The exhibition “The Master and the Daughter” arrives to the public as one of the most special exhibitions of the artistic calendar of the Tirana Art Gallery. Vilson Halimi worked as a scenographer and costume designer at the Estrada of his country. His artistic creativity has a variety of genres. He has participated in many exhibitions and various artistic activities. His daughter Iriana (Halimi) Papamihali brings an exhibition ,twenty years after his death, to the public with a selection of the artist’s works over the years, part of the family fund. In this exhibition, the artist herself is presented with a special collection called “Tout L’univers”. The exhibition is curated by Anila Zajmi Katanolli. In the red hall and the white hall of GAT are the works of the master, while in the gray hall the works of the daughter.
This is considered as one of the most special exhibitions of the 2023 artistic calendar, for which the curator Anila Zajmi Katanolli says that the works of two valuable artists are presented. “The exhibition is a very important binomial, which should be recognized. The father and his daughter, two artists who have extraordinary value, especially Wilson who has been missed by the public. All his works are wonderful”, she says. The exhibited works of Vilson Halim started in 1956 and continued until the 90s. There are 66 work of art by Wilson Halim and 11 by his daughter. “The Master and the Daughter” has a variety of techniques. In the technique of drawing, pastel, mixed techniques, graphics. Various landscapes, portraits, etc., are part of the exhibition. But in the artist’s paintings, his daughter occupies a special place at different times, reading or painting. Some very beautiful graphics have been exhibited for the public , illustrationg the poem of “Misery” as well as oil painting. Above all, he was a sceneographer and there is no lack of work with concert sceneography over the years.
The exhibition curation
The curator Anila Zajmi Katanolli says that it was a special emotion while curating the “Master and Daughter” exhibition with authors Vilson Halimi (one of the most brilliant figures of socialist realism) and Iriana Halimi Papamihali, a colleague and former student of hers. Katanolli shows that in this presentation ,the public has the opportunity to enjoy unexhibited works and in a different artistic perspective of master Vilson in several techniques, genres and different fields of visual art, as well as the display of a cycle of oil paintings by Iriana “Tout L ‘universe’. “The special connection of the artists, father and daughter, runs through the entire essential and logical line of the exhibition, both emotionally, spiritually and artistically.
The Master’s piece of art
Curator Anila Zajmi Katanolli says that while preparing for the exhibition, she tried to understand things from their history or the way the painter worked. “Wilson has remained in the shadows for a long time, but he is a brilliant painter of socialist realism,with a lyricism and an aesthetic approach. He is a master. He was a very avant-garde scenographer in terms of concept, but also restrained, because the system had a negative impact on his artistic freedom. Few people have understood this. I had a strange feling when we opened the works of the collection. Wilson’s works are of all genres: scenography, graphics, pencil drawings, carbon, landscapes, compositions. But when I saw his work of art, I understood that that man suffered fr…
The idea about the exhibition
The painter’s daughter Iriana Halimi says that she has come up with this exhibition’s idea since long time ago. In the conversations with Anila Zajmi Katanolli, she says that she expressed her desire to open an exhibition with her father’s work, as well as her own. “Almost in these twenty years that he has not lived, he was left as if in obliviousness. Anila immediately supported my opinion and we started working together. All works in this exhibition are exhibited for the first time”, she says. Iriana says that the family fund is very important, but according to her,that it was the appropriate time for her to share her father’s work with the general public. “GAT opened its doors for the exhibition. The exhibited works date from 1956 which is the earliest piece of art up to the years after 90th of my father. “My father was my teacher,my guide on the path of art” she says. According to her , Anila’s job as a curator was to present a wide range of her father’s work in the exhibiotion,as he had many works in different genres. “This exhibition reveals his values,skill and elegance as an artist”says the painter’s daughter.
The connection between the artist and the painting
The connection of the artist with painting is early, since her childhood. Her father Wilson Halimi was her teacher and guide on the path of art, the master who taught her how to follow in his footsteps. In this exhibition, Iriana Halimi participates with a special collection called “Tout L’univers” and shows that it is with paintings inspired by satellite images of the Earth. These paintings present images from different parts of the globe, combined with the artist’s artistic techniques and style. According to her, this collection is the result of two years of work. “I called it “Tout L’univers”, which means “All the universe”. All these paintings are supported by satellite pictures of the Earth from above. It is Earth seen from above and each painting corresponds to a specific place. We have Romania seen from above, Brazil, Iceland, Kenya, glacial rivers in Iceland, etc. I have based it on the photos, but of course I have interpreted them in my own artistic way. I didn’t do this exhibition to be compared to him, but I am his continuation, since he was also my master”, she says. Iriana Halimi graduated in 1993 from the High Institute of Arts, sceneography department. She is currently an art teacher at the “Protagonists” school since 2002.
Translated by: Rozarta Molla
