Qengjat e Vegjel

Doreida Xhogu is presenting part of her experiential and multidimensional work entitled “Qengjat e Vegjel'' (trnsl. “The Little Lambs'') borrowing its title from a traditional Albanian children's song. Χhogu's work includes sculptural installations and videos and establishes a dialogue between each other and thus composing an emotional and fragmented narrative of memory and loss.
Traveling back and forth to the village of Selenice in southwestern Albania where the artist was born and raised, Xhogu creates artworks with materials such as tar produced in the village’s mine. These mineral products are the main source of income and thus essential for the survival of the local community. Her creative process is entwined to the factory itself and her fellow villagers who are engaged in the creative process and therefore having an impact on its
outcome.
The practice of Xhogu is apparent in “Qengjat e Vegjel” itself. It is an ongoing process that deals with both the concept of a meteoric identity, as well as issues of loss, individual and collective oral histories. The materials, in Xhogu's hands, become living witnesses of an internal search for meaning: they acquire a new purpose and a ritualistic dimension. They communicate, they grieve and they offer opportunities to heal.