Petrit Halilaj

{{Infobox person | name = Petrit Halilaj | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1986}}<ref name="Tate-1975">{{cite web |title=Petrit Halilaj – Exhibition at Tate St Ives |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-st-ives/exhibition/petrit-halilaj |website=Tate |date=1975}}</ref><ref name="www.museoreinasofia.es">{{cite web |title=Petrit Halilaj {{!}} Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía |url=https://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/exhibitions/petrit-halilaj |website=www.museoreinasofia.es |language=en}}</ref> | birth_place = Kostërc, District of Mitrovica, Kosovo<ref name="Tate-1975"/> | known_for = sculpture, installation art }}

'''Petrit Halilaj''' (born 1986) is a Kosovar visual artist<ref>{{Cite news|last=Larios|first=Pablo|title=In Focus: Petrit Halilaj|language=en|work=Frieze|issue=155|url=https://www.frieze.com/article/focus-petrit-halilaj|access-date=2 August 2020|issn=0962-0672}}</ref><ref name="artnet News-2020">{{cite web |title=Artist Petrit Halilaj Has Pulled Out of the Belgrade Biennial After Its Organizers Refused to Recognize His Nationality |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/petrit-halilaj-withdrawal-belgrade-biennial-1897776 |website=artnet News |date=28 July 2020}}</ref> living and working between Germany, Kosovo, and Italy.<ref name="www.mariomerzprize.org">{{Cite web|title=Mario Merz Prize|url=https://www.mariomerzprize.org/en/petrit-halilaj/|access-date=18 July 2020|website=www.mariomerzprize.org}}</ref> The name "Petrit" literally means "Falcon".<ref name="ancestry-petrit">{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/first-name-meaning/petrit |title=Petrit : Meaning and Origin of First Name |work=Ancestry }}</ref> His work is based on documents, stories, and memories related to the history of Kosovo.<ref>{{Cite web|last=WIELS|title=Petrit Halilaj: Poisoned by men in need of some love {{!}} Exhibitions {{!}} WIELS|url=http://www.wiels.org/en/exhibitions/474/Petrit-Halilaj-Poisoned-by-men-in-need-of-some-love|access-date=18 July 2020|website=www.wiels.org|language=en|archive-date=30 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130183510/http://www.wiels.org/en/exhibitions/474/Petrit-Halilaj-Poisoned-by-men-in-need-of-some-love|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="www.newmuseum.org">{{Cite web|title=Petrit Halilaj: RU|url=http://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/view/petrit-halilaj|access-date=18 July 2020|website=www.newmuseum.org|language=en}}</ref>

With his husband Alvaro Urbano, Halilaj is a joint tutor at Beaux-Arts de Paris, in Paris, France.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Petrit Halilaj and Alvaro Urbano|url=https://www.beauxartsparis.fr/en/professeur/halilaj-and-alvaro-urbano|access-date=2 August 2021|website=Beaux-Arts de Paris|language=en}}</ref><ref name="The New York Times-2021">{{cite web |title= Wonders, and Horrors, Drawn From Boyhood in a War Zone |website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/arts/design/petrit-halilaj-tate-kosovo-war.html | date=27 October 2021}}</ref>

==Early life== Born in SFR Yugoslavia, now Kosovo, Halilaj left the country at the age of 13 with his family during the Yugoslav Wars of 1991–2001.<ref name="Judah">{{Cite news|last=Judah|first=Hettie|title=Artist Petrit Halilaj's Living Archaeology|language=en|work=Frieze|issue=201|url=https://frieze.com/article/artist-petrit-halilajs-living-archaeology|access-date=3 August 2020|issn=0962-0672}}</ref> At a refugee camp in Albania, a team of Italian psychologists, hoping to help the children process the trauma of the war, gave Halilaj felt-tip markers, with which he began to make drawings about his experiences.<ref name="The New York Times-2021"/>

Settled in Italy, Halilaj studied at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cherubini |first1=Laura |title=Petrit Halilaj |url=https://flash---art.com/article/petrit-halilaj/ |website=Flash Art |date=18 February 2016}}</ref>

==Career== During the 6th Berlin Biennale in 2010, Halilaj exhibited a sculptural reconstruction of a house built by his parents, to replace the family home that was levelled by bombing during the 1998–1999 Kosovo war.<ref>{{cite news |title=Petrit Halilaj "Space Shuttle in the Garden" at HangarBicocca, Milan |url=https://moussemagazine.it/petrit-halilaj-hangar-bicocca-2016/ |work=Mousse Magazine |date=2 March 2016 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Berlin Biennale 2010: where art imitates real life {{!}} Skye Sherwin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/jun/15/berlin-biennale-2010-art-real-life |website=the Guardian |language=en |date=15 June 2010}}</ref>

