The solo exhibition of the young artist from Kosovo, at the Chert Gallery in Berlin (from 19 September to 10 October) was split into two separate parts: an installation realized in Berlin, “26 Objekte n’ Kumpir” (four big vitrines having the shape of an open book inside a nest, the contents of which display a reproduction of various objects belonging to the artist’s family), and the video documenting the construction of a new chicken shack realized in Runik, Kosovo, where Halilaj’s family lives.
Friends, family and neighbours all helped to build it to the artist’s design. The hens are already living inside, totally painted blue. With an exterior in unfinished wood, it is several metres high and in the form of a space rocket, whose nose comes into view from afar as you approach.
The idea of a space rocket originated from a conversation that Petrit had with his sister Blerina, published in the September 2009 issue of Gagarin. He asked her to tell him about the things that went on while he was away, and asked her to reassure him that nothing would be changed. He asked her to eliminate the distance. “If only,” he said to her suddenly, “if only we could be free one day – if we had the courage to take some wood and build a space rocket...”
Halilaj’s conversation continues: “The only thing I want is to be there for you – not to forget you – but you mustn’t change even a detail of your life.”

Images: the video showed at the Chert Gallery in Berlin They are Lucky to be Bourgeois Hens II, Kosovo, 2009 (video: 2’58”).