Chimneys and electric wires conquering the sky: the great transformation of nature in socialist Albania
Chimneys and electric wires conquering the sky: the great transformation of nature in socialist Albania
This article examines how socialist realist paintings in Albania depict the transformation of nature during the country's path to industrialization, revealing both the ideological aspirations and the material realities of socialist modernity. Moving beyond a simplistic reading of these artworks as mere propaganda, the study explores the variation in representations of nature—sometimes tamed, sometimes coexisting, and at times resisting transformation. It argues that these paintings, in their diversity of style and representation, serve as crucial visual records of Albania's socialist Anthropocene, capturing the ways in which environmental interventions were conceptualized, justified, and emotionally framed within the socialist project. By situating Albania's case within the broader context of socialist industrialization, this study demonstrates that socialist modernization was not a homogenous project but an uneven, negotiated relationship between humans and the environment. In doing so, it underscores the importance of visual culture in understanding historical environmental transformations and rethinking the role of art in narrating the Anthropocene within a socialist framework.
Socialist Anthropocene, Socialist Modernity, Ecology, environmental history, nature, landscape painting, Albania
84-103
Gkitsa, Dimitra
56cef9a1-10c4-4c8a-978b-51139c04fc74
Gkitsa, Dimitra
56cef9a1-10c4-4c8a-978b-51139c04fc74
Gkitsa, Dimitra
(2025)
Chimneys and electric wires conquering the sky: the great transformation of nature in socialist Albania.
ARTMargins, 14 (2), .
(doi:10.1162/artm_a_00414).
Abstract
This article examines how socialist realist paintings in Albania depict the transformation of nature during the country's path to industrialization, revealing both the ideological aspirations and the material realities of socialist modernity. Moving beyond a simplistic reading of these artworks as mere propaganda, the study explores the variation in representations of nature—sometimes tamed, sometimes coexisting, and at times resisting transformation. It argues that these paintings, in their diversity of style and representation, serve as crucial visual records of Albania's socialist Anthropocene, capturing the ways in which environmental interventions were conceptualized, justified, and emotionally framed within the socialist project. By situating Albania's case within the broader context of socialist industrialization, this study demonstrates that socialist modernization was not a homogenous project but an uneven, negotiated relationship between humans and the environment. In doing so, it underscores the importance of visual culture in understanding historical environmental transformations and rethinking the role of art in narrating the Anthropocene within a socialist framework.
Text
artm_a_00414-Gkitsa-ms CE-edes
- Accepted Manuscript
Text
artm_a_00414-Gkitsa
- Version of Record
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy
More information
e-pub ahead of print date: 1 June 2025
Keywords:
Socialist Anthropocene, Socialist Modernity, Ecology, environmental history, nature, landscape painting, Albania
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 503059
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/503059
ISSN: 2162-2582
PURE UUID: 8ff147dd-c3db-4867-a699-0e9aa0a35fc3
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 18 Jul 2025 16:47
Last modified: 19 Jul 2025 02:16
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Dimitra Gkitsa
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics