The Nest, 2012–2022

Installation

Materials: wood, metallic wire, polyurethane foam, and paint

Kazanxhiu builds giant nests—evocative of swallows’ nests—and installs them in public spaces and institutions. These nests are used as metaphors to draw attention to issues, concepts and cultures that are not part of our public institutions and history, even though we are conscious of their existence. The nests are used to create a new reality, in which they take on another function: they serve as a means to create a physical space for cultures that are marginalized, cultures that have not been institutionalized, cultures that are not allowed to take part in decision-making processses. At the same time, the nests demonstrate the need for collective action, the need for us to work with each other, and with the environment that surrounds us.

 

First installed on the façade of the Albanian National Museum in Tirana in 2012, The Nest called for the institutionalization of Roma history, art and culture within the Albanian context. The installation articulates the position of Roma art and culture within the broader framework of a majority culture, highlighting the duality of homeliness and strangeness. Within this context, the communal, grassroots, and caring character of Roma institutionalism is every bit as present as the condition of constant exclusion. In this sense, too, the metaphor of the swallow’s nest is significant: the simple habitat of these small migratory birds is seen by many as problematic addendum to their homes, and people hold little regard for the bird’s ecological value. Similarly, Roma art and culture, with all its merits and achievements, is often considered to be an “outsider”.  Yet, according to Kazanxhiu, swallows are literally “free as a bird”, and they also have a nest to return to. This metaphorical relationship also emphasizes Kazanxhiu’s paradoxical research into the idea of “Rromani phuv” (Romani Land), the country of this nation without a nation state.