Set designer and painter Zef Ujkaj (1936-1990) | Commemorative!

Zef Ujkaj (1936-1990) Set designer, painter. He was born in Durres on March 16. After finishing high school in 1954 in the city where he was born, he also completed his studies at the artistic high school "Jordan Misja" in 1959 for painting and a year later, in 1960, he started working at the "Alexander Moisiu" theater in Durres. In 1974, they removed him from the theater for political reasons. Zef Ujkaj brought a new language to scenography, using conventional forms and symbolic elements. In the performance of the drama "Mbi germadha" by F. Pacram (1966) he created an expressive environment that measured not so much traditional and naturalistic forms as figurativeness, creating the metaphor of the collision of two times with the overlapping of the action scenes against each other. . In the drama "Such a love" by P. Kohoti (1965), in addition to the expressiveness of the internal environments, as part of its exteriors, the images brought by the projections on a background that was conceived as an organic part of decor. Allegory, metaphorical language, twisted figures, overlaps of plans, symbolism become part of his creativity, as was seen in the ways of visualizing the stage space in the plays "The Last Stop" by M. Remarku, "The Seagull" by Cehov, "The Mill of Coste Bardhi" by N. Prifti. His scenographic ideas arose and conceived through pure symbolic forms, such as With the performance of the comedy "The Auditor" by N. Gogol, where that scenographic idea was created by two open legs, behind which, from below, the characters came out and entered, as if from a huge butt that alluded to the rotten and corrupt administration of time. He brought constructivist modeling to the conception of the sets of the drama "The Case of Engineer Saimir" by F. Pacram (1972), thanks to which the placement of the actresses on several platforms in a vertical line gained expression, while the dialogue itself was developed from different points of height. giving it more "theatricality", in the formal artistic sense of the word. Mr. Ujkaj has worked on scenography of various types, for dramatic theater, variety show, music concerts, other stage activities, often using materials such as iron, stones, which exceeded the previous standards. As a painter, he stood out in the genre of portraits, but he also dabbled in other genres. He holds the title "Deserved Artist" as well as "Honorary Citizen" of Durres. _____________ Albanian cinematography in activity since 2013 Reference: Albanian Encyclopedia, Theater and Cinematography – Toena 2009 / J. Papagjoni / p. 531

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