Part Two
Erëmirë Krasniqi: I would like to go back to you and the Gallery, how did it happen that you decided to study sculpture?
Lirije Buliqi: Well, now I had two years of experience at the Gallery and I dropped my studies. I did not have time to study law. The late Engjëll Berisha noticed my talent, I would draw or browse art books and catalogs. He saw some of my drawings that I did for myself in my free time, and he encouraged me to enroll at the Academy of Fine Arts. Though I felt bad at the time, because I thought, “All the professors of art are at the Gallery, and they would think…” I was afraid of being perceived as taking advantage of that. Back then we had different work ethics.
Finally I decided, I applied, it was a five-day entry exam, I worked hard, I was highly evaluated and admitted. I chose sculpture because I like rough materials, clay and similar. Perhaps it’s something I have from my childhood, we did not have toys, and we played with mud. But I got in, and now the issue was whether they will approve of me attending the lectures with the full-time students. I was fortunate that I found understanding with the director and he approved it, of course, in the presence of all staff members who expressed…
Erëmirë Krasniqi: They agreed?
Lirije: They agreed that, if need be, to replace me at work for an hour, an hour and a half, while I’m attending the lectures. I graduated on time, it was good, I really liked it. We worked hard, though the work conditions were really poor. At the Academy, we lacked the materials to do sculptures. If there was clay, then we had to buy the tools to model the gypsum on our own. As students we had many expenses, because the Academy could not afford to cover these expenses. So, I’m talking about the time when I studied.
In the winter, for example, the studio was really cold, the clay would freeze and we couldn’t work with it. Then we would model something out of paper, we improvised sculpture, but somehow we graduated. I was a student under the late Agim Çavdërbasha,[1] so in my last year of studies, he wasn’t well health-wise, he was admitted to the hospital in Ljubljana. I got my final grade from Zoran Karalejić,[2] who substituted for him in the early ‘90s.
Erëmirë Buliqi: Were there other sculpture professors in the Sculpture Department?
Lirije Krasniqi: There was Agim Çavdërbasha and Zoran Karalejić.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: No other at the time?
Lirije Buliqi: There was this other… no, actually just the two of them.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: What did you learn from them? They were key figures in sculpture. I mean, Karalejić was Çavdërbasha’s student, but Çavdërbasha was the most important.
Lirije Buliqi: It was, as I said, at the time, when I was studying under him, he was not well health-wise, he had problems. So, he assigned us to produce works, but he was not there all the time to follow us through, he did but up to a point, so Karalejić had to take over. He tried to keep up with us, there was nothing to… only if we needed to consult him on something, but actually we always worked independently.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: When I remember from these books that were promoted in Prishtina was that some kind of fair always existed in the yard of the Rectorate, where different sculptures were presented, was it part of the culture?
Lirije Buliqi: No, no, I don’t think it was. Only if the students did it. Or if it was a program of the Academy, otherwise I don’t know, I’m not sure. I wasn’t…
Erëmirë Krasniqi: I wanted to know, was sculpture promoted in the public sphere, was it…
Lirije Buliqi: For example, when the students finished the year, an exhibit was opened, like… after they took their grades, there were exhibits. Otherwise, I don’t know. When the Academy was here, sculpture was, there were some barracks here where the unfinished church is, that’s where we had classes. I didn’t stay there longer, when the class was finished, I went back to work.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Were there exhibitions that showcased sculpture at the Gallery? I am just wondering what was the status of the medium at the time, if it was promoted?
Lirije Buliqi: Agim Çavdërbasha’s exhibition, Svetomir Arsić[3] had an exhibition, there were few exhibitions, you know, it was promoted. There was one from Niš, there was this artist, but I can’t recall the name, she had some really interesting sculptures. There was this other one from Skopje, then from Albania, a sculpture exhibition from Albania through a collaboration that used to exist between the two galleries. So, there were exhibitions in which the medium of sculpture was present.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: In ‘81, the students’ protest, did it affect the Gallery and life, coexistence?
