Yesterday night I was made aware of the existence of Artur Jaku, an Albanian peasant-film maker and one time contestant in Big Brother. According to the credit lines of his manifesto Albanian Monster, “Artur Jaku is the first farmer in the world, that made Amateur Dokumentary !!!” According to another, autobiographically inclined work,
Artur Jaku is the most special cage man in the history of the cage [i.e. the Big Brother house]. He has done special things: 1. He started to dance; 2. He ate a kiwi with the skin; 3. He ate qofte without frying them; 4. He undressed to his underwear; 5. He showered without curtain; 6. He gave roses and chocolate.
On his YouTube channel, Jaku has posted a variety of materials including several amateur documentaries about life on the Albanian countryside. As far as I’m concerned, these belong to the blessed category of outsider art, evoking sentiments that previously only Samuel Beckett was able to stir up in me. Behold the absurdist masterpiece, Donkey on the Boat (2009)
And the original Albanian version, Gomari në varkë:
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