Adrian Paci

Born in 1969 in Shkodra (Albania), he lives in Milan (Italy).

An artist of Albanian origin based in Italy, Adrian Paci uses various media to look at the issues of immigration. Home to go (2001), a life-size sculpture of the artist carrying the roof of his house on his back, reflects the mixed feelings that are often directed at displaced sons. The reassuring metaphor of the human snail, carrying his house wherever he goes, dissolves and gives way to a more disturbing image: resting precariously on its side, like a pair of wings, the roof looks much more like a burden.

The video Albanians stories (1997) is a simple, spontaneous film of the artist’s daughter Jola telling what sounds like a fairy story. However, we soon realise that its image are taken not only from fable, but from current events. The child is no longer a storyteller but instead a witness of a traumatising war. Thus Paci’s intimate, personal film is resonant with History.