Bardhi Haliti: May 25th is now October 1st

Graphic designer Bardhi Haliti will present and discuss his extensive image archive project of sports halls in Kosovo, developed while at the Jan van Eyck Academie.

In 1976 a sports hall was inaugurated in Pristina, Kosovo. The building, named "May 25" after the national youth day under socialism, was duplicated throughout six other cities in 1979. Following the tumultuous history of Kosovo under the former Yugoslavia and leading up to its independence, some of the names of these buildings were changed to mirror the more recent history of the country.

"May 25" was renamed to "October 1 Sports Hall" referring to the student protests from 1 October 1997 in which activists demanded the release of seized University buildings. In the city of Ferizaj the building was renamed to ‘Bill Clinton Sports Hall’ as a tribute to the American president, who was a key figure in ending the war in 1999. Not only did the names of the buildings change, but the structures themselves began to differ due to architectural interventions.

The lecture May 25th is now October 1st is presented within the framework of the exhibition Beton at Kunsthalle Wien.

Lecture in English

Admission EUR 2
Free with entrance ticket or annual ticket