Adela Demetja



Adela Demetja (born 1984 in Tirana) is an Albanian independent art curator.

Adela Demetja is a curator, culture manager, producer and institution runner from Tirana, active in South East Europe and West Europe. Since 17 years she has been initiating and organising culture projects aiming at fostering regional collaboration in the art and culture sector in South East Europe. As an independent curator and culture manager, through exhibitions, culture events, articles she has been continuously promoting artists and art from SEE region, in Europe and the US.

Education
Demetja graduated with a Masters in Curatorial and Critical Studies from the Städelschule and the Goethe University Frankfurt, both located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Demetja is also trained as a painter and studied fine arts at the Academy of Arts in Tirana in 2006, and at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design in Karlsruhe

Career
As an independent curator, Demetja has curated numerous international exhibitions and collaborated among others with institutions like National Gallery of Arts Tirana, National Art Gallery of Kosovo, Maxim Gorki Theatre Berlin, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art] USA, Project Biennale D-0 Ark Underground Konjic,  Action Field Kodra Thessaloniki], Lothringer 13 Kunsthalle Munich], Villa Romana Florence, Haus am Lützowplatz Berlin]. She curated the Albanian Pavilion at 59th Venice Biennale represented by Lumturi Blloshmi. She is founder and program director of “Curating with Care” alternative educational program in curating] taking place in Tirana. She lives and works between Tirana and Frankfurt am Main.

As one of the founders of Tirana Art Lab – Centre for Contemporary Art, Adela Demetja has curated various contemporary art exhibitions in different venues around Tirana. TAL aims at promoting emerging and established artists and contemporary art from Albania as well as from Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe. The center is process and research oriented. Through different formats like, residencies, exhibitions, workshops, performances, lectures and talks, as well as research and publications, TAL has managed to create a space for emergent critical and reflective thoughts. The center initiates and supports new productions by national and international artists, and projects critically engaged with artistic, cultural and social issues of transitional and contemporary societies. From 2014 to 2018 TAL operated from an independent multifunctional space located in the centre of Tirana. Its unique laboratory consisted of an exhibition space, a space for artists in residence and an open public library of contemporary art books. Since 2018 TAL has been putting an emphasis on projects rooted in research and archiving, in relation to art in publics space (Tirana Floating Archive & Tirana Floating Tours) and highlighting the practices of women artists (Secondary Archive). In 2023 TAL initiated "Curating with Care" the first alternative educational program in curating in collaboration with Istituto Italiano di Cultura a Tirana.

Activity

 * 2007–2008 – As a fellow of the Robert Bosch Foundation in the Culture Manager from Central and Eastern Europe, Demetja worked as a guest curator at the Lothringer 13 – Städtische Kunsthalle München. She curated a number of international exhibitions and events in different European countries.

Exhibitions
Thematic exhibitions she has curated include:


