Petrit Halilaj – Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Germany

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

For his exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Petrit Halilaj is developing an opera in collaboration with the Kosovo Philharmonic. Founded in 2000 after the end of the Kosovo War, it celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The opera’s starting point is the legendary site of Syrigana, a three-thousand-year-old village near Halilaj’s hometown of Runik. Since 2016, Syrigana has been a protected archaeological site of prehistory, late antiquity, and the Middle Ages. The elements of the opera will be reconfigured in a site-specific installation.

The exhibition also features five large-format installations from various phases of the artist’s work, providing insight into his work. Berlin-based artist Petrit Halilaj (born 1986) creates complex worlds that offer space for freedom, longing, intimacy, and identity. His art is closely connected to the history of his homeland, 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.

Exhibition catalogue

Accompanying the exhibition is the 14th  edition of the Hamburger Bahnhof catalog series , edited by Silvana Editoriale Milano, with 120  pages, available at the Hamburger Bahnhof bookstore and in the Walther König bookstore’s online shop for 12  euros. ISBN:  9788836660759

This publication was made possible by Philipp and Kartika Laura Solf and Hamburger Bahnhof International Companions  e.  V.

team

The exhibition is curated by Catherine Nichols, curator at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart.
Assistant curator: Emily Finkelstein, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart .
Education and Outreach: Claudia Ehgartner with assistance from Sonja Azizaj, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart.

The project is supported by the Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea of ​​the Italian Ministry of Culture of the Italian Council Programme (2025).

The exhibition is supported by Hamburger Bahnhof International Companions e.  V.

The exhibition takes place as part of Berlin Art Week.

A special exhibition of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums