Exploring the struggles, opportunities, and contrasting realities faced by emerging artists in North Macedonia and Albania
Original article was published HERE.
Young visual artists often navigate through a maze of challenges as they strive to find their place in the energetic art world.
Due to insufficient institutional support and information on accessing funding, these young creatives find themselves at a crossroads between artistic integrity and commercial viability, leading a battle to showcase their work and gain recognition.
What are the opportunities for young artists in Macedonia and Albania, can they get adequate education, access to art exhibition spaces to present their creation and build their own career, we learn from the perspectives of the Macedonian printmaker and visual artist Stefan Mladenovski and the Albanian multimedia artist Redina Qose.
Mladenovski is only 28 years old, and he already has a master’s degree in graphics and is the winner of three national awards. He received his education at the Faculty of fine arts (FLU) in Skopje and has so far held 8 solo and over 30 group exhibitions in the country and abroad. He is considered a promising, attractive and talented author, who is a part of the younger generation of printmakers in Macedonia, and since 2020 he is also a member of Association of Artists of Macedonia (DLUM). A medium through which he can fully express himself is paper, and next to the fact that he is a printmaker, lately he has been more and more devoted to drawing and even painting techniques.
Young Redina Qose from Albania, on the other hand, graduated in Multimedia at the University of Arts in Tirana in 2019. Her visual and conceptual art takes up a variety of media – from drawing, painting, photography, video art, to performance and installation. She strives to create works that challenge the “status quo” situation and that provoke thought about the ways in which we interact with and influence each other. Until 2022, she was a part of the Tek Bunkeri organisation as a manager of art and creation activities, and currently she is continuing with practice in education at the Art and Creativity Center “Trekendor” in Tirana.
As with many young artists, their artistic dream also began with inspiration, but now both admit that the road to success is difficult and full of obstacles – from accessing education, securing funds to the relentless pursuit of visibility in an overcrowded market.
Both agree that in both countries there is a gap between the artistic community and state support for young artists. But while in Albania the lack of cooperation starts from the limited access to quality art education and mentoring, to the lack of funding for appropriate programs and art projects, in Macedonia the problem is mostly focused on administrative barriers, little financial and organisational support. Qose points to the lack of specialised art schools and institutions that offer comprehensive art programs, while Mladenovski is satisfied with the quality of education and mentor support in his home country, which helped him a lot in shaping his personality. His only objection is that, while he was a student, it was not possible to learn some of the basic graphic techniques at all due to the lack of equipment and basic materials.
“In my case, things worked out well. In high school, I had excellent teachers from whom I learned the basics of the profession and who always knew how to build a relationship with students. During my college days, however, I had mentors with whom I built an excellent relationship that still lasts, and whose guidance helped me a lot to fulfil myself from an author’s point of view”, explains Mladenovski.
However, he says, none of this would be a reality if he didn’t have a personal interest in progressing and a desire to achieve personal expression. The main challenge he faced as a young artist in Macedonia, especially in terms of access to quality educational and artistic resources, was the bureaucratic procedures.
“It was always a challenge for me to deal with those piles of documents, requests, applications, especially during postgraduate studies, and then when I applied with projects in the ministry, I realised in the end that it is not worth the effort in terms of the finances that would be given,” emphasises this ambitious artist.
“But despite all of that, I continued with the activities that can bring benefit to a person who deals strictly with some kind of art, so this year I applied for the independent artists status for the first time, and I got it”, says Mladenovski.
According to him, these problems are the reason why some young artists give up on their artistic dreams, and it is a big burden that the author is not only dedicated to the creation of his works, but also has to prepare exhibitions himself and manage and organise everything. From materials, framing, photography of the works, preparation/printing of catalogues and promotional material, social media posts, transportation and everything else, it all goes through the artist’s hands.
Mladenovski is also irritated by certain situations in Macedonian artistic circles.
“My worst experience was when, without notice, they cut short my master’s exhibition set up in the FLU Gallery by half of the planned duration, right at the end after spending six years at the university,” the artist recalls.
