Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj, whose work often contrasts the innocence of youth with the sober realities of war, has been named the winner of the 2027 Nasher Prize.
At 39, Halilaj is the youngest recipient of the award, according to a Thursday announcement from the Nasher Sculpture Center.
In a phone call from his Berlin home, Halilaj said history molds his art. He came of age in Kosovo in the 1990s amid a bloody conflict between ethnic Albanians and Serbians. He was 13 when he and his family, who are Albanian, had their house burned down by Serbian forces. Later, at a refugee camp, a psychologist encouraged Halilaj to draw his fears and dreams.
The drawings, among which Halilaj depicted vibrant birds and trees (suggesting a utopia of sorts), would inspire a 2021 exhibition at the Tate St. Ives in England. “Whatever we live [through], it makes [us] who we are,” he said. “Surviving in that war was true luck.”
Other works by Halilaj that recall history and childhood include a series of bronze sculptures based on scribbles found on generations of school children’s desks in the Balkans. These sculptures were shown in 2024 on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
‘We have to bring culture back’
Most recently, Halilaj staged Syrigana, an interdisciplinary opera based on a local legend, in the namesake Kosovar village.
He learned of his Nasher win shortly after the opera’s June debut. It was a hectic time. A few days before the premiere, several props — “months and months of work and preparation” he said — were set ablaze. They had been stored in locked containers.
The culprit was not found, but Halilaj suspected the fire was related to Kosovo’s history of ethnic tensions. Still, he was undeterred and rallied a fleet of artists to re-create the destroyed materials. “The collective dream we have to bring culture back,” he said, is “way bigger than this attack.”
Halilaj sees the Nasher Prize as supporting this dream. He plans to use the prize money — $100,000 — to support the Hajde! Foundation, a nonprofit he founded with his sister in 2014 to promote the arts in Kosovo. The organization has provided artists with spaces to present their work and revitalized cultural institutions that fell into disrepair amid the conflict.
In partnership with Kosovo’s Ministry of Culture, Hajde! has mounted a restoration of an arts center in Halilaj’s hometown. Called the House of Culture, it was a beacon for artists until its closure around the late ‘80s. Halilaj estimates it will reopen in 2027.
“I’m just one person that has one point of view. … What the House of Culture can bring is this plurality of voices,” Halilaj said, adding that he wants to invite both ethnic Albanians and Serbians as well as minority groups into the space.
Programming to come at the Nasher
Halilaj’s art offers hope, said Carlos Basualdo, director of the Nasher Sculpture Center. “Works like this tell you about what art can do,” Basualdo said, noting it can bring people together.
In the decade since the Nasher Prize was established, it has become one of the art world’s most prestigious honors. Recent laureates have hailed from countries around the world, including Nigeria (Otobong Nkanga), the U.S. (Senga Nengudi) and Iran (Nairy Baghramian). Winners are selected by a jury of museum directors, curators, art historians and artists. Halilaj is the ninth recipient of the award.
The prize began as an annual award in 2015 before switching to a biennial basis in 2023 to allow recipients more time to collaborate with the museum. Plans for programming around Halilaj’s work in 2027 will be announced.
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