Halilaj represented the Republic of Kosovo at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013.<ref>{{cite web | title=Curator Kathrin Rhomberg selected Petrit Halilaj to represent Kosovo at the 55th Venice Biennial 2013. | website=Biennial Foundation | date=21 December 2012 | url=https://biennialfoundation.org/2012/12/curator-kathrin-rhomberg-selected-petrit-halilaj-to-represent-kosovo-at-the-55th-venice-biennial-2013/ | access-date=30 January 2022}}</ref><ref name="hammer.ucla.edu-2018">{{Cite web|title=Hammer Projects: Petrit Halilaj {{!}} Hammer Museum|url=https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2018/hammer-projects-petrit-halilaj|access-date=18 July 2020|website=hammer.ucla.edu|date=15 September 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

Halilaj had several solo exhibitions, including one at the New Museum in New York in 2017–2018<ref name="www.newmuseum.org" /> and one at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in 2018–2019.<ref name="hammer.ucla.edu-2018" />

Halilaj created a large site-specific installation of giant sculptural flowers in 2020 for Madrid's Palacio de Cristal.<ref name="www.museoreinasofia.es"/><ref>{{cite web |title=petrit halilaj turns madrid's palacio de cristal into nest of giant flowers |url=https://www.designboom.com/art/petrit-halilaj-madrid-palacio-de-cristal-nest-giant-flowers-07-24-2020/ |website=designboom {{!}} architecture & design magazine |language=en |date=24 July 2020}}</ref>

In 2020 Halilaj dropped out of the 58th {{ill|October Salon – Belgrade Biennale|sr|Октобарски салон}}, claiming that the {{ill|Cultural Center of Belgrade|sr|Културни центар Београд}}, which organises it, would not recognize his Kosovar nationality.<ref name="artnet News-2020" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Kosovar Artist Withdraws from Belgrade Biennial over Country of Origin Dispute |url=https://exit.al/en/2020/07/29/kosovar-artist-withdraws-from-belgrade-biennial-over-country-of-origin-dispute/ |website=Exit – Explaining Albania |date=29 July 2020}}</ref>

In July 2021, Halilaj and Urbano collaborated on an installation of "huge fabric flowers" at the Kosovo National Library to celebrate the 5th annual Kosovo Pride Week.<ref name="The New York Times-2021"/> <ref>{{Cite web|title= Forget Me Not: What if a Journey|date=11 August 2021 |url=https://chertluedde.com/exhibition/forget-me-not-what-if-a-journey3rd-autostrada-biennale-curated-by-ovul-o-durmusoglu-and-joanna-warsza-1st-july-11th-september-2021/|access-date=8 November 2021}}</ref> According to the New York Times:

{{quote|text=[The flowers] included a replica of a lily that had been part of [Urbano and Halilaj's] engagement bouquet. Kosovo is still a macho society, Halilaj said, yet no one had "thrown tomatoes" or protested against the artists' celebration of gay love. "When this happened, under the flowers, I felt home for the first time in my life." <ref name="The New York Times-2021"/>}}

In October 2021, an exhibit opened at Tate St Ives of an installation by Halilaj inspired by his youthful marker drawings done in the refugee camp. {{quote|text=He revisited the pictures [in 2020] and was surprised by what he'd drawn. Among the violence, he said, "I saw all these birds — peacocks and doves — and they were as big as the soldiers, as happy and proud. ... It was like I was saying, 'Yes, it was awful, but I can dream and love, too.'" <ref name="The New York Times-2021"/>}}

In the exhibit, visitors walk among hanging cutouts of images from the drawings blown up to a huge scale. Approached from the entrance, the cutouts show "a fantasy landscape of exotic birds and palm trees," but when the visitors turn back to the entrance, "they find that some of the suspended forms have been printed on the reverse with a more macabre selection of Halilaj's doodles: soldiers, tanks, wailing figures, burning houses."<ref name="The New York Times-2021"/>

