Petrit Halilaj's giant playground sculpture appears in Langhe
In Dogliani, Italy, a stunning new public artwork by Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj has just been unveiled. Titled 'Abetare (un giorno a scuola), 2025', this sculpture is made from stainless steel and bronze and features a playful design inspired by children's drawings from schools in Kosovo and the Balkans. It resembles a climbable house adorned with cheerful images like a smiling sun and a duck. This installation is part of the second edition of the Radis public art initiative, organized by the Fondazione per l'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT and Fondazione CRC. The launch event is set for October 5 at Borgata Valdibà. Halilaj has a personal history with Dogliani, receiving art supplies from the local mayor during his time as a refugee in 1999.
Key facts
- Petrit Halilaj's 'Abetare (un giorno a scuola), 2025' is a permanent public sculpture in Dogliani, Italy.
- The sculpture is made of stainless steel patinated in bronze and is climbable.
- It translates children's drawings from school desks in Kosovo and the Balkans.
- The work is part of the second edition of the Radis public art project.
- Radis is promoted by Fondazione per l'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT and Fondazione CRC.
- The sculpture inaugurates on October 5 at Borgata Valdibà, Dogliani (Cuneo).
- Mayor Claudio Raviola gave Halilaj art supplies in a refugee camp in Albania in 1999.
- Halilaj won the Nasher Prize, considered the Oscar of sculpture.
- Curator Marta Papini selected the site, a former school in Borgata Valdibà.
- A group exhibition 'Tutto ciò che tocchi cambia. Tutto ciò che cambi, ti cambia' opens the same day.
- The exhibition features works by Marina Abramović, Sol Calero, Chiara Camoni, Bracha L. Ettinger, Dorothy Iannone, and Nolan Oswald Dennis.
- The exhibition is held at the Chiesetta del Ritiro della Sacra Famiglia in Dogliani.
Entities
Artists
- Petrit Halilaj
- Marina Abramović
- Sol Calero
- Chiara Camoni
- Bracha L. Ettinger
- Dorothy Iannone
- Nolan Oswald Dennis
- Octavia E. Butler
Institutions
- Fondazione per l'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT
- Fondazione CRT
- Fondazione CRC
- Fondazione Arte CRT
- Nasher Prize
- Brera
- Artribune
Locations
- Dogliani
- Cuneo
- Italy
- Kosovo
- Balkans
- Albania
- Berlin
- Paris
- Mantova
- Borgata Valdibà
- Chiesetta del Ritiro della Sacra Famiglia
- Langhe