Artist and curator

“Flaka is one of my friends. We’ve known each other since she was studying in Städel. Over the last year and a half, thanks to her boyfriend – who’s my best friend – and thanks to social media, I’ve learnt about and seen more and more of what she’s doing, how she develops her exhibitions and what’s being reported about her. When I heard that she had been proposed and was working on a concept to submit to the Biennale, I already knew that they would take her. I accompanied the final stages of the preparations in Venice, I even helped with it. I was next to Flaka virtually the whole time up until the official opening by the President of Kosovo. When I suggested covering her as a photographer during the Biennale, she was happy to agree.

This here is the most important photo of the project – it’s my favourite. I took this picture of her and the curator Nicolaus Schafhausen on May 6, 2015, the day the pavilion was opened. It was tough to get both of them in one photo. In fact, it happened by chance, while everyone was waiting in front of a wall of the Arsenale building, waiting for the President and her entourage. The weather in Venice had been bad all day, but I wanted to portray her on that day. I simply place people wherever, but the exciting part is when they take a pose. The people looking into the camera are tense, but Flaka's tension is concentrated. She worked on the project for a long time, and the work on the pavilion with Nicolaus Schafhausen was their first project together.”