Lirije Buliqi: No, at work it didn’t… it didn’t reflect much, because artists weren’t very involved, I think. We had problems with the space, where the Gallery was, had problems with… they would cut out electricity. Maybe it wasn’t because of the protest, it was because of the rest, the rent was huge, the Ministry couldn’t afford it. So, there was a period there, we failed, we paused.
[The interview cuts here]
Lirije Buliqi: So, it was open here if it was, how do I say {explains with here hands} in small dimensions, for example, when they also went through Kosova, Prishtina, Peja, Prizren, I know they went to Podujeva, Mitrovica, but not all of them.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: You educated people in visual arts.
Lirije Buliqi: Those that came from Albania mostly, the others couldn’t, those were easier.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did the community concentrate more in the city, or did you have an address?
Lirije Buliqi: Now they had an address. Even though youngsters also tried, young students, those who finished it and as students who graduated in ‘80, there was an exhibit. Then the exhibit went to, all the new artists went to Japan, Paris, so…
Erëmirë Krasniqi: So, the Gallery also sold in…
Lirije Buliqi: Yes.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: A point which shared the artist, exhibited in other countries.
Lirije Buliqi: Yes, yes. Especially in Japan, they also went to Paris.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did they only go through the Association of Artists and through the Association and the Gallery?
Lirije Buliqi: The Association was also involved in these, how do I say, the activities of associations exhibited in the Gallery and the Association of Figurative and Applied Artists had an appointment.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: And the Faculty for the final exhibit, right?
Lirije Buliqi: Faculty, no {shakes her head}, not in the Gallery.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: The Academy of Arts didn’t have an appointment?
Lirije Buliqi: The Gallery, no, not the Academy, not for students, just these… I know that once in ‘80, there an exhibit was opened, it was called The Diploma, that generation of artists in ‘80 opened the exhibit and it wasn’t practiced anymore. After they had it, because that… actually, they had those in the Academy, they got graded and the work of students was exhibited.
[The interview cuts here]
Lirije Buliqi: Back then, almost every exhibit that happened was exchange, so you brought it, every country that brought their exhibits here, we would send ours there the next year. It was a regular exchange.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Reciprocity.
Lirije Buliqi: Reciprocity, yes. {Puts on her glasses} these were, {looks down to her notes} it was in Ireland, Glasgow, Holland, Great Britain… Sarajevo, all the prints in ‘85.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Were prints more developed or what?
Lirije Buliqi: More developed than… prints were more developed, and it was exhibited more. I don’t know if it was because of the transport or the work, but there… look, there was always friendship, always with the director, because Shyqri was a seriographer, he did the posters and such. It seems Fatmir Krypa had the group, Hysni Krasniqi, then there were some {puts on her glasses} Fatmire Kyrpa, these were the regulars, they would come, Ymer Shaqiri.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Yes, they also were at the Biennale in Slovenia.
Lirije Buliqi: At the Biennale, they were at the Biennale, now I… So, they were in Ireland, Japan, {looks at her notes} to Budva, New Delhi. For example, Xhevdet Xhafa was in New Delhi, {reads her notes} Xhevdet Xhafa, Destil Marković, Dimitar Kondovski. They all went to New Delhi.
[The interview cuts here]
Lirije Buliqi: Back then it was, there was a distinction in employment, so there were three to one. Three Albanians (laughs), three Serbians, and one Albanian. The collaboration was always mutual here, artists were invited, they didn’t compete. Back then it was, those who were more active were invited to group exhibits and went to other places.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: They also made sure all communities were represented.
Lirije Buliqi: Yes, yes, surely. It was somewhat obligative. But it worked, there was good art, ours and theirs.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: All communities.
Lirije Buliqi: All communities, yes {nods her head}.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Is there anything you want to add before we get to ‘89? About work in the Gallery, for its public program, lectures?