 * 2023-2024 – Terminal for Tirana, art work in public space by Karolina Halatek in Tirana, Albania.
 * 2022 – Lumturi Blloshmi. From Scratch, National Gallery of Kosovo, Prishtina.
 * 2022 – Lumturi Blloshmi. From Scratch], Albanian Pavilion at the 59th Venice Art Biennale..
 * 2022 – Secondary Archive Albania, Online Platform for Central and Eastern European Women Artists.
 * 2021 – THOMAS WERNER: WANDBILD (FÜR JERG), permanent exhibition at The Institute for the History of Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
 * 2021 –  Ambitions with the curator Erëmirë Krasniqi, with Silva Agostini, Brigita Antoni, Bora Baboçi, Alma Bakiaj, Lumturi Blloshmi, Lirije Buliqi, Liljana Çefa, Donika Çina, Flaka Haliti, HAVEIT, Blerta Hoçia, Majlinda Hoxha, Shpresa Faqi, Fitore Isufi – Koja, Shelbatra Jashari, Ledia Kostandini, Edona Kryeziu, Hyrije Krypa, Iva Lulashi, Diana Miziri, Silvi Naçi, Matilda Odobashi, Greta Pllana, Edit Pula(j), Nurhan Qehaja, Alketa Ramaj, Miradije Ramiqi, Anila Rubiku, Merita Selimi, Marina Sula, Alije Vokshi, Eli Xoxa, Alketa Xhafa Mripa, Rudina Xhaferi, Violeta Xhaferi, Androniqi Zengo Antoniu, Sofia Zengo Papadhimitri, Valbona Zherka, National Gallery of Arts Tirana, Albania and the National Gallery of Kosovo, Prishtina.
 * 2020 – A for Unapologetic with Bora Baboçi, Diomen Boriçi, Eni Derhemi, Fatlum Doçi, Aurora Kalemi, Ledia Kostandini, Olson Lamaj, Ilir Lluka, Mirjana Meçaj, Greta Pllana, Alketa Ramaj including works by Vaska Emanouilova, Vaska Emanouilova Gallery and DOZA Gallery, Sofia Bulgaria, Organized by DOMA Art Foundation.
 * 2019 – NEXUS 2, time-based exhibition for the stage, with Olga Ziegner-Koppány, Daliah Ziper, Rena Rädle & Vladimir Jermic, Adela Demetja, YCA at Herbstsalon, Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, Germany.
 * 2019 – NEXUS 1, time-based exhibition for the stage, with Dante Buu, Adela Demetja, Raluca Croitoru, Emily Henderson, Adrian McBride, Selma Selman, Time Based Festival, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, Oregon, US.
 * 2018 – 9 hours away, times-based exhibition, with Silva Agostini / Chto Delat? / Anna McCarthy / Damir Očko, installation by Abigail Deville and audio conversation by Adela Demetja and Emily Henderson, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, Oregon, US.
 * 2016 – Focus: Ex-Yugoslavia and Albania, ViennaContemporary, Vienna Austria, works by young and established artists from these countries presented by the institutions: Igor Eškinja, Andrea Knezović, Neven Korda (Galerija Alkatraz, Ljubjana, Slovenia). Dalibor Martinis, Damir Očko, Dino Zrnec (Apoteka Space for Contemporary Art, Vodnjan, Croatia). Dusan Percinkov, Nada Prlja, Ilija Prokopiev (Serious Interests Agency, Skopje, North Macedonia). Milan Nešić, Slavica Obradović, Slobodan Stošić (Šok Zadruga, Novi Sad, Serbia). Lumturi Blloshmi, Alketa Ramaj, Aurora Kalemi Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art], Tirana, Albania.)
 * 2016 – Remembering in Form, with Wiebke Grösch & Frank Metzger, Ksenija Jovišević, Ilir Lluka, Damir Očko, Simon Speiser, George Steinmann, Gallery Heike Strelow Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
 * 2015 – D-0 Ark Underground, Third Edition of International Project Biennale, Konjic, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Participating Artists: Dante Buu, Leone Contini, Documentary Embroidery, Effi & Amir, Helidon Gjergji, G.R.A.M., Tue Greenfort, Wiebke Grösch / Frank Metzger, Flaka Haliti, Marlene Hausegger, Dritan Hyska, Adela Jušić, Johanna Kirsch, Elvedin Klačar, Damian Le Bas, Delaine Le Bas, Ralo Mayer & Oliver Gemballa, Anna McCarthy, Damir Očko, Nikolay Oleynikov, Alketa Ramaj, Selma Selman, Mladen Stilinović, Sylvia Winkler & Stephan Köperl.
 * 2015 – Titled, with Khaled Barakeh, Viola Bittl, Lena Ditlmann, Christoph Esser, Young Joo Lee, Att Poomtangon, Gallery Heike Strelow Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
 * 2013 – 100 km Art. Tirana/Shkodra Public Art Parcours. An art exhibition on the road between Tirana and Shkodra with works by Nikolin Bujari, Kueng Caputo, Ledia Kostandini, Matilda Odobashi, Guadalupe Ruiz, Susanne Schär & Peter Spillmann, Studio 203 & Romeo Kodra, Johannes Willi, Albania.
 * 2013 – The Aesthetic of the Small Act with Armando Lulaj, Att Poomtangon, Jens Haaning, Karmelo Bermejo, Flaka Haliti, Lana Cmajcanin, Tessaloniki, Greece.
 * 2012 – Voices of Truth with Adrian Paci, Ibro Hasanovic, Damir Ocko,Damir Ocko, Villa Romana, Florence, Italy.

Personal life
Demetja lives and works between Tirana and Frankfurt am Main.