Behind New Curtains
as part of the international arts festival
"Unter dem Pflug der Zeit"
(Under the plough of time)
Strellc, Kosovo, 2019
The Albanian word Kulla refers to fortified residential towers in the Western Balkans. This regional form of construction is found particularly in the west and south of Kosovo as well as in northern Albania.
The Kulla usually consists of two or three floors. The typical structure of a three-storey Kulla consisted of the stables on the ground floor, the utility rooms and bedrooms on the first floor - where family life took place - and the men's rooms on the upper floor. The entrance is usually not on the ground floor. Attached wooden staircases lead separately to the individual floors.
The concept of 'Behind New Curtains' involves spatial interventions to rearrange these hierarchical structures.
The carpet, which typically lies in the men's room, is spiked against the wall with pitchforks in the stables. On the upper floor a woman climbs the roof and on the top floor the hay from the ground floor is staged as an oversized bed.
The scenic installations throughout Kulla were staged during the festival.