Lirije Buliqi: There were lectures, they would also come, how do I say, for example Vlada Bužančić came, an art critic, he lectured here. Some people from Belgrade came and held lectures, media would come, whoever was interested could come, artists, to follow the lecture and… I don’t know.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Was there an opinion about what the Gallery is doing, so the media wrote about the Gallery…
Lirije Buliqi: The media always wrote, at some point… I mean all the media wrote, Jedinstvo also followed the Gallery’s work for a long time, with positive critics. Later, they started, all of those, it was the same journalist who started writing the opposite. Back then, the turmoil started, some kind of distinction. Everything was criticized by them.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: This is more around ‘88-‘89.
Lirije Buliqi: Then, yes. It was obvious…
Erëmirë Krasniqi: What was the reason, why did they want to damage the work, since it was common?
Lirije Buliqi: Back then… this was… when we exhibited, when there were common exhibits, if a Serb participated in the exhibit, it was criticized. Even the preparation of the program of the Gallery, and the program in general, the exhibits, were all criticized. Once there was a check-up from the police and the Office for International Relations, which was in operation back then, they came thinking they would find something according to what was written, and everything was in order, with the announcements of exhibits, with programs, everything was in order. They would look if they were bilingual, if Serbian was parallel with Albanian. So, English was also obligatory, so every catalog was in English, Serbian, and Albanian.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: The control increased?
Lirije Buliqi: It increased, more from journalists because there was no need, once maybe they had the wrong information, never again.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Then how, until when was Shyqri Nimani there?
Lirije Buliqi: He was…
Erëmirë Krasniqi: He was there for ten years, right?
Lirije Buliqi: ‘90, he was there for ten years, until ‘90. In ‘91 the director changed. Shyqri finished his mandate, two mandates. The new director came, then we faced other obstacles, because this, how do I say, the financing, Ministry [of Culture] of Serbia financed the Gallery.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Yes, we lost the autonomy as a territory, then…
Lirije Buliqi: At the time, we had many financial problems, so not many activities. Electricity was cut a few times, the Gallery was closed, actually we could not enter until a solution was found. Then, the Museum of Revolution, where the Gallery is housed today used to be the Museum of Revolution. The Museum was transformed with a decision from the Ministry of Culture of Serbia, but luckily the workers were transferred to work at the Kosovo Museum. So, no one was fired, but the exhibition space remained and the building was given to the Gallery. At first, when we went, they willingly gave us the space, the director of the Museum of Revolution freed two offices for us so that we could continue with work. Though we could not really do work, we had no public program, we did nothing.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: For how many years…?
Lirije Buliqi: We did nothing for three years, that was until ‘92, ‘93. A new director was appointed, and until ‘93, we had only two offices, then when the Museum was transformed, then the building was left to the Gallery. That’s when we started with some programming, because the violent measures took place and a Serbian director was appointed, then we organized two or three exhibitions. In the beginning, we organized the Kosovo Spring Saloon, most of the participating artists were Serbs, hardly four or five Albanian artists replied to our invitation. So, then the Albanians started boycotting, though we did print a few exhibition catalogues, there were few participating artists, but not in great numbers as it used to be. The Gallery began exhibiting Byzantine frescoes…
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did this affect the collection?
Lirije Buliqi: No, they did not touch the collection.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: No, I mean did these political issues start to reflect on what kind of works were being collected?
Lirije Buliqi: This was all connected to politics. The fact that we did not have a space was political. The space was Museum’s, and there they organized their own activities. We hardly organized three exhibitions.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did you have exhibitions while it was still the Museum of Revolution?
Lirije Buliqi: No, for us it was closed. The works of the collection were withdrawn, and in those conditions for a few years, there were some exhibitions mainly of Serbian and Macedonian artists. Also, Montenegro had one with the frescoes. There was also this exhibition of this sculptor…
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Did the staff change?
