THOSE SWEET MURKY WATERS
Driant Zeneli, 2023, 15’
“Evolution is in the nature of things”
This sentence was enunciated by the first woman scientist in Albania, Sabiha Kasimati, according to the testimony of her cell mate. She was arrested by the communist regime and was executed without trial. The artistic project by Driant Zeneli and Deni Bianco follows Kasimati’s story, presenting her as a “contemporary Prometheus” who shares electric light with fish to aid in their evolution.
Driant Zeneli (b. 1983, Shkodër, Albania), lives in Turin. In 2019 and 2011 he represented Albanian Pavilion at the 58th (solo show) and 54th (group show) International Art Exhibition – Venice Biennale. In 2017 he won the MOROSO Prize and in 2009 the Young European Artist Award Trieste Contemporanea. In 2008 he won the Onufri International Contemporary Art Prize, Tirana. He was the artistic director of Mediterranea 18, the Young Artists Biennale from Europe and the Mediterranean, taking place for the first time in 2017 between Tirana and Durres. He is co-founder of Harabel Contemporary Art Platform, Tirana.