Syndicate: A short Piramedia report

[Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@v2.nl>]

Dear friends,

this is just a short notice to report the success of the first Pyramedia
event in Tirana, Albania, which took place from 28 - 31 May, 1998.
Pyramedia was organised by Edi Muka of the Art Academy in Tirana in
cooperation with the V2_East/Syndicate, and with support from the Ministry
of Culture, the Soros Foundation, the National Gallery, the Art Academy,
and the Open Internet Center, and with help from Edi Muka's students at the
academy. Pyramedia was the first self-organised Syndicate field trip.

The Pyramedia event included a series of lectures, presentations and
screenings by the following participants: Stephen Kovats [D/CDN]
("Situation Normal, All Fucked Up" - a brief Ostranenie Reflection), Edi
Muka [AL] (A brief history of media and video art in Albania), Diana
McCarty [HU/USA] (Independent media and Interet in Hungary), Adele
Eisenstein [HU/USA] (C3, 'Collection', 'Prohibited Art' - presentation and
screenings from the media art scene in Hungary), Eric Kluitenberg [NL]
(Cultural memory and electronic media), Melentie Pandilovski [MK] (Samples
from the Macedonian electronic art scene), Yukiko Shikata [JP] (Interactive
art projects of the Canon Art Lab, Tokyo), Igor Markovic [HR] (Independent
media culture in Croatia, or not?), Geert Lovink [NL] (A toolbox of
critical media), Andreas Broeckmann [NL/D] (Interactive and internet art
projects). Additional screenings included 'Predictions of Fire' (Michael
Benson, Ljubljana 1995), 'The Old and the New' (Ljubljana 1997),
'Bulgariavangarde', 'Crossing Over', and others.

We were well looked after by Edi and his students, moving around between
the really nice Hotel California (where even checking out wasn't a
problem), the National Gallery where the presentations took place, the
Artiste Cafe's garden next to the Art Academy, Fidel's famous bar, ending
most evenings in Edi's favourite La Voglia restaurant which serves great
home-made Raki. On one occasion we took a trip to the harbour city of
Durres where we visited the old Roman amphi-theatre, and then drove a bit
further south for a swim in the Adriatic and a dinner on the beach. The
visit to the National Museum, the Pyramedia party on Saturday night, and
the lazy chill-out on the bank of the lake in Tirna's south were other
memorable moments of this Syndicate excursion.

For me maybe the most important thing to see was that Tirana has its own
normality, a lively cafe culture, lots of street vendors, too many noisy
and stinking cars, drivers with a great passion for honking, and a public
infrastructure that will need a lot of attention in the coming years. There
are many obstacles, still a high level of tension after last year's
internal war and a feeling of insecurity, especially when leaving the
police-protected area of Tirana.

But there are also signs of hope. We saw, for instance, the very promising
videos of some of Edi's students (who haven't decided yet whether they will
adopt the suggested name, VHS = Video Heroi Sqiptari), and an exhibition of
textile art in the Academy Gallery. At the Pyramedia presentations there
was an average of 10 to 20 people listening to the talks, asking questions
in private conversations afterwards, and looking through the piles of
printed material that the Pyramedia participants had brought from different
European centres and that remained in Tirana as study material. Interviews
were arranged, texts and addresses were exchanged, friendships forged, and
I have no doubt that we will soon hear a lot more from the emerging media
cultural scene in Tirana.

Greetings from 'back home' in Berlin,

-a