Patrick Tuttofuoco and Andrea Anastasio on show in Tirana

“I VEGGENTI. Patrick Tuttofuoco and Andrea Anastasio” is the new exhibition organised by the Italian Embassy in Tirana, realised in collaboration with Harabel Contemproary Art Platform, on view from 21 July to 15 September 2021 at the ancient Villa in Ibrahim Rugova Street. The exhibition is realised by Arthub with the coordination of Francesca Bonomo of Capo d'Arte association. The curator Davide Quadrio describes the project as “long-term path of research and collaboration”. In fact, “I VEGGENTI” will evolve in 2022 into a permanent site-specific project, to testify and consolidate an artistic research in close dialogue with the city of Tirana. Fabrizio Bucci, the Italian Ambassador in Albania, explains that the initiative is aimed at “reinforcing the value of public art in Tirana and illustrating in a new way the link between Albanian history, mythology and contemporaneity.”

Patrick Tuttofuoco has been working for a long time in the public sphere, creating installations and architecture that narrate historical places from a point of view specific to contemporary pop culture. Andrea Anastasio works in the fields of design, architecture and visual arts, bringing performativity into works with philosophical implications. The exhibition is set up in an ancient villa, home of the communist nomenclature before 1991, and covers two floors. The first floor presents four works by Tuttofuoco, including Calypso, Laelia, Cambria, three precious ceramic masks produced thanks to Ceramiche Gatti, the exhibition's technical sponsor, and two works by Anastasio, including The Hours, a Venetian chandelier made by hand in Murano blown glass. On the upper floor visitors will find works that more directly evoke Albanian history and culture: Anastasio presents Attraverso-2021, a lace curtain narrating a story from a bas-relief, and Celibe-2021, a choir from Gjirokastra singing traditional Albanian songs, whose evocative singing is broadcast as part of the inaugural installation of CORA, Centre for Contemporary Arts, in Castrignano dei Greci. Anastasio's works surround Tuttofuoco's La Veggente (Andronigi Zenco), a tribute to the iconic and visionary Albanian artist.