doesn’t want to tell them anything, one doesn’t want to share it, whatever one would say it would not be important, they would not care – one thinks. One knows enough to feel that her being is not considered important by others, to be taken care of. One can share it only with those who are able to feel.

And then, who cares about a paper ship? Who cares nowadays for something or someone that is not useful to perform a role that is making a (social) capital for one?

Or, does it, if it does not provide temporary pleasure or relief (that makes you forget how you are being used)? Something that is just a thing in itself, a fragile toy vehicle for imagination. An object for real soothing, silent and delicate plays. A fragile object, something that cannot act as a powerful tool to transform the state of other things, or to tell it straight - to misuse. Can it be something more than a children's dream toy and a rare object of nostalgia for grown-ups? Do we place enough value in non-material places and spaces, or anything goes too high only in emotional impact "value"? Hmm, but do these "situations, these objects, fairy tales, placeless spaces make us just go through life easier and forget real harsh conditions that we are conditioned by, jet still believing in some "priceless" ideals that create an imaginary world that makes us go through…

What is a paper boat for Crusoe? Would he be able to play with it, while counting his days! She doesn’t remember that he made one!

Together with it, one thought there could be a short text. If there are more texts, maybe a little book. And then people, those little people that can or cannot be there, because this is another story...

She would also like a hot air balloon that is like a cage... (but it would cost a lot if to be made of metal), and it would cost a lot if it would be made of metal - as she imagines... but maybe this is another story, for another moment in time.

People standing on the edge of the wall.

Maybe a bit too many things, still, she says, but if you see anywhere any spark - reply!

“Ship of fools, ship of the state, Plato, spaceship earth, Robinson, all that are conditioned like that ship…” with Qëndresë Deda is the final module of the Artists of Tomorrow Award 2018. Deda is the winner of the Artists of Tomorrow Award selected by the Jury comprised of Adrian Deva, Charles Esche, Erëmirë Krasniqi, Amanda Parmer and Jelena Vesić, who found in Deda’s work a remarkable mix of the personal, poetic and analytical, combining images, texts and natural materials into a complex and precise forms.

Qëndresë Deda currently lives between Prishtina and Ljubljana. Deda had graduated at the department of Graphic Design of the University of Prishtina. Currently she is continuing her education at the University of Ljubljana, Academy of Fine Arts and Design – department of Video and New media.

The Artists of Tomorrow Award is a unique project which provides young visual artists under the age of 35 the opportunity to produce new work, be part of a tailored education process, have meetings and presentation for an international jury, have a joint exhibition with finalists at Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina, but also to travel to the United States and experience New York’s dynamic art scene for a two month residency at Residency Unlimited.

The winners of Artists of Tomorrow Award are also awarded with a solo exhibition at Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina, following their return from US.

The Artists of Tomorrow Award is part of the Young Visual Artists Awards program - a network of ten similar awards organized throughout Central and Eastern Europe founded in 1989 in Czechoslovakia by President Vaclav Havel, Wendy Luers and dissident artists with the intention of supporting the emergence and development of contemporary art and civil society.

In 2015 Residency Unlimited (RU) became the new host of the Young Visual Artists Awards (YVAA) program in US. In September 2015, Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina has been tasked to assume leadership of the Artist of Tomorrow Award in Kosovo starting with the first cycle in 2016 and with building upon and carrying forward the legacy of the Award.

Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina aims to enhance the potential and influence of The Artists of Tomorrow Award in the general developments in contemporary art in the whole territory of Kosovo.

“Ship of fools, ship of the state, Plato, spaceship earth, Robinson, all that are conditioned like that ship…” with Qëndresë Deda is supported by the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports of the Republic of Kosovo, Municipality of Prishtina, x-Print and DZG.