ARTiFact Project Ex Automobile Plant of Tirana

PROJECT STATEMENT

These photos are part of a photography project called ARTIFACT, where I photograph the industrial heritage (in Albania). In this series, I’ve photographed the abandoned Automobile Plant (of Tirana) that was constructed during communist period. Like many other industries, they mark the industrial period in Albania, that couldn't survive in the post communist age, because were not found to be efficient any more. In photographing the old machineries, I try to search for other values and meanings: CAN THE WORK BE SEPARATED FROM THE IDEOLOGY AND POLITICS THAT CREATED IT? With the fall of the system, the factories that were created were stripped off the moral that made them function. But when the photos were exhibited in public, they evoked personal memories of people that worked there. The machineries were part of their lives, and of their youth. The grandparents needed to show to the younger generation where they have worked and what they have produced…The machineries were the only testimony and served as a bridge of communication between generations. Few months after I've photographed the machineries, they were taken to be melted. None of them exist anymore, except in photography.

HISTORY OF THE PROJECT

ARTifact is a photography Project in the environments of Ex-Automobile Plant of Tirana (Albania). From 2013-2014 I’ve photographed the ruined machineries and abandoned industrial spaces, few weeks before the machineries were gone forever to be destroyed. A closer look in the industrial technology before it gives place to the new economy. Their photography is the epilog of the industrialisation period in my country, where huge industries were built during socialism that couldn't survive in the post-industrial era.

The Automobile Plant of Tirana used to produce spare part for vehicles and tractors and served as an assembly plant from 1966 till 1990. There were 12 production units arranged in a surface of 300,000 meter square. The general number of employees was 4100 and there were 3600 workers. From the beginning, in 1966, until the total enclosure there may have worked around 24,000 workers. In the moment of our visits 2013-2014, there were only 20 workers in the last production unit, producing spare parts for vehicles, and other 4-5 Units in the state of abandonment, with ruined machineries. The project is untitled ARTiFact because the photographed objects carry different meanings and values nowadays.  They bring the story of their rise and their failure too.

“This series is very interesting and timely. It addresses a specific past while also bringing up universal questions of humanity and labor and the very real concerns for the future economy in a post-industrial world.
The images themselves are very well made. The even toned, open exposure allows the viewer to study almost every detail within the images from highlight to shadow, which works well for this type of content. It doesn't drive the viewer toward a specific emotional response, rather allowing for a calm contemplation. The color palette is consistent and works to enhance the sense of decay in the spaces. The images of specific machines have a quality somewhat similar to Bernd and Hilla Becher's works, elevating these machines in a sculptural, almost monumental way.

The stories of an older generation for whom the machines have a very personal meaning and history makes viewing these photographs even more interesting, and sets my mind to thinking about deindustrialization across the globe. As these images depict something specific to late communism in Albania, the also predict a future for many in late capitalist economies elsewhere, giving them a further poignance.”

MAGNUM AWARDS 2017 REVIEW

in albanian

Projekti ARTifact e ka zanafillen ne vitin 2013, kur per here te pare vizitova mjediset e braktisura te ish Kombinatit te Autotraktoreve Tirane. Duke parë sallat dhe makineritë e rrënuara, me lindi ideja të dokumentoja në fotografi atë çfarë kishte mbetur nga ky gjigand i madh industrial, i tkurur tashmë në 4-5 salla me makineri të braktisura dhe një repart te fundit me 20 punetore. Në këtë mënyrë u zhvilluan 2 cikle fotografike. E para dokumentimi i sallave te braktisura dhe i portreteve te makinerive dhe objekteve te gjendura. Dhe e dyta, portretet e punëtorëve të fundit të Kombinatit. Kohezgjatja e fotografimit zgjati deri në mars 2014, kohë gjatë së cilës sallat u boshatisën dhe makineritë e mbetura shkuan për skrap, ndërkohë që reparti i punëtorëve vazhdon punon akoma, si dëshmia e fundit e Kombinatit të Autotraktorëve.

Motivimi im ishte te flisja per kete industri te periudhes socialiste, e cila mori energjine e nje numri te madh projektuesish, inxhinieresh dhe punetoresh. Ajo eshte pjese e nje morie uzinash dhe fabrikash qe u ndertuan ne vitet ‘45-90, qe shenon periudhen e Industrializimit te Shqiperise.  Ashtu si Industrite e tjera te kesaj periudhe, ato jane rezultat i Idealizmit dhe Ideologjise se kohes per te ndertuar nje shoqeri me te mire. Por duke punuar ne kushtet e nje izolimi dhe propogande te eger  komuniste, ato nuk munden te pershtaten me ndryshimet e ekonomise pas viteve '90. Fati i tyre ishte privatizimi, ndryshimi i destinacionit, braktisja dhe shkrirja e makinerive. Qellimi i fotografimit te sallave dhe makinerive te braktisura eshte fiksimi ne fotografi i efektit kohe, duke shpresuar se ne kete menyre objektet flasin per historine e tyre: per projektuesit qe i ideuan, punetoret qe i vune ne pune, si dhe forcat qe shkaktuan prishjen e tyre... 

Fotografimi e tyre eshte Epilogu i Periudhes se Industrializimit ne Shqiperi!