Lumturi Blloshmi. From Scratch

Lumturi Blloshmi. From Scratch

"Lumturi Blloshmi. From Scratch" presents the first retrospective exhibition of Lumturi Blloshmi (1944–2020), an esteemed Albanian artist, in Kosovo. It follows her successful presentation at the 59th Venice Biennale as part of the Albanian pavilion in 2022. The National Gallery of Kosovo is honoured to host this extensive retrospective, showcasing a significant part of her half-century-old creative journey. The exhibition aims to present and reposition Lumturi Blloshmi's work and life within the context of national and international art histories. The selection comprises Blloshmi's works from the 1960s to the 2000s, including self-portraits, landscapes, portraits, painting compositions, photographs, and installations. These works reveal her aesthetic essence and personal reality and bring insights into the political and social context in which she created.

Like many artists of her generation, Lumturi Blloshmi adhered to the constraints of socialist realism until the late 1980s. However, in the 1990s, she distinguished herself as one of the few who successfully repositioned and transformed her work until passing. Her works in painting, photography, installation, and performance are marked by an ironic reflection and overcoming of the reality in which she lived. Her dynamic and self-aware personality, nourished by philosophy, poetry, sensibility, and spirituality, shaped a distinctive body of work.  

Drawing from previously unexhibited works, the exhibition aims to introduce the multidimensional practice and individualized metamorphosis of Blloshmi to the public. The display traces her artistic trajectory chronologically, highlighting the main themes: the individual context through Blloshmi's personal experiences that have become the main inspiration for the many Self-portraits; the Albanian context which she systematically analyzed, commented, and captured be it through the landscape paintings of the 1980s, the Exodus of the 1990s or the political transition of the 2000s; and ultimately the universal context as a concern with philosophical and spiritual aspects which her latest works deal with. All these expressions that nurtured her artistic practice reveal how Blloshmi continuously recreated the figure through imagination and experimentation in various mediums, achieving what she aptly described as "a distinct, tangible universe."

Blloshmi's impressive artistic practice, extraordinary biography, and powerful personality make her a unique and portentous figure in national and international contemporary art.

Despite facing various limitations, such as being deaf from the age of five, enduring oppression under the communist regime due to political reasons, and being a woman in a field dominated by men, Lumturi Blloshmi did not receive the recognition she deserved during her lifetime. The exhibition aims to shed light on her work and life, which have yet to be thoroughly researched, displayed, and contextualized.

Curated by Adela Demetja.