Tirana Art Gallery unveils “Artificial Paradise” by The Two Gullivers

The Tirana Art Gallery (GAT) has inaugurated Artificial Paradise, a new exhibition by artist duo Flutura Preka and Besnik Haxhillari, known as The Two Gullivers. The exhibition features a series of colored pencil drawings and is part of their long-term project, Picturing Performance, which explores the visual and material traces of performances they have created since the late 1990s.

A hallmark of The Two Gullivers’ artistic approach is interaction. Their exhibitions often incorporate their physical presence, live performances, and audience engagement, creating platforms for multidimensional exchange and dialogue.

In Artificial Paradise, this spirit of interaction is translated into visual form. The delicate drawings evoke the ephemeral nature of past performances, featuring artificial flowers that, though plastic, appear natural and fresh—blurring the boundary between reality and fabrication. Complementary drawings of natural flowers further enhance this illusion, inviting viewers into an elusive, imagined paradise. The theme reflects on beauty, illusion, and the transient nature of reality.

Context: The duo’s name and conceptual foundation draw inspiration from Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, symbolizing themes of journey, migration, and displacement—ideas central to their body of work. Since beginning their collaboration in 1998, The Two Gullivers have developed a distinctive language rooted in performance art and shaped by interdisciplinary influences. Their work often explores identity, otherness, and the self as a fluid, negotiated construct.

“Artificial Paradise” is now open to the public at the Tirana Art Gallery, inviting visitors to reflect on the boundaries between reality and artifice through a performative lens.