© sislej xhafa, courtesy of artist
Stock Exchange
| Artist | Sislej XHAFA |
|---|---|
| Year | 2000 |
| Material/ Technique | video |
| Size/ Duration | 3 min. 1 sec. |
| Copyright Notice | © sislej xhafa courtesy of artist |
| Year of acquisition/ donation | 2001 |
| Description | Born in Peja, Kosovo (former Yugoslavia) in 1970. Lives and works in New York, USA. Sislej Xhafa grew up as an Albanian in former Yugoslavia, and is currently based in New York. While his wide-ranging activities cover photography, film, sculpture, installation and performance, he produces many of his works on such themes as immigration and moving, violence and power, prejudice and alienation; all are related to wars and sociopolitical situation in his native country. His style is marked not by direct criticism, but by humor, poetic contents and witty, polished way of expression, so that his works are open to multiple interpretations. He participated in many international exhibitions, and his works are highly recognized. "Stock Exchange" is his video work in which he performs at a railway station in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The artist dressed in business suit tries to inform of trains’ arrivals and departures with gestures and vocal tones like a stock broker dealing on the stock exchange floor, in front of the timetable where people are coming and going. While the information of destinations and times on the board change one after another, he moves his hands busily and utters words, with a paper notepad in one hand. In Europe in particular, a railway station symbolizes the movements of people beyond national boundaries. By setting a stage at a station, he depicts indirectly the socioeconomic situation in the countries of Eastern Europe where people cannot help but become migrant workers and immigrants under free market economy. |
NOTES
This Collection Data page contains the works and materials in the collection of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, as of April 1, 2018.
Artists are listed alphabetically by artist’s surname.
Works and materials by the same artists are listed according to the date of the work in principle.
Works whose dates are unidentified are listed at the end of each item. Some works are not listed according to the date of work due to their relations.
The data of works and materials are listed in order of title, production year, material/technique/form, dimensions, donor’s name, copyright holder and credit for photograph.
Dimensions are given by height (H) x width (W) in centimeters for plane work, and height (H) x width (W) x depth (D) in cm for 3-D work. Diameter (Ø) is used for circular work.
For the name of country or city, the name currently used in English is listed in principle.