Edi Rama Defends Kanye West Concert as Albania Faces New Political Pressure
A planned Kanye West concert outside Tirana has become the latest flashpoint for Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who is also a practicing artist with an international exhibition record. Rama defended the Saturday performance this week after criticism from Jewish groups and an Albanian lawmaker, insisting the event should go forward in a newly built stadium that cost millions of euros.
West, who has faced repeated condemnation for antisemitic remarks, is scheduled to perform in a custom-built venue on the outskirts of the capital. Some Jewish organizations have argued that the concert would amplify his views, while Gazment Bardhi, an Albanian MP, has also urged Rama to cancel it. Rama responded on Facebook by calling the criticism “scorpion-tailed lies to poison Albania.”
The dispute arrives at a politically fraught moment for Rama, who has governed Albania since 2013 and is now confronting protests known as the Flamingo Revolution. Those demonstrations are tied in part to his support for a luxury resort project on the Balkan coast involving investors that include Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Rama has dismissed the backlash over the resort as “ideological bullshit.”
The concert controversy also lands against the backdrop of West’s own attempts at rehabilitation. In January, he placed a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal apologizing for past antisemitic remarks, writing, “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”
Rama’s dual identity has long made him unusual in European politics. His work has appeared at the Venice Biennale and the Bienal de São Paulo, and he is represented by Marian Goodman and Société. Last month, he presented an untitled bronze sculpture in Art Basel’s Parcours section, based on drawings made in the Kryeministria, Albania’s Prime Minister’s Office. The concert fight now adds another layer to a career already defined by the uneasy overlap of art, power, and public controversy.
