Adrian Paci

by Sara Arrhenius

In 1999, at the age of 30, Adrian Paci was among the first artists to represent Albania at the Venice Biennale, this book documents his creative path, from that first international exposure back to Ljubljana's Manifesta and on to shows in Sweden, Italy and Germany, before, in 2005, his return to the Venice Biennale and a solo exhibition at New York's P.S.1. Through videos, drawings and photographs, Paci's work portrays a country in which people--old, exhausted, overwhelmed by domestic worries and traditions--retain, at some cost, a familiar world that protects as it suffocates and isolates. Scenes from the everyday lives of the artist and his family and friends also show the building of new communities, communities that negotiate the ground between a new nomadic life and that dark stability.

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2006