For him, it is also questionable that there are still cases of artists receiving recognition from abroad first, and only after that their work is valued in our country. On the other hand, he says, there are cases when completely unknown and low-quality names from abroad come to us, and to us it can seem as if that someone is “God”.
“Therefore, it is a great challenge to remain persistent when you see what is happening in the circles in which you move and work, the personal interests of certain individuals are evident everywhere. There are many negative sides,” says our interlocutor.
Albanian artist Qose is also disappointed by the insufficient cooperation of public institutions with young artists. In her opinion, the Albanian art education system can give them more support by improving infrastructure and resources, including study spaces and technology, as well as by opening up more interactive and modern teaching methods and informal, non-academic programs.
“These institutions should be more open to cultural and artistic exchanges, providing students with more opportunities. Encouraging collaboration between educational institutions, cultural organisations and the industry can provide students with practical experience and networking opportunities, preparing them for their careers in art,” the multimedia artist believes.
The barriers they encounter often put young artists at a crossroads, torn between the pursuit for their passion and the harsh realities of the industry. But despite the limitations that stand in their way, as persistent individuals they continue, driven by a burning desire to leave their mark on the world scene.
Mladenovski was relatively “lucky” to have the doors of exhibition spaces open to him, which he believes is due to the quality he showed as a young author. He highlights the Youth Cultural Center in Skopje, where in that period exhibitions of young people were very actively organised in which he was also involved, and in 2019 and 2020 he organised his first two independent exhibitions here. The last two exhibitions, on the other hand, he realised in 2023 at the Cultural Information Center and the Open Graphic Studio at the Museum of the City of Skopje, which he was invited to, and he considers it a great success. As one of the promising young artists who has successfully established himself on the Macedonian art scene, he is already making his way into the artistic circles in the neighbouring countries.
“One of the latest pleasant experiences was the stay at the artistic residency in Kosovska Mitrovica, organised by the private cultural centre “Aquarius”, where I also presented myself with an independent exhibition. There was an excellent organisation and new acquaintances, which will certainly result in new cooperation in the future,” explains Mladenovski, who, from his experience so far, notes that fine art for nuance is being put on a higher level there.
What is important for both artists from Macedonia and Albania is to have as many study exchanges, scholarships for staying abroad, allocating real funds to finance projects, providing exhibition space, as well as networking with young people on the international artistic scene. According to Albanian artist Qose, presenting the work on the global scene not only increases the audience, but also exposes you to different artistic perspectives and influences. Mladenovski confirms the same.
“It is good to go abroad, to change the environment, you encounter different criteria and greater competition, and that leads to greater personal development. We have a small scene here, the author should be careful not to fall into monotony,” says Mladenovski.
Both he and Qose agree that competitions, calls for international biennials and triennials should be pursued as a way to make contacts, and with that, new opportunities. As an example, they mention the neighbouring countries and the region where solid funds are allocated for the prize fund, while in our country, as Mladenovski points out, there are several graphics events, but there are no monetary prizes that would be of great importance for young authors.
“It would be of serious help if there was a state facility with ateliers that would be assigned to authors for a specific period of time, who have achieved some sort of success or something similar.” says our artist.
But unlike him, who sees his future in his country, Qose, due to the limited opportunities in Albania, plans to continue her improvement and creativity abroad.
“Alongside an appropriate educational program, one of the main motivations for improvement (myself) abroad is the opportunity to immerse myself in a new artistic environment. Experiencing different cultural contexts, artistic traditions and approaches to creativity can significantly enrich my artistic practice” says Qose.
Mladenovski, on the other hand, is determined to survive and succeed on the Macedonian art scene, then abroad, and to reach a serious market, even though he knows that it is complicated. His original works are becoming more recognizable in the art community, and he recommends other young artists to recognize quality and low-quality, to have a constructive approach and critical thought, as well as their own attitude in order to know how to defend their work and not fall under wrong influences.
Authors:
Zaklina Cvetkovska, North Macedonia
Lauresha Basha, Albania
