When I was born, I had no name, surname, nationality, citizenship, gender! I am still that one that was before! Am I!? Unseen wounds cracked my inner skin. Borders paralyzed my wishes. (Qëndresë Deda, excerpt from Monologue, Dialogue, Trialogue).
Qëndresë Deda is the 2018 Award winner of the Artist of Tomorrow Award.
In her practice, Deda combines different media, photography, drawings, writing and design, to video, often putting herself in a role of an object and a subject simultaneously. Although her works appear to be very personal, intimate even, she deals with the phenomena of her immediate surroundings, as she describes it. When using photography she treats the camera as a mirror. The photographs from the D series, made over a period of five years, documents and depicts wishes, dreams, fears and nothingness. She mostly used Facebook space to present them.
In her recent performance “What are the Words” presented at the 19th International Feminist and Queer Festival Red Dawns, Deda created “a sound utopia of a real space inside and outside oneself”, where she intertwined personal writings, poetry and graffiti, questioning identity, freedom and restrictions that are imposed on people in present-day society.
Qëndresë Deda’s works have been shown in several solo and group exhibitions including: Galerija 7:069: S02EO1 – group presentation Trubarjeva hiša literature – 5. 11. – 15. 11. 2018, Second, third, fourth and fifth DIY Cabaret: Feminizem ni šala! – Cirkusarna NaokROG ,“Dance piece!” May –October 2018, Svetlobna gverila ALUO (smer video in novi mediji): Sladke barve / Sweet Colours, group presentation, May – June 2018, 7th – 11th March 2018 – Visual image representing the festival, Galerija Nočna izloba Pešak, KUD Mreža Qëndresë Deda: Kaj počnejo besede? March 3 – March 17 ⋅ 19th International Feminist and Queer Festival Red Dawns, FINDING KOSOVO A quest for identity, Exhibition June 14 – June 28 2017 ⋅ Atelierhaus Salzamt, Obere Donaulände 15, 4020 Linz, Austria, NSK State Pavilion –
Group exhibition at Pallazo Ca’Tron, Venice; Artists of tomorrow Award (finalist) – Stacion CCA Prishtina, 2016, Biennial of graphic arts Ljubljana ( 28 August – 3 December 2015), Do you want something sweet? – Obalne galerije Piran (group exhibition) May 2015, Hajde! (Part II) Exchange program for young artists from Kosovo at Villa Romana – March 2015, Artists of tomorrow Award (finalist) – GAK – 2014, Here And There, solo, March 27. 2014 – April 25. 2014 – Cultural Center Tobacna 001 – curator: Alenka Trebušak, Selection of artists from Kosova, It Doesn’t always have to be beautiful unless it’s beautiful, Muslim Mulliqi Prize , Gallery of Arts of Kosova,30.05.2012 – 30.07.2012 , curated by Galit Eilat & Charles Esche, May 2012, Prishtina, AFTERMATH – CHANGING CULTURAL LANDSCAPE – Tendencies of engaged Post-Yugoslavian Contemporary Photography, Alone together: photography and the other, Gjon Mili Prize, Gallery of Arts of Kosova, 13.09.2013 – 13.10.2013, curated by Frits Gierstberg, Prishtina,The XV Biennale de la Mediterranée – Symbiosis – Thessaloniki 2011, D with Qendresa Deda – Curatorial by Albert Heta – 16/12/2010 – 29/1/2011, Tetris – Space for Manipulation, Prishtina, Right Turn – Turn Right, curated by Lulezim Zeqiri, Traffic Gallery, Perspektiva 2010, curated by Erzen Shkololli.
Support: Qëndresë Deda’s residency is made possible with support from the Trust for Mutual Understanding.
