In the Circolo Filologico Milanese (Milan Philological Society) at Via Clerici 10 in Milan, the Nicola Trussardi Foundation presents the first comprehensive exhibition in Italy of the Albanian artist Anri Sala, from November 15th through December 18th.

With his films, video installations and photographs, Anri Sala explores the borders of history and geography, as seen through the eyes of marginal characters who become accidental actors in collective dramas. A mingling of personal stories and social surveys, Anri Sala's works are existential explorations of intimate, interwoven narratives. Colored with sudden epiphanies and visions, the works reveal unexpected and overlooked fragments of reality. For his films, Anri Sala has used different techniques and formats, experimenting with cinematic and video techniques in order to capture the end of dreams and the fall of ideologies, while also trying to describe private histories and small tragedies.

In Milan, Anri Sala presents his new movie LONG SORROW, produced by the Fondazione Nicola Trussardi. Hanging from the façade of a building in the suburbs of Berlin, nicknamed 'the long sorrow' by its inhabitants, the American saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc deftly performs an animated sweeping improvisation imbued a sense of mounting tension. Part social documentary and part eulogy for architectural visionaries, LONG SORROW is a freestyle fugue on feelings and beliefs.

Along with LONG SORROW, Anri Sala presents an extensive selection of his most recent works. From the hesitation of the horse stopped at the edge of a highway in Tirana, to the portrait of a man lost among the arcades of Milan's Duomo; from the game of light and shadow of a crab chase, to the transformation of a cymbal into a stroboscopic light; from the quiet and melancholic landscapes of airports to old Luna-parks, Anri Sala's works flow like animated, dream-like paintings. Like faded contemporary frescoes, they bring together voices and images that connect international politics with domestic traumas and private histories.

As with every exhibition produced by the Nicola Trussardi Foundation, Anri Sala's LONG SORROW will also be an occasion to rediscover a forgotten place in the heart of Milan. The Circolo Filologico Milanese (Milan Philological Society) was founded in 1872; it housed the oldest language school in Milan and one of the city's greatest libraries with more than 100,000 rare and ancient books. With its impressive early-twentieth century main hall and its austere liberty salons, the Circolo Filologico Milanese seems to resonate with a multitude of voices and languages, becoming an ideal setting for Anri Sala's poetic imaginary.

Anri Sala was born in 1974, and lives and works in Berlin. He has had solo exhibitions in a number of international institutions including Museé de la Ville de Paris, Paris; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; Museum Boijmans, Rotterdam. Nominated for the prestigious Hugo Boss Prize (2002), and awarded the Golden Lion for the Young Artist Prize at the Venice Biennale (2001), Anri Sala took part in many collective exhibitions and biennials worldwide including three participation at the Venice Biennale (1999, 2001 and 2003), the Istanbul Biennial (2003), the Berlin Biennale (2001) and Manifesta (2000). He was short listed for this year's Preis2005 of the Nationalgalerie in Berlin (with John Bock, Monica Bonvicini and Angela Bulloch).