Lirije Buliqi: No, the staff grew. A curator came, Bilana Vraniqi came, there was no one else. Then some izbeglica [Srb. refugees] came (laughs).
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Refugees.
Lirije Buliqi: Refugees came from wars, from Bosnia, they came there, three of them were hired.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: In the Gallery?
Lirije Buliqi: In the Gallery. They weren’t, they were cleaners, the one who was a curator, the other one was a technical worker until it closed down, the war started.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Were there… before we talk about that. What kind of artists were exhibited there, was it obvious… did the exhibits orient towards the icons or how?
Lirije Buliqi: Not just icons, there also… I have to see, because names…
Erëmirë Krasniqi: No, just your opinion, were there, or weren’t there?
Lirije Buliqi: No, I think they were paintings, prints, and sculptures, I wanted to say that even this artist…
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Arsić.
Lirije Buliqi: Arsić exhibited his works, he had an exhibition at the Gallery, but then he asked to loan some of his works that we had in the collection. He asked for twenty sculptures to send in Belgrade to exhibit and those never returned. So, these are among those works that are missing in the collection.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: The war happened, or?
Lirije Buliqi: Yes, war happened and they were there. But then I requested their return after the war, but he did not allow it, he said, “My house was burned down [from war].” He used this as an excuse to never return them. Though the Academy of Arts and Science in Serbia does mention that Arsić’s works belong to the collection of the National Gallery of Kosovo.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: How was the war, did you go to work during the war, during the bombing?
Lirije Buliqi: During the war, the bombing, we did go to work, but not much, a few hours. Altogether, we were three or four working, we didn’t know what to do because Albanians already quit their jobs. Some were forced to quit, but at the Gallery, we were not, we had no pressure, we were not forced to sign any document, though we would not accept. But then we consulted the former Minister of Culture in exile, Mr. Bicaj, he said, “If the Serbs did not bring anything for you to sign and you are not under pressure, don’t quit” because everybody quit, “don’t quit your job under no circumstance.” So, we did not quit, we continued, but I remember that we were let off for two weeks.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: What was their justification?
Lirije Buliqi: There was no justification, only that, “You don’t have to show up in the next two weeks.” We had no idea what was going on.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: When was this, in the beginning?
Lirije Buliqi: Yes, it was in the beginning, right in the beginning. It was at that time when Albanians were expelled from their homes and deported. So, two weeks, then later they called us back to work, but it didn’t take long and they were forced to leave. Later the director came, in fact, the director did not, but someone took charge… when the Serbs left, so the Serbs were forced to quit their jobs, then we remained. But no one from our staff was here, Blerim, Rexhep, all of them were deported. So, I was all by myself in the Gallery for a month. So, in the entire Gallery I was all by myself.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Who was the last director, Tanasković?[4]
Lirije Buliqi: Yes, it was Tanasković. He was very polite and treated us well. I know that he had problems with his fellow Serbs, because he supported us and did not fire any of us. There was this time when he placed the labels on our office doors, though they were not needed, however he did that in both languages: Albanian and Serbian. I recall the two of them got into a fight, the director of the library, who was a Serb, with the director of the Gallery, who was a Serb too. But he was very fair with us and very correct.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Can you tell me more about this month when you were all by yourself at the Gallery? You were the only one who had the Gallery’s keys?
Lirije Buliqi: Yes, yes. This was the most difficult month. I didn’t know… it was June, June.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Okay. June, 1999.
Lirije Buliqi: ‘99. It was really scary because the city was emptied out, you didn’t know what to expect, no one was in the office, no one was in the building. I was all alone in the Gallery, but I have to stress this, that the collection was not touched. So, they could take it if they wanted to. Those two weeks when we were asked not to come to work, we were sure that they wanted to take the collection, but no, they didn’t touch it, except Arsić that loaned his works from the collection and never returned them. So for a month I waited for someone to come, if someone would come to ask questions, or they forgot about the Gallery altogether.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Tell me more about the month of June 1999, it was June 12 when the city was liberated, so a big part of that month you were under pressure from Serbs?
