Alban Muja. Above Everyone

09.09.2023 - 14.10.2023

Charim Schleifmühlgasse, Wien / Österreich

Lined up one by one, Alban Muja’s series Above everyone (since 2020) creates an unconventional cityscape. His works focus not on typical landmark buildings but unassuming single-family homes that gracefully ascend above the city’s rooftops. In the aftermath of the Kosovo conflict, an increasing number of Pristina’s residents began appropriating open spaces on existing structures to create homes of their own. These homes, built one or two stories up, largely resemble freestanding houses.

Muja captures the diverse array of these buildings in his watercolours (currently comprising 13 pieces).... His play of black and white with colour evokes classical design sketches, where the surroundings of a new building or a renovation are merely sketched out and colour is restrained. He brings attention to the extensions and highlights a paradox: these unauthorised annexations shape Pristina’s cityscape, yet they remain conspicuously absent from official depictions. ...
(Text excerpt by Merle Radtke)

[Quelle: Einladung]