11.09.2025
to
31.05.2026
Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart
Petrit Halilaj will present his first major institutional solo exhibition in Berlin at Hamburger Bahnhof. In addition to sculptures, installations and videos, new site-specific works will be showcased. At the heart of the exhibition is the artist’s first opera, which explores the potential of collective dreaming to bring forth emancipatory worlds. The exhibition will be the second solo show to be held in the Rieckhallen, which reopened in 2024, and will open during Berlin Art Week.
For his exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof, Halilaj is developing an opera in collaboration with the Kosovo Philharmonic, founded after the end of the Kosovo War in 2000, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The starting point is the legendary site of Syrigana, a three-thousand-year-old village near Halilaj’s hometown of Runik. Since 2016, it has been protected as an archaeological site of prehistory, late antiquity, and the Middle Ages. The elements of the opera will be reconfigured within a site-specific installation.
Additionally, the exhibition will feature five other large-scale installations drawn from periods in the artist’s work, offering an insight into his practice as a whole.
The Berlin-based artist Petrit Halilaj (born 1986) creates complex worlds that provide space for freedom, longing, intimacy, and identity. His art is deeply connected to the history of his home country, Kosovo, and the cultural and political tensions in the region. His works have been exhibited internationally, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Venice Biennale, and Tate St Ives.
Accompanying the exhibition is the 14th edition of the Hamburger Bahnhof catalogue series, published by Silvana Editoriale Milano, comprising 120 pages, available at the Hamburger Bahnhof bookstore and through the Buchhandlung Walther König webshop for €12. ISBN: 9788836660759
The publication has been made possible by Philipp and Kartika Laura Solf and Hamburger Bahnhof International Companions e. V.
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 Sonja Azizaj, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart
This project is supported by the Italian Council program (2025) promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture.
With additional support from Hamburger Bahnhof International Companions e. V.
The exhibition takes place as part of Berlin Art Week.
A special exhibition of the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Offers and events
Related content
Opening hours
| Monday | closed |
| Tuesday | 10 am to 6 pm |
| Wednesday | 10 am to 6 pm |
| Thursday | 10 am to 8 pm |
| Friday | 10 am to 6 pm |
| Saturday | 11 am to 6 pm |
| Sunday | 11 am to 6 pm |
Prices / Tickets
Hamburger Bahnhof Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart + temporary exhibitions
16,00 EUR Concessions 8,00
+ temporary exhibitions
Buy ticket
Annual Pass
Buy ticket
Address / Getting there
Visitor Entrance
Invalidenstraße 50
10557 Berlin
S+U-Bahn, Tram und Bus: Hauptbahnhof
Access / Barrier-free Accessibility
partially wheelchair accessible
Organizer
Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart
Nationalgalerie