Ireland Invites: Erzen Shkololli

Erzen Shkololli is the curator of the 5th edition of Autostrada Biennale, to be held from July to October 2025 in Prizren, Kosovo, and currently serves as curator-at-large at Cukrarna (Ljubljana). Shkololli has successfully led several art institutions, including Albania’s National Gallery of Art (2018–2022) and Kosovo’s National Gallery of Art (2011–2015). Under his leadership, both institutions underwent significant transformations.

In addition to his institutional roles, Shkololli has served as the commissioner of Kosovo’s inaugural pavilion in the Venice Biennale (2013) and has independently curated international exhibitions, including Edi Hila: Painter of Transformation (2018), a collaborative project between the National Gallery of Arts, Tirana, the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, and Kontakt Collection, Vienna; We Live Upon a Star (2016), the second edition of the Hannah Ryggen Triennial, showcased in Ørland and the Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, Trondheim; The World Won’t Listen (2007) at the Art Workshop Lazareti, Dubrovnik; History Started Playing with My Life (2007) at Digital Art Lab (DAL), Holon, Israel; and Reappearance (2004) at the Kosovo Museum, Prishtina.

Shkololli served as a curatorial advisor of documenta 14. He was awarded the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin fellowship (2008/2009) and the Premio Michetti by Fondazione Michetti (2001). In 2003, he cofounded EXIT Contemporary Art Institute in Peja, Kosovo. Shkololli’s artwork has been exhibited in museums such as the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Centre Pompidou, Paris, Tate Modern, London, and MUMOK, Vienna.