Careof presents Fabrizio Bellommo’s “5 Heronjtë”: a dialogue between the artist and Adrian Paci, moderated by Matteo Baldruzzi. It begins with the artist’s stay in the ArtHouse of Shkodra, with the aim of investigating the controversial dynamics of Albanian history through the monuments’ story.

Fabrizio Bellomo spent an extended period in Albania, exploring the entire area: he met several sculptors of the socialist regime, including one of the main figures of the Albanian Socialist Realism, Mumtas Dhrami, in Tirana; through the majestic Kinostudio archive, he researched traces of the first moments and further construction. He wandered to locate the monuments that were required by the Hohxa regime and are still present in Shkodra, Durazzo, Tirana, Vig and Koplik. These monuments can be perfectly preserved, in ruins, or even replaced by other sculptures, as has happened in Shkodra, where the bronze statue of the patriot Luigj Gurakuqi took the place of a Stalin half-bust after 1990.

Researches have finally focused on the main story analyzed in this path: the statue of the 5 heroes of Vig, made by Shaban Hadëri and located in Shkrodra for several decades in various forms; then, it was moved over time to different places.

"5 Heronjtë” is the winning research of the Italian Council (10th edition, 2021), a support, promotion and development program of the Italian contemporary art in the field of the Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea (General Directorate of Contemporary Creativity) of the Ministry of Culture.

Image: the 5 heroes of Vig (Ferid Kola’s tale and Luan Shkodra’s painting) Fabrizio Bellomo 2022, courtesy of the artist.