English

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Abstract

Grand Wizard Theodore Scratching

Bodies and machines are defined by function: as long as they operate correctly, they remain imperceptible; they become a part of the process of perception, as the extension of the action that engages the Self with the world.^[1]

1. What does “being a writer” in Albania mean?

In the history of the Albanian thinking the first document which deals in an explicit manner with the liberty of word is “The Canon of Lekë Dukagjini”, a medieval code which was and still is practiced in the north of Albania.

Christina Mitrentse (born 1977, Greece) began her Wounded Book series as a response to her contribution to the Inventory of Al-Mutanabbi Street project, organised by Beau Beausoleil in 2010, to reflect on the damage to humanity and the loss of material knowledge caused by the car bombing in Baghdad’s booksellers’ street on 5 March 2007. Being an artist who works in series, unsurprisingly this one has continued to grow, and it has since been added to Mitrentse’s own ongoing project initiative, Add To My Library, vol. III.

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What is a waterfall? A cascade of water tumbling over boulders, brilliant in the sun, beckoning backpackers with sturdy leather boots to climb into remote, magical valleys? Or inspiring tourists to follow road signs to popular, sublime spectacles, such as Niagara Falls. Or the path taken by droplets of moisture falling to the sidewalk from an air conditioner hanging out of the window of an eleventh-floor apartment in NYC.

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Looking up at the Westway[i] in London as it spans above my head, I find myself viewing it as a monument from a former time[ii], a time that promised an ambitious, permanent solution to fast auto-mobility, fuelled by cheap, limitless energy.

There was a sense of trepidation preceding a creative development trip to Australia’s remote Pilbara with some of India’s finest photographers, Ketaki Sheth and Bharat Sikka. My experience as a Curator working with the photographers illuminated the complexities of inter-cultural exchanges, but also the unexpected outcomes that can emerge.

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