Lirije Buliqi: At first, I mean it was great joy to see the Serbian army withdrawing and the Albanian population returning to their homes. I remember being out in Kurrizi [The Spine] and not recognizing anybody, you could see… because the city was emptied out, all empty, this aspect was terrifying, it was terrible. I went out into the street and saw people and said to them, “Welcome!” People that I never met. Even now I don’t know them, you know, but I was really happy to see them, because the city without people looked like a horror movie.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Bleak.
Lirije Buliqi: Bleak and terrifying, because you didn’t know where they were and where they went.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Were there Serbian paramilitary forces in the neighborhood?
Lirije Buliqi: Yes, there were plenty. I would go to work later than usual, would stay two-three hours, but the moment I would get to the Gallery, I would lock the door because I was afraid who would come, the collection was there, and I was a woman all by myself. For the entire month, this is how it was. Every day I went to the Gallery, then I came home because I also feared that someone might break in. You know, it was horrible. Luckily, while at the Gallery, no one came to the door to provoke me, I mean, no one came, in those days, no one passed by.
I went to work, later Blerim came time after time. So, for a month I remember being all alone in the Gallery. After a month, maybe I am not being exact, but I know that I kept the Gallery locked, and I heard the ring and went down the stairs. Now, I knew Luan [Mulliqi][5] as an artist, but the person who accompanied him I didn’t know. He said, “I came to introduce the new director of the Gallery.” And I, of course, was overjoyed. We opened our doors, the director came, we called the staff to come back and start work. So these were some of the sequences of those days, because my memory is a bit erased.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: So, the after war period began with Luan?
Lirije Buliqi: The after war period begins, yes.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: How did the Gallery rebuild, I mean the staff, the people…
Lirije Buliqi: The staff, a part of them were no longer here, Blerim came, after a while Rexhep also came, not how we started. We also notified Rrahman, because Rrahman didn’t work regularly, I was here. So, this is how we started, then we immediately started organizing exhibits, we fixed the offices, we adapted, and we started with exhibits.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Which were the first exhibits?
Lirije Buliqi: The reopening of the exhibition was done with an exhibition.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: With an exhibition, what kind of exhibition?
Lirije Buliqi: With an exhibition, yes. There was also Golgota Kosovare, a group of artists who got together. So, it seems like the pleasure of reopening was the same as when I started working there. The artists were happy, we didn’t know… emotions, very interested to exhibit. The reopening happened and a lot of artists came, international came, there were also internationals who came regularly. Then the reopening of the job vacancy happened, us the existing staff, according to UNMIK, we had to apply for our jobs.
Then we got accepted, a more professional staff. When we started in the beginning, we didn’t even have the means. We didn’t even have money, we didn’t have wages, but Luan started getting donations, he at least ensured our wages, I think he even started using his own money just to cover us, we didn’t have wages or material or anything. Then we started getting donations, the activity began, there were new job vacancies, we continued with exhibitions. Then the Artistic Board formed, then the Director Board, because in the beginning it was artistic, then it was the Director Board, the activities began in the Gallery.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Then, when you became part of the Ministry, when did the Ministry begin to take responsibility for the Gallery?
Lirije Buliqi: We started with the activities, but everything went very slowly. So, we started getting our wages, it was a long procedure, first with job vacancies, then, how do I say, with the minimum wage, you know. It was a very complicated administrative period, until the decision was made for every exhibition to apply, to make a project for every exhibition, one by one, and it’s still the same.
[The interview cuts here]
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Liri, there were ceramics workshops that were organized in the Gallery during the time when Luan Mulliqi was the director, can you tell us more about this?
