Daily Newspaper Vreme, Skopje, Macedonia, 18.04.07
The central areas of Balkan Cities are without 'local' property owners. Likewise, as a result of the society being in a prolonged period of transition', the local industries have become the ownership of Greek, Turkish and Austrian investors. Is there an alternative to this system? – asks Prlja.
Artist Nada Prlja, is selling properties from the Balkans as part of the art project 'Estate Agency: Give to Take', which is being exhibited as part of 'Reunion' at the Austrian Cultural Forum in London. In this project, a part of the larger framework of 'Reunion' events, which is dedicated to politically engaged art, Nada is trying to sell, in the real sense of the word, properties which are in the region of the Balkans.
Prlja, by using the art systems, has the possibility of selling flats or other properties without taking provision, which in Britain is usually between 3 and 4 % of the overall value of the property. Through this project, Nada in reality, opens the possibility for the existence of an alternative form of economy, which theoretically has the ability to destabilise the property market in Britain and the countries of the Balkan region.
The project is inspired by the appearance of foreign capital in the Balkans, by the impossibility of fair play and the totally altered appearance of every city within the area. The central areas of these cities – for example, the city centre of Skopje – are without 'local' property owners. Likewise, as a result of the society being in a prolonged period of transition', the local industries have become the ownership of Greek, Turkish and Austrian investors.
Is there an alternative to this system? – asks the artist Nada Prlja, who recently exhibited her project entitled 'Globalwood' within the spaces of the National Gallery of Macedonia. The main aim of her project 'Give to Take' is to take a critical view of these developments and the attempt, in the real sense of the word, to destabilise this unjust system. The fact that Prlja's 'Estate Agency' offers properties without taking a provision of any potential sales and transactions, means that there is the possibility of avoiding the profit being made by the third party involved in the transaction between the owner and the purchaser of any given property.
'Because of this attractive idea of avoiding the profit being made by the 'inbetween' person, it is my hope that there will be many people who will want to register the sale of their properties, their flats and houses through my Agency,' says Nada Prlja.
She continues:
'This is an ambitious project which aims to change society, by highlighting the current economic inequality of citizens of the Balkans and Western countries, and the resulting situation where both sides are mutually engaged in taking advantage of each other.'
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