Sustainable Privatization is an in situ installation-performance created in the former Metallurgic Complex of Elbasan, Albania. The work was inspired by the situation I observed during my visit: workers were quietly dismantling the ruins and taking leftover materials, including firebricks, which they later sold in town.

This absurd yet striking action evoked memories of Montenegro’s industrial past, particularly the OBOD factory in Cetinje, where citizens scavenged appliances and materials after the factory collapsed. The project reflects on our contemporary relationship with state property and history, highlighting themes of destruction, appropriation, and privatization.

In my site-specific work, employees of my fictional company, ABBE (Art Brick Black Eagle), reenact the act of dismantling and “stealing” firebricks from the ruins. The stolen materials are then packaged in luxury boxes and offered to visitors for sale, blurring the line between theft, art, and commerce. The performance critiques contemporary forms of privatization, questioning the ethics of ownership, consumption, and patriotism in both Albania and Montenegro.

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photo credit Ranko Djankovic