Untitled (2024–2025), 5th Autostrada Biennale

Unfolding Currents: The Pulse of Time highlights the dynamic interplay between artists, artworks, audiences, and the rich historical context of Prizren, Kosovo. A city layered with architectural and cultural history, Prizren serves as a living repository of the country’s heritage.

In its tenth year, Autostrada Biennale adopts a situated approach, inviting artists from various generations and geographies to engage deeply with a number of the city’s historical sites. By reimagining past works and commissioning new projects, this edition fosters a vibrant dialogue in the present while critically reflecting on the past.

Unfolding Currents: The Pulse of Time embodies the spirit of this dialogue. The phrase “Unfolding Currents" evokes the continuous evolution of historical and artistic narratives, while “The Pulse of Time” captures the rhythmic, persistent nature of these transformations. This title emphasizes the biennale’s active engagement with the layered contemporary moment we inhabit.

Situated along the Prizren River, the city of Prizren is composed of many pasts and presents. Formed over millennia by a retreating glacier, Prizren, now the second-largest city in Kosovo, lies at the foothills of the Sharr Mountains. Bronze Age fragments have been uncovered around the city’s historical fortress. Byzantine churches sit alongside significant Ottoman mosques and residences. Many examples of Yugoslav infrastructure remain in use, while evidence of the Kosovo War leaves no surface unmarked.

The exhibition unfolds across several historical sites, from the Clock Tower and Shani Efendi House to Gazi Mehmed Pasha Hammam and beyond. Many of the featured projects are already taking shape. This announcement invites readers and future visitors on a journey through key sites where they can encounter these projects in formation.

Artists: Blerta Hashani, David Fesl, Brilant Milazimi, Anita Mucolli, Doruntina Kastrati, Stephanie Rizaj, Edin Zenun, Robert Gabris, Armend Nimani, Elena Narbutaité, Silva Agostini, Small but Dangers, Hassan Khan, Laurent Marschal, Tao G. Vrhovec Sambolec, Nika Span, Rivane Neuenschwander, Nathan Coley, Vadim Fishkin, Tamara Grcic,, Ayse Erkmen, Alije Vokshi, Lois Weinberger, Simon Shiroka. 

Curator: Erzen Shkololli