SAHARA

SAHARA
Author: Abi Shehu
Publisher: Pararoja
Language: English
Pages:
Size: 18 x 28 cm
Weight: 80 g
Binding: Softcover
ISBN:
Availability: In stock
Price: €8.00
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Product Description

“In poor physical condition due to lack of preservation, Spac's graffiti, are brought by the artist, as almost archeological objects documented by photography. They are precious evidence of the history of buildings and the existence of people who suffered inside them. Although the graffiti seems to belong to the last years of the prison (1987-1990) and does not have a confirmed documentation, they manage to convey a kind of existential aura and introduce us to the psyche and imagination of the prisoner inside that prison, known for cruel conditions and extreme brutality. The aesthetics of these graffiti, apart from the historical and anthropological value that the building of the former Spac prison carries, does not stand outside an aesthetics of public graffiti, commonly found in 1980-90, in schools, dormitories, barracks, factories for which Foucault says that correspond to the regime of closed and organized environment (where prison is the most extreme environment) in function of production. This environment evokes rejection, resistance, avoidance. It is no coincidence that these images are mostly banal television stereotypes and revolve around sex, advertising, sports, foreign cinema, dangerous enemies of discipline and the official ideology of the political regime. Not coincidentally, we see among the graffiti, television sets, as the only windows from which they could be reached by the Albanians of those years”.
– Alban Hajdinaj

Pararoja is an independent publishing house founded by a group visual artists. Its publications are in the form of “zines” and their production is self-financed. This project was born during July 2020 in Albania and aims to evaluate the alternative editorial handling of the artist's book, fanzine, poster, and other self-produced materials.