DURRËS BIENNALE – Deutscher Pavillon

Musical installation / video art

Created by Claudia van Hasselt & Nicolas Wiese

Durrës International Biennale of contemporary art, Durrës/Albanien, curated by Oltsen Gripshi, October/November 2024

In cooperation with Goethe Center Tirana

FrauVonDa// at the Durrës International Biennial: two bodies of water, two artistic explorations. The work focuses on two endangered European bodies of water — marked by man-made ecological disasters. What happens when we begin to understand water as a medium of history, trauma, and hope? … When we start to look at bodies of water with a new sense of community?

At the invitation of curator Oltsen Gripshi and the Goethe Center Tirana, FrauVonDa// place their work at a special location, the medieval hammam in the center of the coastal city of Durrës. The day after the opening, Claudia and Nicolas conduct a poetic-investigative workshop with young adults on the seashore: What do we hear underwater, how do we translate it into drawings, how does it become a musical score, and how do we perform it solely with our mouths/bodies and the existing acoustic environment?

FrauVonDa// creates spaces for joint reflection, listening, and action — locally in Durrës, and across national borders.

▶ VIDEO: STURGEON 2424 (Life Usually Finds a Way)

Supported by: Goethe Center Tirana.