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| Pink clouds at our arrival in Tirana |
Wednesday
A day before travelling to Albania Wolfgang Müller decides to go for a haircut at Kottbusser Tor. He picks a random hairdresser and since he's early he is the only customer. The music is on. "Is it arabic music?" asks Wolfgang. "No, traditional Albanian music," the hairdresser says. It turns out he's Albanian. Edi moved to Berlin three years ago and speaks fluently German. He says that Albanian is a very difficult language, more so than German.
Thursday
Antoine Prum and his colleague Frank are also on the airplane to Tirana. They are making a documentary. Antoine is the director, Frank is the camera man, and the sound man is joining them in Vienna. Where is the costume person, I wonder, and who's doing the make-up? But then I guess it wouldn't be a documentary.
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| The camera team |
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| My moment of fame |
Upon arriving in Tirana, I tell Wolfgang the story of my last trip to the city. I was there to open the exhibition of Rosemarie Trockel as a representative of the Ifa (Institute for Foreign Affairs). A lot of press came because the president of Albania was also attending the opening, which was a big deal. This is how about 30 cameras were filming and photographing the opening talk of the president, followed by the speeches of the German ambassador and the director of the museum. Then it was my turn to talk about the content of the exhibition. As soon as I started to talk, the camera men lost interest and started packing up their cameras. My friend Ulli managed to take a picture just before the photographers realised I was going to talk about the art.
Friday
In Tirana I drink "kafe."
A young man and woman are having a coffee on the terrace of Dajti Mountain, called Ballkoni Dajtit. They speak English with a Dutch and a German accent. They are talking about their study plans. The young man wants to live in another country but he doesn't want to make his thesis topic depended of where he wants to live. But then he also doesn't know which topic he wants to study, which then would bring him to a certain city. The young woman tries to convince him that it's not so bad to adapt your thesis topic to the city you want to live in. The young man is still undecided when they leave the table.
On the mountain we see a "Gottesanbeterin" or Mantis religiosa, an insect who has the front legs in a kneeled pose as if it's praying. Wolfgang tells me that she eats her partner after copulation. We also see a bush accompanied by a sign that says "bush." I take a photo because it reminds me of Bush.
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| Wolfgang Müller at ZETA Gallery |
Albanians love their cheese. After the talk of Wolfgang at ZETA Gallery there is a reception with a lot of cheese appetisers. The cheese is sprinkled with green olive powder. The next day during my writing workshop I ask the students to write about the last art opening they visited. They should only talk about everything around the art while never mentioning the art itself. At least two students write about the cheese served at an opening.
Saturday
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| Writing workshop at ZETA Gallery |
"How is the Albanian voice?" I ask my students at the writing workshop at ZETA Gallery. "Loud," they tell me. Albanians talk so loud that they can't hear what their conversation partner is saying back.
Wolfgang shows me a giant mushroom sculpture that he photographed during a drive through the city. It is particularly ugly and the driver told him it was a present of Germany to Albania. "It looks like a Carsten Höller," I laugh. Later I find out that's true.
Sunday
Before we leave for the airport, Wolfgang and I return to the same restaurant we visited on the day we arrived: Puglia, in der Rruga Brigada VIII. We decide to take also the same dish as we did last time: fried sea food. It's surprising how fast one has routines. As Nietzsche said: “I love brief habits."
