Contours of Contemporary Kosova December 29, 2012

Istanbul Modern hosts a day of the festival Contours of Contemporary Kosova, which brings together artists, activists, musicians, theorists of the newest country of Europe. The festival aims to represent the Kosovo’s cultural values through art, films, music, presentation and talks, and creates a platform of interaction among the artistic communities of the two countries.

Saturday, 29 December 2012

12.00 DokuFest and Prizren

The Artistic Director of the International Documentary and Short Film Festival – DokuFest, Veton Nurkollari will present the activities of their organization. Nurkollari will focus on the effect of Dokufest, the second biggest film festival of the Balkans, on the development and cultural consumption of the historical city Prizren, and their future plans.

14.00 Short Post-War Films

This selection of six short films produced in the 1998-99 post-war Kosovo takes a look into the rising film scene of the country. Telling stories on the country’s new flag and how it is perceived by its citizens, ancient custom of men’s lament on funerals, divided communities sharing a single school building separated by a wall or a struggle of a couple to come to terms after being separated for a long time due to a war, this program brings together some of the most promising talents working in Kosovo today.

PROGRAM*

SI QENI N’RRUSH / LIKE DOG IN A VINEYARD

Driton Hajredini, Yll Çıtaku, 2010, 27’

KOLONA / COLUMN

Ujkan Hysaj, 2012, 22’

ZID (MUR) / THE WALL

Nikola Polic, 2012, 25’

I KUJT ËSHTË FLAMURI? / WHOSE FLAG IS IT?

Barış Karamuço, 2012, 14’

PORTRETI I HUMBUR / MISSING PORTRAIT

Lulzim Zeqiri, 2011, 22’

NUSJA JONË / OUR BRIDE

Yll Çıtaku, Nita Deda, 2011, 4’

*With English and Turkish subtitles.

16.30 Artist Talk: Sislej Xhafa

Kosovar contemporary artist Sislej Xhafa's talk at Istanbul Modern will engage the public in a dialogue as he addresses some of the key themes of his artistic practice. In his performances, installations and interventions Xhafa interrogates and disturbs social, economic and political rituals and institutions to reveal contemporary, global and cultural power structures. In works as diverse as the clandestine Albanian pavilion at the Venice Biennial, stealing from a Moroccan immigrant in Italy or employing people to push through a mirrored bus in Istanbul, Xhafa deals with issues of representation, value systems, labor, borders and mobility through spectacular or subtle but poignant, provocative and visually engaging gestures.