Stacion - Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina

Status
Mimoza Sahiti
Curatorial by Albert Heta

18 May - 16 June 2023
Opening: 18 May 2023, 19:00

Stacion - Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina is pleased to present the inaugural exhibition of the collaboration with Art Polis - Center for Art and Community developed for the FemArt Festival organized in Kosovo from 15-21 May 2023.

In response to the conceptual framework of the festival, Status with Mimoza Sahiti, curated by Albert Heta, provides a glimpse into the evolving and adventurous artistic practice of the young and promising Kosovar painter, born and raised in Offenbach, Germany, and finalist of the Young Kosovar Artists Award "The Artists of Tomorrow", organized by Stacion - Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina.

In the words of the award's international jury, chaired by Anne Barlow, director of TATE St Ives, United Kingdom, Mimoza Sahiti’s raw and vibrant works challenge traditional conventions in painting. Transmitting a certain rage through the very surface of the paint itself, her work reflects a fierce feminism that underpins her approach to capitalism, identity, personal and collective trauma. In her depictions of the human figure, a sense of fear and vulnerability reflects her concerns around the status of women in society, and the precarious nature of human existence overall.
Status with Mimoza Sahiti will revisit the award exhibition installation and expand the practice horisontaly in the Boxing Cub's main exhibition space with a curatorial approach that captures the artist's gaze over and on the artworks.

Mimoza Sahiti (b. 1995) has always made art, but during her stay in Kosovo from 2020 to 2022, she finally rediscovered her artistic practice. During this time, Mimoza Sahiti became involved in artist groups and independent art institutions, and the intense exchange and production resulted in an extraordinary body of work and an unadulterated practice. Her work gained wider attention when it was included in the National Collection of Contemporary Art by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Kosovo in 2022 and shown in several group exhibitions, including The Artists of Tomorrow Award 2022, Stacion - Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina; New Grand at Manifesta 14 Prishtina; Club Insistence: After a Party, Toplocentrala - Regional Center for Contemporary Art, Sofia, Bulgaria; Visual Art Pavilion, Varg e Vi, Gjilan; Internal, Room Five Studio, Prishtina. In 2022 Mimoza Sahaiti also had her first solo exhibition Milk and Honey at Room Five Studio in Prishtina.

Mimoza Sahiti lives and works between Vienna, Austria and Prishtina, Kosovo. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics, studied Art, Media and Cultural Education at Goethe University Frankfurt and is currently studying painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

Albert Heta (b. 1974) is the founding director of Stacion - Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina, director of Summer School as School and currently a PhD Candidate at the Department of Social Sciences & Social Work at Bournemouth University, United Kingdom. In his practice, Heta's works are manifested through art, curatorial projects, political research papers, design and socially critical interventions. His notable works in art include "It's time to go visiting: No visa required", a public intervention on British Airways billboards in Prishtina (2003), 'Embassy of the Republic of Kosova in Cetinje' (2004) for the Cetinje Biennial and “Kosovar Pavilion Venice Biennial 2005”. Albert Heta's extensive observations and research on public policies in arts and culture resulted in the first part of the comprehensive research on art and cultural policy in Kosovo "Për të mirë të popullsisë së Kosovës" - Research on Public Art and Cultural Policy in Kosovo, Stacion - Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina, 2014, and "Për të mirë të popullsisë së Komunës" - Research on Public Policies on Art and Culture in Municipalities in Kosovo, Stacion - Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina, 2014.