Acclaimed artist duo showing in Norway for the first time
The installation Forget-me-not is unveiled at the Nobel Peace Center 11 May. The three enormous flowers will greet visitors on their way out from the museum. For the first time, the German based artist duo Petrit Halilaj and Álvaro Urbano are showing their work in Norway. Forget-me-not is curated and financed by KORO – Public Art Norway and will be a permanent installation at the Nobel Peace Center.
“This artwork was chosen because of its strong symbolic power”, said KORO’s Project Manager Anna Katharina Haukeland. “These are flowers that the artists have given to each other during their relationship, and they are a striking manifesto of love, hope and forgiveness – themes that fit well at the Nobel Peace Center.”
Urbano and Halilaj are born in Spain and Kosovo respectively, and live and work in Berlin. Mostly working individually, their flower installations are joint productions. Different kinds of flowers have been shown in Madrid, Rome, Pristina, and Berlin.
Now they will be seen by everybody visiting the Nobel Peace Center when the museum re-opens after refurbishment this summer. The large, blue flowers will be visible from the Museum Square through the windows while also being the last thing the visitors experience on their way down the stairs leading out from the exhibitions.
“We are so grateful to have this wonderful artwork as a part of the new, re-furbished Nobel Peace Center. The flowers will provide an uplifting and memorable end of the visit. Hopefully, they will help the visitors to remember what they have experienced and leave with a feeling of hope”, said Nobel Peace Center’s Executive Director Kjersti Fløgstad.
Information to the media:
Members of the press are welcome to a press conference and preview of the artwork Forget-me-not by Petrit Halilaj and Álvaro Urbano, at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo 11 May 2023 at 14:30.
Artists Petrit Halilaj and Álvaro Urbano will be present and available for interviews. To register for the event and/or schedule individual interviews, please contact: Ingvill Bryn Rambøl, ibr@nobelpeacecenter.org
About the artists
Petrit Halilaj (b. 1986) is educated at the Brera Academy in Milano. He fled the Kosovo wars as a child, and started drawing to process his experiences when living in a refugee camp. His art is deeply rooted in the consequences of the political and cultural tensions of his homeland, though always with a personal and intimate angle.
Álvaro Urbano (b. 1983) is interested in non-hegemonic rooms, and invite the audience to enter fictional stories and landscapes through installation and performance. He studied at Higher Technical School of Architecture in Madrid before graduating from Institut für Raumexperimente at Universität der Künste in Berlin.
The two artists live and work in Berlin. Together they have shown their work at Palacio de Cristal in Madrid, Brücke-Museum in Berlin and Villa Romana in Firenze, among others.
About the Nobel Peace Center
- one of Norway's most visited museums, with more than 200.000 visitors per year, including school groups
- presents the story of Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Peace Prize laureates and their work
- is situated in the heart of Oslo, near the City Hall
- Kjersti Fløgstad is the Executive Director, Olav Njølstad is Chair of the Board
- Main partners are Hydro and Reitan Retail
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Press contact
Ingvill Bryn Rambøl
ibr@nobelpeacecenter.org
+47 924 52 944