Meet daKuna, the artist reviving Albania’s traditional clothing culture through drawings

With her project My Muse is Love, the Albanian artist and architect Medjana Elezi (aka daKuna) focuses on love for her country, culture and traditions, bringing them closer to younger people through modern and attractive drawings. The first volume of Ngyrat e Shqipërisë -The Colors of Albania- is dedicated to popular clothing for women: a book for children + 4 years old and adults with coloring sheets, information and classification of traditional clothing, and a final section with empty sheets with a detail of the popular clothing for free drawings.

THE STORY

<<When I draw, I feel like I am not Medjana but someone else. A kind of little child who loves exploring and discovering new things in a parallel world made of colors, lines and patterns. That’s why I decided to use a stage name and daKuna came out. Since the beginning of my work, also, I used the hashtag #mymuseislove in my Instagram posts and decide to use it as a message in my more inclusive projects, like the book. Through love we can express ourselves in every area of life>>, she says. The inspiration came out during the pandemic. Medjana started to draw at home with her child ideating drawings with open lines that made them more interesting for her son, increased his creativity and were aesthetically pleasing. <<So, I though, I should have shared this experience with my community who immediately appreciated it>>.

THE COLLECTION

The volume Popular Clothing for Women is the first of a series. <<It was very natural to start with women clothing: in most of artistic works, the woman is the inspiration. I’m working on the second book dedicated to men clothing that will be ready before the November festivities>>, says Medjana. She did a great job collecting in a book popular dresses, ethnographic patterns and cultural heritages of Albania. The love for her country occupies a special place in this project that has an educational message for adults and mostly children. In the book, Medjana focuses on this important theme trying to bring Albanian culture closer to young people in this digital era where everything is fast and forget the past and ancient traditions is easy. What to say? She succeeded perfectly.

INFORMATION

Find out more about @daKuna and @mymuseislove