Petrit Halilaj. An Opera Out of Time

In the organizer's words:

Petrit Halilaj presents his first major institutional solo exhibition in Berlin at the Hamburger Bahnhof - Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. The focus is on the artist's first opera work, which explores the possibilities of collective dreaming in order to create open and emancipatory worlds. In addition to this new, site-specific work, the exhibition shows sculptures, installations and video works from various creative phases. It is the second exhibition in the Rieckhallen, which will reopen in 2024, and is taking place on the occasion of Berlin Art Week.

For his exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof - Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Petrit Halilaj is developing an opera in collaboration with the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra. Founded in 2000 after the end of the Kosovo war, it is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The opera is based on the legendary village of Syrigana, a three-thousand-year-old village near Halilaj's hometown of Runik. Syrigana has been listed as an archaeological site of early history, late antiquity and the Middle Ages since 2016. The elements of the opera are reconfigured in a site-specific installation.

In addition, the exhibition shows five large-scale installations from different phases of the artist's work, providing an insight into his oeuvre. Berlin-based artist Petrit Halilaj (born 1986) creates complex worlds that offer space for freedom, longing, intimacy and identity. His art is closely linked to the history of his home country Kosovo and the consequences of cultural and political tensions in the region. His works have been exhibited internationally, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Venice Biennale and Tate St Ives.