==Exhibitions== *2009 – ''Back to the Future'', curated by Albert Heta, at Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina, Pristina, Kosovo<ref name="Judah" /> *2018–2019 – ''Hammer Projects: Petrit Halilaj'', organised by adjunct curator Ali Subotnick and curatorial associate MacKenzie Stevens, at Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA<ref name="Judah" /><ref name="hammer.ucla.edu-2018" /> *2018–2019 – ''Shkrepëtima'', curated by Leonardo Bigazzi, at Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy<ref name="Judah" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Petrit Halilaj. Shkrepëtima|url=https://www.fondazionemerz.org/en/petrit-halilaj-shkrepetima-3/|access-date=2 August 2020|website=Fondazione Merz|language=en}}</ref> *2020 – ''To a raven and hurricanes that from unknown places bring back smells of humans in love'', Palacio de Cristal, Madrid<ref>{{Cite web |last=Avendaño |first=Tom C. |date=21 November 2020 |title=La emocionante historia de amor detrás de las flores gigantes del Palacio de Cristal del Retiro |url=https://elpais.com/icon-design/creadores/2020-11-20/la-historia-de-amor-detras-de-las-flores-gigantes-del-palacio-de-cristal-del-retiro.html |access-date=21 January 2025 |website=El País |language=es}}</ref> *2023 – ''Runik'', Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico<ref>{{Cite web |title=Petrit Halilaj: RUNIK |url=https://www.museotamayo.org/exposiciones/petrit-halilaj-runik |access-date=23 September 2024 |website=www.museotamayo.org}}</ref> *2024 – The Roof Garden Commission: ''Abetare'', at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Roof Garden Commission: Petrit Halilaj, *Abetare* - The Metropolitan Museum of Art |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/the-roof-garden-commission-petrit-halilaj |access-date=23 September 2024 |website=www.metmuseum.org |language=en}}</ref> *2024 – ''Ensamble lunar para mares al alza'', at MACBA, Barcelona, Spain (with Álvaro Urbano)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Parrado |first=Diego |date=28 November 2024 |title=Peces musicales, una nana clásica y mucha hojalata: así es la sinfonía escultórica creada por un matrimonio de artistas |url=https://elpais.com/icon-design/arte/2024-11-28/peces-musicales-una-nana-clasica-y-mucha-hojalata-asi-es-la-sinfonia-escultorica-creada-por-un-matrimonio-de-artistas.html |access-date=21 January 2025 |website=El País |language=es}}</ref>

==Collections== *Centre Pompidou, Paris, France<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pompidou |first1=Musée national d'art moderne-Centre |title=Musée national d'art moderne – Centre Pompidou |url=https://collection.centrepompidou.fr/artwork/150000001039879?filters=query%3Apetrit%20halilaj&page=1&layout=grid&sort=by_author |website=Navigart.fr |language=fr |date=7 July 2020}}</ref> *{{ill|Museo Ettore Fico|it|Museo Ettore Fico}}, Turin, Italy<ref>{{cite web |title=Collection |url=http://www.museofico.it/en/museum/collection/ |website=MEF}}</ref> *Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA<ref>{{cite web |title=Petrit Halilaj, Do you realise there is a rainbow even if it's night!? (beige), 2017 |url=https://mcachicago.org/Collection/Items/2017/Petrit-Halilaj-Do-You-Realise-There-Is-A-Rainbow-Even-If-Its-Night-Beige-2017 |website=MCA |language=en}}</ref> *Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland<ref>{{cite web |title=Petrit Halilaj – Do you realise there is a rainbow even if it's night!? |url=https://artmuseum.pl/en/kolekcja/praca/halilaj-petrit-do-you-realise-there-is-a-rainbow-even-if-its |website=artmuseum.pl |language=en}}</ref> *Tate Modern, London, UK<ref>{{cite web |title=Petrit Halilaj born 1986 |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/petrit-halilaj-27734 |website=Tate}}</ref>

==Awards== Halilaj received the Mario Merz Prize<ref name="www.mariomerzprize.org" /> and a special mention of the jury at the 57th Venice Biennale, both in 2017.<ref name="hammer.ucla.edu-2018" /> He did a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, Washington, D.C. in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 September 2018 |title=Hammer Projects: Petrit Halilaj {{!}} Hammer Museum |url=https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2018/hammer-projects-petrit-halilaj |access-date=22 January 2025 |website=hammer.ucla.edu |language=en}}</ref> Halilaj received the Kunstpreis Berlin awarded by the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kunstpreis Berlin 2023 – Jubiläumsstiftung 1848/1948 |url=https://www.adk.de/de/programm/index.htm?we_objectID=65030 |access-date=22 January 2025 |website=www.adk.de |language=de}}</ref> On 2 October 2025, Halilaj was named the 2027 Nasher Prize Laureate by the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Nasher Sculpture Center Announces Petrit Halilaj as winner of the 2027 Nasher Prize {{!}} News & Press - Press Release |url=https://www.nashersculpturecenter.org/press/press-releases/news/id/256?_gl=1*4yn2wk*_up*mq..*_ga*mtc5nty3otg1mc4xnzu5nze1otgw*_ga_merrzqzvmx*cze3ntk3mtu5odakbzekzzekdde3ntk3mtu5odckajuzjgwwjggynty1mze3njmkzgxizkrdzw9vcg95qtlpaevqdtvlq0zpakc0djljtvhhafe. |access-date=6 October 2025 |website=www.nashersculpturecenter.org}}</ref> The Prize comes with a "$100,000 and the opportunity to devise public programming with the Nasher Sculpture Center."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Small |first=Zachary |date=2 October 2025 |title=Petrit Halilaj Is the Winner of the Nasher Prize for Sculpture |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/arts/design/petrit-halilaj-wins-nasher-prize-for-sculpture.html |access-date=2 October 2025 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halilaj, Petrit}} Category:Kosovan artists Category:Kosovo Albanians Category:People from Skenderaj Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:Brera Academy alumni Category:20th-century Albanian male artists