Syndicate: +FREE FALL IN THE ALBANIAN TRANCE

["Edi Muka (by way of Marjan Kokot)" <marjan@kud-fp.si>]

+FREE FALL IN THE ALBANIAN TRANCE
by Edi Muka


   The most elaborated , used and experienced term in the 
Albania of the first half of the year 1997, was "the 
surprise".  From March 97 there was an image that conquered 
every possible and existing kind of media, be it static, 
moveable, verbal , countable, in albanian or in every 
interested language and frequency.  It was the iconography of 
an iron instrument whose function was to shoot other pieces 
of iron which on their side aimed at opening holes of 
different sizes to take out what the holed objects contained.  
Carried by every representative of every age of human 
genealogy, as in an absurd theater where the past, the 
present and the future were played simultaneously, out of 
time dimensions, moving to various landscapes and contexts, 
this instrument with its iconography turned into an 
omnipotent omnipresence, conquering the physical and virtual 
borders of time and space.  Together with the immeasurable 
quantity of murduring munition it released an immeasurable 
amount of Albanians' adrenalin.

   At first sight, Albania resembled very much to a spaghetti 
western, played according to neo-realist standards, where 
almost everybody turned into a potential "pistolero", but 
where also the monotony of the pistols was substituted by the 
unlimited range of guns and weapons of every kind and origin 
possible.  The power of explosives undertook the task of 
changing the territorial geography of Albania.  There was a 
new category in the field of Albanian ballistics as well, and 
it was labelled "blind bullets", coming from every direction, 
possible and impossible.  

   But more than a spaghetti western, living in such a 
"trance" situation resembled the entertainment game 
"rollercoaster".  For somebody that tries the game for the 
first time the sensations are inevitably dominated by those 
of fear and loss of gravity.  When you start moving, you feel 
that you are surrounded by space in every direction and the 
possibility of contact with earth are fast diminishing.  This 
is followed by a short horizontal drive in a breathtaking 
height that goes towards a point beyond which you do not know 
what will happen.  When your wagon is at this point it dives 
in what physics calls "free fall".  At this moment you are in 
a point of the universe absolutely different from the ones 
defined for human's normal action.  And so the wagon goes on 
and on to its second, third, fourth falls.  But very 
strangely, at a certain point, the reaction caused by the 
fall starts moving from the sphere of fear to that of 
acceptance, ending up as pleasurable.

   This was approximately what one sensed when next to your 
table a kalashnikov was shooting.  Together with the desire 
to escape to the other end of the world, where such a thing 
wasn't happening, there was also a feeling of curiosity that 
glued you to the chair, wiping out the ability to discern 
which of the two was more powerful.  Little by little things 
started to find their places in the new scene of the absurd 
theater that Albanians were playing according to, or against, 
their will.  The whole map of human relationships was changed 
continuously within moments of time.  Maybe this was the most 
intense experience of the term "transitional", which brought 
with it a sense of loss of balance and lack of center.

   However, apparently Albanians have decided to act and 
behave differently.  It seems as though the suffering of the 
recent months not only exhausted them, but made them 
understand that they can act and be different.  The 
persistence with which the spirit comes back and overwhelms 
the killing paranoia that tried to change the essential 
relations, is amazing.  The remarkable calm with which 
Albanians faced the last political elections is a sign that 
the above mentioned loss of balance and lack of center were 
phenomena that developed into a positive tendency.

   In the meantime, what happened to Albanian artists during 
this period is sad but positive.  The actual situation that 
Albania has been going through and that is still experiencing 
has been one of the most fertile territories for art 
production.  The cultural potential that the Albanian 
territory offers in abundance constitute a very strong and 
specific basis upon which they can start to build their work.  
The disappearance and the reconstruction of the relations 
between individual and society, body and surroundings, sex 
and society, and many others, altogether conditioned by the 
omnipresence of the gun provoke careful observation.  Thrown 
into the free fall of this Albanian trance might be the 
starting point of conceiving really important and significant 
art pieces.  

   The recent situation in Albania over the last months, 
besides showing to Albanians themselves where a lack of civic 
responsibility leads, was also evidence of the most recent 
failure of Western European politics.  Apparently the 
Albanians have decided to change things, and this time start 
building upon a new balance.  At least by now they know what 
they shouldn't do.