Performative Exhibition #5: Lyhnida—The Lake of Light

Performative Exhibition #5: Lyhnida—The Lake of Light, a project by Tirana Art Lab curated by Adela Demetja & Fabio Toska, brought together artists, curators, and activists in the city of Pogradec, Albania for a one-week research residency, culminating in a public exhibition at the Pogradec Art Gallery. The initiative invited a collective reflection on the ecological, historical, and symbolic significance of Lake Ohrid—Europe’s oldest natural lake and a UNESCO-protected site—through newly created artistic works and shared conversations.

The name of the project refers to Lychnidos (also spelled Lyhnida or Lychnida), the ancient name of the city of Ohrid, now in North Macedonia. The word Lychnidos derives from the Greek lychnos, meaning "lamp" or "light," referring to the clarity and shimmer of Lake Ohrid beside which the city is located.

The participating artists and activists engaged deeply with the lake’s layers of meaning—its biodiversity, cultural memory, and mythological echoes. From Bora Baboçi’s fictional novella A Second Moon, inspired by the writings of Mitrush Kuteli and Adolfo Bioy Casares, to Denisa Kasa’s archival and oral tracing of the once-vital Great River of Pogradec, each contribution examined the fragile bond between people and place. Ledia Kostandini invited viewers into a microscopic encounter with endemic diatoms through a layered installation of imagery, sand, and lake water, while Ilir Tsouko’s silent video portrait Reflections of Lyhnida evoked the lake as both mirror and memory. Genc Kadriu’s spatial-poetic installation Wavelike used language and gesture to tune into the transcendental rhythms of nature, offering a meditation on presence and loss. Mariana Kostandini’s photographs rendered the lake as an intimate topography of light and memory, while Anastas Kostandini’s paintings invoked mythological figures and dreamlike visions to channel the metaphysical depths of Lyhnida. Together, these works became gestures of witnessing and reimagining Lake Ohrid.

The project calls urgent attention to Pogradec and the Albanian side of Lake Ohrid, exposing how natural resources—especially water—are increasingly neglected or exploited by both citizens and authorities at local and national levels. It denounces the destructive impact of construction projects planned along the lake’s shores in Albania, which threaten this fragile and UNESCO-protected ecosystem. The relationship with water is used as a symbol of what is at stake: a deepening disconnection from nature and the erasure of collective memory. Through artistic reflections, the project demands accountability and urges the Albanian public and institutions to act for the protection of these irreplaceable resources.

Performative Exhibition is a format developed by Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art. It aims to deconstruct the conventional exhibition and render artistic and curatorial processes public through performativity. The format integrates the tools, labor, and conditions of production into the exhibition itself, proposing new temporalities, forms of collaboration, and public engagement.

The project is supported by the Ministry of Economy, Culture, and Innovation of Albania.