the confessional

 

 

2007, Confessional, wood, 250 x 170, Galleria FAP, Tirana.

“To narrate a story could be seen as an act of confession. As in Catholic culture, confession is a ritual that takes place in the confessional, a place where secrets are revealed. Zeneli has installed a readymade confessional booth at the entrance of the main exhibition hall, for once putting the place where secretiveness is expressed par excellence at the center of public attention. Thus, with its central position and surrounded by other artists’ work, the confessional acquires the symbolic function of gathering together all the stories presented by the participants of the exhibition.”

(From the original text by Gianni Pozzi for the exhibition “To tell a story”, FAP Gallery, Tirana, 2007)

After the exhibition, the confessional was donated to a church in Albania, thus transforming the artwork into a utilitarian object through a “reverse-readymade” operation.