Driton Selmani: Only Time Will Tell

Driton Selmani
Only Time Will Tell
24.12.2024 – 21.04.2025
MQ Main Courtyard
Artist Talk: Wed 22.01.2025 | MQ Raum D

In his artistic practice, Driton Selmani moves in an intermediate space that becomes a place of dialog. His works are characterized by playful and ironic messages that are often confessional and incorporate both everyday objects and public spaces. His concise one-sentence statements demand attention and reflect a constant doubt that embodies both collective and personal hopes and fears - influenced by the experiences of his home country, Kosovo.
Selmani approaches the idea of perceived reality by deconstructing the formations of social, political and cultural issues that have been anchored around him. At a young age, he was told to worship a country that no longer exists, prompting him to create a basis of skepticism towards any perceived reality. He later used this as a useful tool to reconstruct his beliefs in visual artifacts. In 1999, old simulacra were replaced by new simulacra; the ornaments of an earlier space were reworked to unfold with new meanings, but also new uncertainties. Selmani confronts himself as a spectator of this “ongoing event” and positions himself as an actor who stages his performances based on his personal history, beliefs and doubts.

The installation “Only Time Will Tell” (2019), which can be seen in the inner courtyard of the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna from December 24, 2024 to April 21, 2025, invites visitors to reflect. The glowing inscription “Only Time Will Tell” serves as a threshold to a space for reflection and quiet questions: Which stories and memories will stand the test of time? Whose perspectives remain? With this work, Selmani creates a place where the relationship between temporality and memory as well as one's own position in this structure can be questioned - a thought-provoking and at the same time interactive experience that points beyond the boundaries of the exhibition.

Driton Selmaniwas born in 1987 in Pristina/Kosovo, where he lives and works today. He completed his education at the Arts University Bournemouth (MFA) and at the AAB Faculty of Arts in Pristina (BA in Graphic Design). Selmani has received numerous residencies and awards, including residencies at CEC Artslink in New York and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Berlin.
Selmani's works have been shown internationally, with solo exhibitions such as “How To Tilt Time?” in Pristina (2024), “Everything We Do Is Really, Really Brilliant” in Budapest (2024) and Vienna (2023) and “The Barking Of The Dogs Will Not Hurt The Clouds” at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje (2022). He is also regularly represented in international group exhibitions, for example at the Beaufort Triënnale in Belgium (2024), Manifesta 14 in Pristina (2022) and the Biennial of Young Artists in Skopje (2021).