Lirije: It was 2004, actually in 2003, the Gallery had an exhibition of a great ceramic artist Hanibal Salvaro.[6] And he offered to lead a workshop, which was supported by the director. For us that was… the university did not offer such courses and I did not know the work process. So, we were really happy, we were a group of twenty artists. The demand was even greater, but we could not accommodate more than that. Salvaro offered to help, actually we bought the kiln, which was quite expensive, but the Ministry of Culture approved our request to purchase it, and he raised the funds for clay and glazings and tools that are needed for ceramic-making.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: During these workshops, he taught you many techniques in ceramics or how?
Lirije Buliqi: At first, he brought readymade vases, but I was not attracted to that, and he brought clay. As I told you, it was an artform I did not know, he brought the clay, two types of clay, we had white and regular type. He taught us molding, the firing process, drying process, glazings, the entire process. This lasted for five days. We started working, we were a group of students, actually mostly students, and we started working. It was a great pleasure, a great experience, very valuable, that I really needed it to undergo that, but everyone needed it because there were no such workshops before.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: So, even the staff got engaged in the workshop and grew professionally?
Lirije Buliqi: We gladly worked. We worked and had created a great work environment. In front of the Gallery, it became like a workshop space, we would work the entire day until late at night. So, those readymades he brought, we just tested out the glazings after the single-firing process. A technique I never heard of before, the raku technique.[7] That is the most difficult, it has a longer process, but is the most pleasant one.
We started working with ceramics, we had a small kiln that we needed to divide it in parts to fire it, so at least each artist has a work completed in its entirety. We worked hard and the moment the workshop was over, we exhibited. Then some of the works were selected to take part in an international exhibition. Among them, I got a prize, Blerta [Syla] got it too, we were very successful as a group. Our works were liked and exhibited. All of us expressed a desire to form an association, such as the Association of Applied Arts. We started it, but we went with it halfway and it failed.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Sure, so it was a great opportunity for you to combine your skills in sculpture and ceramics, and to create new works. Can you talk more about this?
Lirije Buliqi: What left an impression on me, and on others I think, was the firing process of raku technique. For example, we created a vase or plaque, we left it to dry at room temperature, after it dried out, the firing process took place. So, the temperature was 900 degrees, we had to measure the temperature well. The workshop leader had the equipment; we fired and painted them, and fired them again.
At first, we didn’t even know how to create nuances, because again we were applying glazings which we never have seen before. I am talking about myself, but also the others have not worked with it before. We did the firing process, later we tried the raku technique. It provided many possible combinations, you could do a hundred combinations, you could increase the effects, work more on the structure. We tried this new technique and that was already a level up, more difficult to produce works.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Just tell me, how did it help you grow?
Lirije: I had the opportunity and the privilege that the kiln remained in the Gallery. I lead two workshops with a group of students, and that for four or five days. We did the firing process longer, and later on I continued developing my practice. The moment I had a bit of free time in the Gallery, I used the kiln, the colleagues helped me to start the firing process and to return the kiln in its place. I worked quite a lot, enough to open my own exhibition.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: What kind of ceramics did you make?
Lirije Buliqi: I am attracted more to plaques, I like creating structure. Depending on the material I had, for example, I used a sack or a rock that had an interesting design or I gave clay the shape of a sculpture, a vase with irregular shapes, which is something I like more. So, I am glad I finished it, and my work is liked by my artist colleagues.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: I mean, an interesting technique, because it’s also a painting and in that style…
Lirije Buliqi: And the canvas, the canvas I used is from Dukagjin, there are these marhamat [handkerchiefs] from Rugova that since childhood they’ve left a {looks at the wall} mark…
Erëmirë Krasniqi: An impression.
Lirije Buliqi: A good impression that I now make, I would still do them if I could (laughs).
