If you were in Tirana two years ago then the chances are you probably stumbled across some of Ceta’s work.
In the spring of 2016 a group of creatives, thinkers, and activists, motivated by a mutual opposition to the political situation in Albania, came together to create the anonymous street art group known only as Ceta. With a disdain for the structures of neoliberal politics, corruption, and capitalism, they aim to send a powerful message to the public, as well as to the political elite that rules the country.
The team consists of a mixture of individuals from different backgrounds, disciplines, and political persuasions. Each member is responsible for the design and execution of different pieces at different times, depending on the strategy and commitments to other projects. Their work is the hallmark of a true dissident movement- an almost anarchical crusade the likes of which rejects the status quo and refuses to cooperate with the governing political parties in Albania.
Ceta’s work consists of stencils applied with wheat pastes on walls in urban spaces and combines iconic pieces of art with Albanian history, political figures, and a big old dose of cynicism, satire, and black humour. For a country still shaking off the shackles and the ingrained suppression of communist rule, the topics they tackle, and the victims of their art are controversial and daring to say the least. Ceta pushes boundaries and retaliates forcefully against the artistic neutrality that many contemporary artists in the capital silently abide by.
Ceta draws attention to the perceived political failings that result in the oppression of the most vulnerable members of society- the poor and minorities. They also tackle the ever-prevailing pro-EU rhetoric that is spun in the name of socioeconomic progress, but that actually results in many falling through the cracks. The actions and work of Ceta push back and rebel against the illusion of prosperity, and instead provide a narrative of what they perceive is the reality perpetuated by a government that seeks popularity and celebrity, over concrete socio-economic strategy.
Whilst the streets of Tirana are covered in bright pieces of art, Ceta felt that this was just lip service that sought to paint over the realities of day to day life, and they sought to reclaim the streets and proclaim the truth from as many spaces as they could.
To date, their work has tackled issues such as the government crackdown on unlicensed food sellers, to the destruction of peoples homes to make way for high-rises, and gentrified developments for the “bettering” of Tirana.
All members of Ceta choose to remain anonymous through concerns of getting fined, and the fact that they believe that the level of freedom of expression required to spread their message is not something that is enforced in Albania at the moment. They also choose to keep their faces and names unknown so as to make it fairer in terms of sharing successes and failures of the group, rather than just one individual within the collective receiving praise or vitriol. The idea is for people to focus on the art and the message it sends, rather than the personalities behind it.
The name “Ceta” is the Albanian word used to describe the various antifascist units that were active in the Balkans after the Second World War. In the same way, in which those soldiers operated, Ceta seeks to disrupt and create waves that go against the social and political norms, but using art as their medium of choice, instead of violence or force.
Their first work, “Vojo Kushi is Still Alive” appeared on the walls of Tirana’s streets in April 2016 and was based on a socialist-realist painting by Sali Shijaku that depicted the Albanian-Yugoslav partisan Guerilla, Vojo Kushi. Kushi was famous for his heroic death at the hands of Italian fascists in 1942. After being surrounded by enemy forces in Tirana, he ran out and jumped onto a tank, hurling a grenade into it before being shot down by Italian bullets. Whilst the original painting depicts this act, Ceta’s version replaces the grenade with a Molotov cocktail, and places Kushi inside a black Jaguar with Prime Minister Edi Rama’s license plate number. The message was one of debunking the idolisation of public-private partnerships which Ceta believes is the most exemplary form of fascism imaginable, and they use one of Mussolini’s quotes; “perfect fascism will only be achieved when there is a marriage between corporation and state” to illustrate the point. In other words, Kushi represents the people and the public rising up against the constraints of neoliberalism and against the corporatisation of the state.
Another piece of work known as “A Lecture on Punishment” appeared later in 2016 and was conceptualised as a response to the municipality of Tirana’s commission of numerous street art pieces across the city. These large, bright, and colourful pieces were designed to show the positive side of living in Tirana, but Ceta believes that these are only there to whitewash over the persistent problems that remain. A Lecture on Punishment is based on a scene from an Albanian film called “Red Poppies on the Wall” which tells the story of a group of orphans during the time of the fascist occupation. It follows their rise against the director and overseeing of the orphanage and serves as a metaphor for the rise against fascism that was prevailing at the time the film was set. The image is an interpretation of a scene where the overseer of the orphanage orders the children to hit each other, but Ceta replaced the face of the Overseer with George Soros, to illustrate the use of neoliberal art in Tirana’s public spaces. Ceta believes that street art should not be just about aestheticism and the beautification for the sake of such, but rather it should carry a strong message- ideally a political or social one, not just an amenable one.
Other notable pieces include an image of a labourer smashing an ATM (“Smash the Walls of Privilege (Remember the First of May)) thus freeing himself from the economic constraints that the ATM represents, and the work “Don’t Buy Leeks, Buy Dynamite (Grandma Zylja Strikes Again) was put up after a 69-year-old village woman was arrested for selling vegetables in Tirana. The artwork was posted on the wall just next to where she was arrested, and her illegal contraband- her leeks- were confiscated.
Ceta is clear that their objectives do not just apply to Tirana, but rather they extend to more rural and undeveloped part of the country. Their messages could also apply to other countries and the state of the global society as a whole.
In Ceta’s own words:
“Fascism, in brief, is the merger of all dominant forces in society around the figure of a supreme leader: the bourgeoisie, bankers, bureaucrats, magistrates, clerics, media, police, and gangsters come together around the Duce, whom they serve and who serves them over the back of broad layers of society through violence and abuse.
Police officers in black shirts fight every day with the villagers of the fruits and vegetable that have illegally fallen upon the city, with the unemployed, with the street sellers, with the beggars and the Roma, in the name of taxes and culture.
Orwellian machines numb the minds of the masses and censor deaths, or, more precisely, the murders of poor kids on mountains of trash, on building sites and in barracks.
For many this reality may seem dystopian, an impossible evil, a bad dream from which we have to wake up. But in fact, it is reality itself, beyond the pink bubble of comfort and shallow arguments. So it is time that we wake up, and to take sides.”
Whilst my opinions on fascism, or anything to do with the political situation in Albanian are completely irrelevant as I am an outsider with five months of sheltered experience, I do think there is a place for this kind of voice in every society. There must always be a balance between the sycophants and the anarchists, the sympathisers and the disruptors, and this is why I chose to feature Ceta in The Balkanista. Regardless of my own political and social ideologies, I believe that posting these sort of images in an effort to wake people up from their slumber is of a great importance. People become complacent and lazy and many refuse to question the norm and what is spoon-fed to them, for fear of being ostracised. Questioning and challenging ourselves and our beliefs is an important part of being a member of a functioning society, and Ceta’s thought-provoking, if hard-line and controversial art makes us do just that.
Ceta has not created any new work for a while, but I have it on good authority that something is in the pipeline. So as you walk around Tirana with your phone in your hand, staring at the pixelated screen and immersing yourself in the false reality of social media, look up every so often and you might see something that will interest you and make you think.
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