The ideological dream of a unified Europe aims at achieving the (impossible) balance between the two components: full integration into the global market while retaining the specific national and ethnic identities. What we are getting in the post-communist Eastern Europe is a kind of negative distopian realisation of this dream - in short, the worst of both worlds, unconstrained market combined with ideological fundamentalism.

It's a fact now that after the 1990, with the fall of the "iron curtain" all over Eastern and Central Europe, Albania as well faced a completely new situation in every field of life. In a country where history of Art after Impressionism was prohibited to be taught and harshly condemned as dangerous the new situation of freedom was some kind of cruel shock, pitilessly including everybody. There, where the design of a simple geometric form on the canvas or a book of Van Gogh was considered a crime against the regime and enough to put the artist in prison, the wind of freedom brought a total chaotic situation in Art and Culture as well. A crazy rush towards abstract painting, as the only "prohibited fruit" known to Albanian artists, occurred immediately in the first years of this decade. It was due to this confusion that real and proper "new tendencies" took a while to find ground and take place. This started to happen mostly with artists of the youngest generation or those of the middle one. They either weren't affected too much or hadn't experienced at all the isolation of before, and were also very open and keen towards information and communication.

Therefore in the mid 90-ies, when in the wider world the new information and communication technologies were becoming a common thing, and new art trends were developing, in Albania the first video art works at all started to appear. It started in the Academy of Fine Arts where at that time a lot of creative energy was concentrated. Obviously the first ones to start with were the students. The first video works appeared from young guys, like Anri Sala, Ornela Vorbsi, Parid ╟efa, Eri Daka etc.

Of course these first steps didn't bring a burst out of video production, neither the formation of certain trends, but anyhow in exhibits of students and young artists, media art started to obtain a more and more important place. More young artists like Klod Agostini, Diti ╟apuni, Blerti Murataj, Heldi Pema, Genti Shkurti etc. started to deal with this new medium. Interest was raised not only in the narratives that it offered but in its aesthetics as well, developing thus video-installation relatively successfully. Diverse themes are being treated, varying from the social ones to the aesthetics of the medium, narratives of ephemerally to personal instability. Also a new narrative started to appear in Anri Sala's work which was developed towards documentary film, which he is dealing with very successfully recently.

It's a fact though that regarding one of the aspects of this meeting, that of the new technology, Albania is not the proper case. It is true that at the moment this technology is present around and I hope that artists find access to it very soon. Therefore the problem can be discussed and not only in principle. It is true that the impact of new technologies is definitely felt in Albania. Artists started to travel, see and get in contact, develop common projects etc. The promises of tearing down of the barriers were prompting lots of hopes and ideals. Everything spoken before about the ideological division coming from Socialism or Communism, was rethought in terms of the new freedom and democracy, projected for many years in the desire of at least Albanian artists. But unfortunately it turned out to be something not only as ideological as before, but even worse, since it happened in terms of the disillusion. The ideological and physical division imposed internally before, transformed into a real and physical new one, coming from outside and which is very active and makes things extremely difficult for us. After 1990 our "promised land" heightened and strengthened the walls that divide us, starting with those of their Embassies first. Obviously highly developed technologies of information and communication coming out of the computer progress, did change the scene. Of course considering our situation it can be considered a gate in the above wall, but a gate besides for opening is meant for closing as well. This even more when such developments are far from being a community phenomena or a well spread one. Their deployment in those territories which constitute the East side of Europe is still partial and rare. No doubt at all that it offers a lot of new possibilities, but its partial implementation instead of making your life easier, complicates it more, especially in terms of access to it. So here we come to a point where we find out that these aspects and the potential possibilities in principle offered by the new technologies, develop in a strange kind of globalism, a ridiculous one. Therefore the statement that "the old binarism West versus East, doesn't work any longer" seems to nice to be true. Even the nice and "challenging" term "the former East Europe", is nothing but a purely ideological faτade which when one tries to come across, finds his nose crushed on two big labels: "EU CITIZENS ONLY", and "NON EU CITIZENS". That seems to be the new hegemony, the hegemony of "new colonisation" from the powerful West, a colonisation that doesn't touch borders or governments, but markets and culture. Unfortunately it looks a lot like the vicious cycle which is trying to spread over as much as possible. But at the very end it is turning into itself and we still do not know if this is good or bad. (...)

There is one truth regarding one feature of the old binairsm, and it's got to do with the one of Capitalism versus Socialism. This really doesn't exist any more, because capitalism triumphed. It is precisely its triumph that brought about the new hegemony that of Globalism through technology.

The after 90-ies era, together with the above shift, brought about a lot of Westernising of culture and of art forms as well. It is right here that the problem of dissolution of stable local references pops up. And this fact stands not only for media or new media related production, but for all contemporary art forms.

The development of technology especially in the power centres of the West, seems to have increased the "old division" between "Reason" and "Emotion", or if not, at least to have redefined it. It maybe happened as a logical follow up in time of the same old discussion. Or maybe it happened because of the new reality, that of the database, which in principle is indifferent to narratives and sympathises more with the "Reason". Or maybe because database as the new form is more evident than its content, making it look all the same. (...)

In his booklet "The spectre is still roaming" Zizek periphrases it like this: "why are we from the "post-communist" Eastern European countries, the ones to assume the task of reinventing the way out of the vicious cycle of capitalism? Because we are compelled to live out and sustain the contradiction of the global capitalist New World Order at its most radical. The ideological dream of a unified Europe aims at achieving the (impossible) balance between the two components: full integration into the global market while retaining the specific national and ethnic identities. What we are getting in the post-communist Eastern Europe is a kind of negative distopian realisation of this dream - in short, the worst of both worlds, unconstrained market combined with ideological fundamentalism."

Indeed aesthetic and cultural production is presenting interesting new features, which in my opinion are based on the local references and not in their dissolution. It's precisely these local references which give a sense to the developing of art trends, and of course even to the application of sophisticated software. At this point the way in which the "dissolution" or redefinition of these local references takes place becomes important. If it takes place just for the sake of "compatibility" the product shall be nothing but aping or some kind of "smart art", interesting in the eyes of the Western curators, and the West in itself which still remains the power centre that sets the rules. If this redefinition is made for the sake of technology, or "because everybody is doing it", than it shall be nothing else but some boring computer games of quite a lower quality compared to those constructed in high powered electronic West. Therefore the territory becomes important. The cultural potentials not considered in terms of nationalism, fundamentalism or ethnicity, can become determinant for the redefinition of the "local references" in the new conditions of the changed aesthetic paradigms, or technological advance. So far nothing really hybrid has come out, but if the "redefined local references" shall be considered as a potential critical stance, something can be developed. Interest in the so-called marginal or emerging cultures is of course part of the same ideological infrastructure brought about by the triumphant system, the capitalism. But on the other hand it is favourable to us and useful to that system, which with its vicious cycle and inherent contradictions, crashed every big hope and promise, which itself inherently raised. This might be the case even with the technological boom and the promise for a new future, which seen in a historical context is nothing but a cyclic repetition at least of this century. It is for this reason that interest in the above mentioned "marginal" or "emerging" cultures is raised. This because a bigger diversity is generated and different cultural product is conceived. This helps not only the "former East; marginal cultures; post-communist countries" or whatever one can call them to redefine their situations, but it helps precisely what we call "the West", the conquering system, to redefine itself and try to find a way to continue. (...)

Edi Muka
Tirana, 28.01.1999