Petrit Halilaj: Abetare

The Met’s 2024 Roof Garden Commission, by Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj (born 1986, Kostërc, former Yugoslavia), is now on view through October 27, 2024. For his first major outdoor installation, Halilaj has transformed the Museum’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden with a sprawling work that explores the intersection of reality and fantasy through the rich world of children’s drawings.

The installation’s metal sculptures are inspired by children’s doodles, drawings, and scribblings found on desks at the school he attended in Runik, Kosovo, as well as schools in Albania and countries from the former Yugoslavia, which are now undergoing significant cultural and sociopolitical change. The Roof Garden Commission: Petrit Halilaj, “Abetare” is the 11th in the series of site-specific commissions for the outdoor space.

The exhibition is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.