Back to the future: Kader Pagarusha
Curatorial by Albert Heta

8 - 11 October 2015

Venue:
Art Market Budapest 2015
International Contemporary Art Fair
October 8-11, 2015
Millenáris Cultural Center, Budapest
Building “B”, Booth G501

“Back to the future: Kader Pagarusha” is the IV and it is the last part of the exhibitions program of the project Back to the future. “Back to the future” is an interesting adventure of a past future. But it looks a begging of a future past.

Constructing the past is becoming a daily task in our new project of a country. Without  talking about the effort of the erasing machinery that is demolishing buildings, removing signs from buildings that mark significant part of the history of the Antifascist Struggle in Kosovo, changing names of remaining monuments or calling them with politically correct names before they are demolished, erasing memory of our cities and our history, emphasized in this part of the project is the effort in making us forget that this country once had an economy, a society and a well constructed and structured social welfare system.

From the biggining of 2009, “Back to the Future” shaped according the exhibition programme: Petrit Halilaj: Back to the Future (17/12/2009 - 6/2/2010), Back to the Future: Agim Çavdarbasha (11/3/2010 - 2/4/2010), Back to the Future: Nysret Salihamixhiqi (1/6/2010 - 22/6/2010) and Back to the Future: Kadër Pagarusha (4/9/2010 - 2/10/2010). The Director's Cut: Rexhep Ferri (5/4/2011 - 30/4/2011) was the last exhibition of the project " Back to the Future".

ART MARKET BUDAPEST, the international art fair established in 2011 presents a unique artistic composition in perhaps the most exciting exhibition halls in Europe, that, while it features some of the exhibitors welcomed even by the oldest art fairs, gives an emphasised presence to a younger generation of galleries and artists including the now emerging stars of the future.

ART MARKET BUDAPEST defines a new cultural region: YOUNG EUROPE, where we may find combined influences from the former Communist countries stretching from the Baltic States to the Balkans, and from such sources of cultural inspiration as Turkey or Israel in the South, countries of Central Asia in the East, or even a progressive new generation of artists from the already established West. And what can be more attractive than a fair that is GLOBAL AND LOCAL at the same time?

Exhibitors having arrived from over 30 countries and an audience of over 25 thousand international visitors clearly indicate that there had already been a demand in the art world for this new artistic platform to bring freshness to the European and global art scene.

Kader Pagarusha was born in 1946 in Prizren, Kosova. Since 1974 he lives and works in Brussels.
He finished The Secondary Art School in Peja (1961-1966).
He continued his education by graduating at the High Pedagogical School in Prishtina, Department of Visual Arts, class of professor Tahir Emra.
In the meantime, he worked as a designer at the Factory for Wallpapers 'Fazita' in Prishtina.

This factory and almost all other important carriers of economic growth and progress of Kosova today are inexistent. All of them, with few exceptions, faced the same grave destiny. After the majority of workers were laid off by the occupying Serb administration, after a General Strike launched on September 2nd 1990, their assets were looted and what was possible to transport taken away to Serbia. After the liberation in 1999, this factory and others founded during socialism either as a base organization of unified work, self-management unity of interest or other self-management organizations were sold cheaply through a highly suspicious process of privatization.

From 1967 until 1969 Kaderr Pagarusha worked as a technical editor at the department for publishing of magazines and books at Publishing Printing and Sales Enterprise Rilindja.

Rilindja for The Albanian National Awakening or the National Renaissance or the National Revival was also the only newspaper in Albanian published in Yugoslavia until the late 1980ties. Established in Prizren in 1945, later moved to Prishtina and initially printed at the facilities of the Municipal Printing house of the People's Front in Prishtina.

Important for the selected books, translations and other publications that was editing for the Albanian speaking market in Yugoslavia and beyond, this was also the house where almost every important dissident journalist, intellectual, activist later turned politician was nourished or could find a sanctuary..

On September 5th 1990, the occupying Serb administration closed down Rilindja.

The case of the destruction and erasure of Rilindja (1990-2010) is another classical case of working to erase not only of the history but also the evidence.

In 1969 Kader Pagarusha moves to Brussels and from the end of 1969 until 1971 he continues his education in Hight Studies for Painting at Academie Royale des Beaux Arts in Bruksel.

In 1971 he returns to Prishtina and continues to work at a technical editor at Rilindja.

In 1974 he returns to Brussels and continues his work in painting until 1982.

During this time he has several group exhibitions, including: Prix Breughel Bruksel 1975; Competition 'Louis Schmidt' Brussels 1981, House of Culture Woluwe Saint Pierre 1981 and a solo exhibition at the Belgium Consulate in Atlanta, USA (1979).

From 1986 until 1988 he continues his postgraduate studies at Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp, the class of professor Hugo Heyrman

From 1990 until 1991 he works in Paris.
His work was shown frequently in Brussels including Cobra Gallery (1994, 1997 and 1999), Gallery D'Egmont (1984), Gallery Triangle (1984), Gallery Pacific (1975), Gallery Tetra - Wavre (1983) and Instituut voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp (1985).

Kader Pagarusha was awarded in 1980 with Prix de Peinture 'Andre Toetenel' and in1985 with 'Karel Verlaat Price'.
His works are part of collections in USA, Israel, Great Britain, Ireland, Sweden, France, Netherlands, Japan and Switzerland.

My question is how long can we keep our eyes open?


Back to the future: Kadër Pagarush in Art Market Budapest was supported by Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Kosovo, DGZ and Art Market Budapest.