#159: Driant Zeneli

Friday, 17 April 2026, 24:00 | midnight—   add to calendar
BABYLON, big cinema hall, Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 30, Berlin
admission free and open to the public

How do we push the boundaries of our limitations without becoming superheroes? Can the realm of the possible be balanced with the one of the imaginary?

The redefinition of the idea of failure, utopia, and dream stands at the core of Zeneli’s research, as elements that open up possible alternatives. In his films, and video sculpture installations the representation of power, science, ecology and mythology. The fairy tales are interlaced with individual narratives, giving rise to utopias that subvert the natural order of things. The creative act feeds on unplanned encounters and the relationship with the architectural heritage of places.

Zeneli uses his films as a material to sculpt place and time. The performances take the form of participatory interventions, during which the artist con-creates the meaning of the work with the spectators.  The element of gravity resonates throughout the artistic production, be it films, drawings, or happenings, in a constant attempt to detach himself from the earth, to play with his own limits.

Since 2008, this artist has launched an art education project dedicated to the relationship between practice and pedagogical research, an investigation into the relationship between creation and education that intends to experiment with alternative practices to those carried out by public institutions. From time to time, the artist creates workshops for children focused on storytelling and uses tools such as electronics and robotics to understand our actions and boost our imagination.

Driant Zeneli (b. 1983 in Shkoder, Albania) lives between Tirana and Turin. He graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Macerata, Italy. 2001 – 2005 BA: Sculpting, and 2006 – 2008 MFA: Multimedia.

Among his solo shows are the National Gallery, Sofia, 2026; MSU, Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, 2025; National Gallery of North Ma Macedonia, 2022: National Gallery of The Republic of Kosovo, Prishtina (2019); Albanian Pavilion 58th International Art Exhibition – Venice Biennale, (2019); GAMEC, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Bergamo, (2019); Villa Medici, Rome (2016); GAM, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Turin (2013)

Among his group shows are the Kochi Muziris Biennale 6th, Kochi, (2026); EMST, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens,(2025); Sharjah Biennial 16, (2025); 15th Bienal De La Habana, (2024); Ruhr Triennale, Bochum (2024); Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi, (2024); Maxxi Museum, Rome (2023); Double Feature – Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (2023); Dhaka Art Summit (DAS), Dhaka (2023); 59th October Salon, Belgrade Biennale,(2022); Manifesta Biennial 14, Prishtina (2022); Teatrino Palazzo Grassi, Venice, (2021); 39th EVA International Biennial, Limerick (2020); Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, Riga (2019); Albanian Pavilion 54th International Art Exhibition – Venice Biennale, (2019); Autostrada Biennale, Prizren, (2019); Mostyn Gallery, Wales, UK (2017); MuCEM, Marseille, (2016) Centre Pompidou, Paris (2016); ZKM, Karlsruhe (2012); MUSAC, Castilla León. Spain, (2012); Prague Biennale 5 (2011); National Gallery of Albania, Tirana (2008).

pic: When Winds in Monsoon Play, the White Peacock Will Sweep Away, 2025 (film still) © Driant Zeneli, courtesy by the artist