Flight / Plight is a site-specific moving image work was made by Blast Radius during a Bird Ringing and Art Residency organised in spring 2026 by Albanian Ornithological Society (AOS) in the Vjosë-Nartë Delta Protected Area in Albania. Over 4 days artists, writers, musicians, curators, scientists, ecologists and activists from 19 countries observed bird conservation and bird ringing data collection up close during spring migration. 

Flight / Plight references the important bird monitoring data collection that is being carried out by AOS evidencing the significance of the area as a key site for birds on the Adriatic Flyway, a major migratory route for millions of birds traveling between European breeding grounds and wintering sites in Africa and the Mediterranean. The plight of the birds in this area and their flight route is under threat by the construction of an international airport and development in the heart of the Protected Zone.

On the last night of the residency Flight / Plight was projected on the Ionian coastal clay cliffs in Zverneci, Albania. The film registers 11 bird species’ Latin names listed with 16 languages spoken by the participants during the bird ringing residency. The text moves south to north across the eroding cliffs following the same migratory direction of flight by birds in the Vjosë-Nartë Delta Protected Area. During the showing the audience were invited to create an impromptu live sound-track of bird calls. The onscreen version has recorded audio of some of the bird species made by Axel Drioli during the residency.

Learn more about the important wildlife conservation undertaken by AOS here