Adrian Paci: Lost Communities

Emigration, being lost in a strange world, the search for a new identityand longing for things and people that have been lost form the central topics in the work of the Albanian artist Adrian Paci. The volume presents his iconic works which have earned him a world reputation. Adrian Paci emigrated from Albania to Italy with his family in the late 1990s. His own experience of flight, of giving up shared communities and his searching for a new identity have left their mark on his artistic work. Over the last 20 years expressive works have been created in the form of videos, photos, painting and sculptures which treat theseexistential experiences. The accompanying essays take up this politically topical subject and examine Paci’s oeuvre from various angles. An interview with the artist rounds out the volume.

Adrian Paci emigrated from Albania to Italy with his family in the late 1990s, escaping the political unrest of the Albanian uprising. The very personal experiences of flight, of giving up shared communities and having to search for a new identity, have left their mark on his artistic work. Over the past twenty years, those themes have found expression in the form of videos, photos, paintings, and sculptures that interpret these existential experiences. This book presents reproductions of a range of the iconic works that have earned Paci a global reputation, many of which center on themes of uncertainty. In one of his most well-known video works, Centro di permanenza temporanea (2007), a group of refugees wait on a set of stairs on an airplane tarmac—yet no airplane arrives. In the sculpture Home to Go (2001), a man carries the roof of a house on his shoulders. These stunning works and the accompanying essays take up the topical political subjects underlying Paci’s art and examine his oeuvre from various angles, while an interview with Paci and some of his personal poems round out the volume.