Petrit Halilaj

Petrit Halilaj (born 1986) is a Kosovar visual artist living and working between Germany, Kosovo and Italy. His work is based on documents, stories, and memories related to the history of Kosovo. 
Halilaj is a joint tutor with Alvaro Urbano at Beaux-Arts de Paris, in Paris, France.
Early life.
Born in SFR Yugoslavia, now Kosovo, Halilaj left the country with his family during the Yugoslav wars of 1991-2001. Settled in Italy, Hililaj studied at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan.
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. 
Halilaj represented the Republic of Kosovo at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013.
Halilaj had several solo exhibitions, including one at the New Museum in New York in 2017-2018 and one at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in 2018-2019. 
Halilaj created a large site-specific installation of giant sculptural flowers in 2020 for Madrid's Palacio de Cristal.
In 2020 Halilaj dropped out of the 58th , claiming that the , which organises it, would not recognize his Kosovar nationality.
Awards.
He received the Mario Merz Prize and a special mention of the jury at the 57th Venice Biennale, both in 2017.