[The interview cuts here]
Erëmirë Krasniqi: What were the last ten years like, I mean from independence and on, 2008…
Lirije Buliqi: I mean they were, for me they were… now the new generation does more videos, installations, these are something new to me and also attractive. But, I’m still… maybe since I belong to an older generation I am more of a fan of the brush rather than the new models. Even though these are very valuable, they have a lot of imagination, there are a lot of artists who know the work and are very talented, who we should help and value, and make a rewarding exhibition which they usually have. There was the one Artistët e së Nesërmes [The Artists of Tomorrow] to go abroad to form…
Erëmirë Krasniqi: For residence.
Lirije Buliqi: Yes, for residence.
[The interview cuts here]
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Tell us about today, you retired a few months ago, maybe summarize these 40 years, what was it like for you? A life connected to the Gallery…
Lirije Buliqi: For me, how I imagined life, life took a completely different turn, a turn for the better. It was a great and pleasant experience. An experience that allowed me to shape myself, to become an artist. I worked with great will… I mean, I had stressful situations, crises, terrible moments, and good ones of course. Some people don’t appreciate you, some do, but in general, I had a great experience. I retired on May 4.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: 2020?
Lirije Buliqi: 2020. I cannot say it is difficult, it’s not bad. The important thing is to have health. I thank the Gallery and Ministry of Culture staff who bid me farewell in a dignified way. The goodbyes were good and emotional, it’s a very touching moment, but I didn’t experience it badly, not at all. I worked hard, I contributed as much as I could. So, I was open to artists, for all that was needed, all who needed help in the Gallery, I gave access to students to our archives. I believe I was very dedicated and I managed to help someone.
Erëmirë Krasniqi: Thanks a lot, Lirije!
Lirije Buliqi: Thank you for your time, for giving me the opportunity to describe a 40-year experience. Thank you!
Erëmirë Krasniqi: It was my pleasure.
[1] Agim Çavdarbasha (1944-1999) was born in Pejë, Kosovo. He was a Kosovo Albanian sculptor, he graduated from the Academy of Applied Arts of Belgrade and the Academy of Arts of Ljubljana. Çavdarbasha was a major influence on contemporary sculpture in Kosovo. He was a member of the Academy of Figurative of Arts of Kosovo and later of the Academy of Science and Arts.
[2] Zoran Karalejić (1937) was born in Prizren, Kosovo. He studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Pristina and Belgrade. He worked at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Pristina until 1999. During the Milosević regime, his artistic practice was politicized. Though he was primarily a modernist sculptor, in the ‘90s he was commissioned to do many realist statues of Serbian national heroes and intellectuals, such as the Vuk Karadžić statue placed in front of the Faculty of Philology in Pristina.
[3] Svetomir Arsić – Basara (1928) was born in the village of Sevce, the Sharr Mountains. He is a Serbian sculptor and storyteller. In 1958, he graduated from the Academy of Applied Arts in Belgrade, under Rade Stanković. Arsić was a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo and was widely known in Yugoslavia for his war monuments.
[4] Ljubiša Tanasković (1942—2017) was born in Sredska, near Prizren, Kosovo. A painter by training, Tanasković was the Director of the Pristina Gallery of Arts during the 1990s. He graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux—Arts in Lyon, France in 1974, and received his master’s degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Pristina in 1994.
[5] Luan Mulliqi (1953) born in Gjakova, Kosovo, graduated from the Academy of Figurative Arts, the Department of Sculpture in Pristina in 1977. He received a master’s degree in Belgrade in 1979. He was the first post-war director of the National Gallery of Arts.
[6] Hannibal Salvaro (1935) is a Croatian ceramic artist. He studied civil engineering at the University of Zagreb. Since 1958, he has explored many ceramic techniques and innovations in the clay firing and glazing process of ceramic-making.
[7] Raku firing is an ancient Japanese ceramics technique that has been used for centuries. The history of Raku dates as far back as the 16th century. Traditional Raku pottery is also known to have been used by the Zen Buddhist masters who liked its simple naturalness.