Genti Korini
A Place in the Sun
On Staging the Unknown, Decolonisation and Contemporary Art

Edited by Małgorzata Ludwisiak
Publisher Mousse Publishing

With essay contributions by
Sezgin Boynik
Joselina Cruz
Olsi Lelaj
Małgorzata Ludwisiak
Chuz Martínez
Agustín Pérez Rubio
Noemi Smolik

Where is "a place in the sun" and what can we say about it? Does the unknown attract or frighten us more today? How did European travelers perceive Albania at the beginning of the 20th century? What does the trans-rational language of zaum, invented by the first avant-garde artists over a century ago, have in common with contemporary art? And how can art decolonize our gaze and adapt it to the unknown?

The seven essays in this book were written in response to Genti Korini's project A Place in the Sun for the Albanian Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2026. Renowned anthropologists, art historians, curators, and researchers examine the mechanisms of othering and dis-othering – from a historical and contemporary point of view, through the prism of the Albanian case or from the perspective of the global majority. The texts engage with contemporary discussions on decolonisation, broadening its definitions, outlining less obvious geographies, and exploring the role of art today.