But you, yourself, with your own hand must open this door, after a line from the poem Dera magjike (The Magic Door) writ­ten by the Yugoslavian poet, Mira Alečkovic´ in the 1940s, is dedicated to a generation of young artists who live in Kosovo and Albania or whose origins can be traced back to these coun­tries. Although these two countries are united by a common language and shared traditions, they are also constituents of a larger geographical region with a complex and conflict-laden history characterised by ethnic, cultural and political differ­ences. How do contemporary questions of identity and belonging play out in this geopolitical context and what can we learn from it?

The exhibition presents works by artists born in the early 1990s who strive to contribute to the shaping of the future while dealing with our fragile present, which is currently once more defined and riven by a mindset of division. Since the late 1990s, the USA have been present in Kosovo—politically, through USAID, the American development program, and numerous NGOs. This presence is also visible in daily life, for example in streets and squares named after U.S. figures. However, budget cuts at USAID have increased the risk of potential instability.

But you, yourself, with your own hand must open this door aims to use a range of artistic strategies to provide different points of view on a region that is equally on the periphery and at the centre. For artists in the ethnic diaspora, the region itself is associated with both a diffuse sense of nostalgia and cross-generational trauma; for the local scene, it represents an inspiring resonance chamber that – with its borders, con­straints and conditions – simultaneously differs and separates itself from the permeability of a European cultural landscape.

The poetic title of the exhibition with its insistent, threefold direct address (you, yourself, your own) immediately sets up a mode of individualisation and invokes our shared personal responsibility and agency amid a host of global is­sues, strife and conflicts. The stories, biographies and myths collected here, in which it is often impossible to draw dis­tinct boundaries between political and private spheres, gener­ate narratives that are as coherent as they are contradictory, thus opening up an important arena for ambiguity and the toler­ance thereof. At the same time, visitors are directly addressed and invited to approach the artists and their respective sto­ries and thereby embark on a journey to a region that seems geographically close but often remote in our minds.

The exhibition was shown last year at the Westfälischer Kunstverein in Münster and was initiated and co-curated by Kristina Scepanski, who was then the curator at the Kunstverein. The presentation in Braunschweig was adapted to the spaces of the Villa Salve Hospes and was supplemented by additional artistic positions and works.

Artist

EDONA ADEMI, DJELLZA AZEMI, ANJESA DELLOVA, ENVER HADZIJAJ, BLERTA HAZIRAJ, BRILANT MILAZIMI, LEART RAMA, ABI SHEHU, DARDAN ZHEGROVA

Curator

CATHRIN MAYER

Supported by

Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo