This publication collects writings on the art scene of Kosovo over the past twenty years. In the 1990s Kosovars felt the urgency to shape their own scene: in a search for identity, for nation building, in continuing or ending political conflicts, by trying to find a language to grasp recent social and political developments, or simply by continuing their practice in new, unstable times.

“I Have Left You the Mountain” presents ten new texts written by contemporary writers and thinkers on the architecture of displacement. These texts have been set to music and sung by some of the last remaining groups of Albanian iso-polyphonic singers, an art form now protected as “intangible cultural heritage” by UNESCO.

Published in conjunction with Flaka Haliti’s solo presentation conceived for the Kosovo Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale, this book continues the artist’s invitation to encounter a visual field in which territorial boundaries are referenced and mediated by the sensory. Through the use of a saturated blue color altered by light and demarcated by architectural forms, the installation at the Venice Biennale reflects on the salient concept of the border.

Combining evocation and documentation, Lulaj concentrates on a historic-political phase that was extremely important for building an identity that was not just Albanian but also international.

Art Always Has Its Consequences is a collection of manifestos, critical texts, and writings addressing public issues written by artists and artist groups from Eastern Europe between 1947 and 2009.