How to start a calendar

Conversations on the first Women’s Associations in Albania after 1991

Authors

  • Valentina Bonizzi

Abstract

The Calendars were one of the elements included in the first exhibition of Diaries: LindArt & the Albanian Women Artists Association. The exhibition opened in 2022, after I had spent the previous few years trying to dig into the work of the Linda association, the first and only association of women artists in Albania after the end of the communist regime in 1991. Conceived in 1993 and founded in 1994 by 14 women artists working within the art scene at the time, Linda responded to the need for creating new learning opportunities in a context in which old patriarchal traditions continued to shape the development of culture and visual art. The collective opened the LindArt Cultural Center in 2000, and between 2001 and 2010 they developed a program that produced exhibitions, workshops, and other events.

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References

  1. Bulevard Art & Media Institute is a newly founded space in Tirana by Valentina Bonizzi and Sonila Abdalli, which opened on 23 September 2021. For more, see the space’s website: www.bulevard.al.

  2. For more on the Refleksione association, see their website:

  3. https://refleksione.org/.

  4. Translated from Albanian into English by Blerina Kanxha.

  5. Translated from Albanian into English by Edlir Velaj.

  6. List of the Founding Members of the Linda Association in 1993, and at the time of the association’s legalization in 1994 – in alphabetical order: Anila Zajmi, born in Tirana in 1958; Djana Miziri, born in Durrës in 1951; Drita Saliu, born in Burrel in 1952; Eleni Laperi, born in Tirana in 1949; Fabiola Jozja, born in Tirana in 1973; Flutura Preka, born in Shkodër in 1970; Ikbal Beli, born in Tirana in 1950; Ikbal Kalaja, born in Shkodër in 1959; Keti Jazexhiu, born in Tirana in 1950; Lindita Çapunji, born in Tirana in 1964; Lumturi Blloshmi, born in Tirana in 1944; Marjana Eski, born in Tirana in 1951; Mimoza Arapi (not found); Najada Hamza, born in Tirana in 1966; Raimonda Mato, born in Librazhd in 1957; Rikarda Nenshati, born in Shkodër in 1965; Silvana Nini, born in Tirana in 1969; Suzana Varvarica Kuka, born in Tirana in 1955; Xheneta Kadillari, born in Shkodër in 1959; and Zanfira Heta, born in Tirana in 1963.

  7. The address of the LindArt Cultural Center was: Qendra Kulturore LindArt / Projekt 5.6, Rruga “Kajo Karafili”, Nr. 54, Tiranë, Shqipëri.

  8. The artists who participated in Dare to be Different were: Gulsun Karamustafa (Turkey), Sejla Kamerić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Renata Poljak (Croatia), Rudina Xhaferri (Kosovo), Zake Prelvukaj (Kosovo), Merita Koci (Kosovo), Zvonka Simčič (Slovenia), Esra Alicavusoglu (Turkey), Esra Ersen (Turkey), Secil Yersel (Turkey), Tanja Ostojić (Serbia), Vesna Duni (North Macedonia), Irena Paskali (North Macedonia), Aliki Moschis (Greece), Eleni Theofilaktou (Greece), Adelina Popnedeleva (Bulgaria), Alla Georgieva (Bulgaria), Marilena Preda Sanc (Romania), Tinkuta Pary (Romania), Diana Miziri (Albania), Lumturi Blloshmi (Albania), Suela Muça (Albania), Doris Sala (Albania), Elsa Martini (Albania), Merita Spahija (Albania), Rudina Memaga (Albania), Mira Brojka (Albania), Flutura Lace (Albania), Suzana Varvarica (Albania), and Riketa Mamaj (Albania).

  9. Translated from Italian into English by Valentina Bonizzi.

  10. This was during Giulio Andreotti’s government; he resigned in 1992.

  11. The exhibition and symposium of Diaries: The Archive as Encounter opened on the 27th of June 2023. The symposium took place over three days, 27th, 28th, and 29th of June. To learn more, click on the following link: https://bulevard.al/en/whats-on/.

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Published

2023-11-16

How to Cite

Bonizzi, V. (2023). How to start a calendar: Conversations on the first Women’s Associations in Albania after 1991. Art Studies, (21), 183–229. Retrieved from https://albanica.al/studime_arti/article/view/3016

Issue

No. 21 (2022): Art Studies

Section

Articles