SYRIGANA, the first opera performance by Petrit Halilaj in collaboration with the Kosovo Philharmonic, premiere on june 29 at sunset, in partnership with Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, as a prelude to Halilaj’s upcoming solo exhibition at the museum in September.

The five-act opera reimagines a Kosovar legend: that Adam and Eve, cast from the Garden of Eden, came to Syrigana to marry. With story and script by Petrit Halilaj, Amy Zion, and Doruntina Basha, a score by Lugh O’Neill, and choreography by Robert Schulz, this unique performance features the Kosovo Philharmonic, the Syrigana Wedding Band, and contributions from Nina Guo and Urta Haziraj.
The work forms the centerpiece of Halilaj’s upcoming solo exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof (opening September 2025, curated by Catherine Nichols), and represents a deeply personal, historical, and spiritual vision.

Since 2016, the small village of Syrigana has been protected as an archaeological site spanning prehistory, late antiquity, and the Middle Ages. It is situated at the foot of a striking rock plateau believed to have once supported an ancient castle fortification. Legends abound in the rugged landscape of this village, located a stone’s throw from Petrit Halilaj’s hometown of Runik. Runik itself is a well-known Neolithic site, famous for the Runik Ocarina, the oldest musical instrument found in the Balkans. This places the area in a key position for understanding early human history in the region.

In the aftermath of the Kosovo War (1998–99), efforts to preserve historical sites are part of broader attempts at cultural reconciliation. Today, the region is supported by ongoing efforts for heritage protection and recognition amid Kosovo’s evolving identity as an independent nation. The site’s preservation and investigation could foster unity through shared historical understanding.

Syrigana recasts primal origin fables in the vocabulary of Halilaj’s work, playfully conflating biblical and contemporary references as it posits love as a grounding force in the face of an uncertain future. Adam and Eve, here recast as a fox and a rooster, are expelled from the Garden of Eden. They travel across the seven skies in search of a place where their love can thrive, finally arriving via KFOR (Kosovo Force) helicopters upon the great rock plateau in Syrigana. They are welcomed by the locals who want to marry them, yet their union is threatened by the machinations of a mysterious wedding tailor. Will their love survive?

Petrit Halilaj understands his artistic practice as a means to alter the course of personal and collective histories, creating complex worlds that claim space for freedom, desire, intimacy, and identity. His work is deeply connected to the recent history of his native country, Kosovo, and the consequences of cultural and political tensions in the region, which he often takes as a starting point for igniting countercurrent poetics for the future.

Rooted in his biography, the projects encompass a variety of media, including sculpture, drawing, text, and performance. Often incorporating materials from Kosovo and manifesting as ambitious spatial installations, his work transposes personal relationships, places, and people into sculptural forms.

Halilaj’s practice can be seen as a playful and, at times, irreverent attempt to resist oppressive politics and social norms, towards an untamed celebration of all forms of connectedness and freedom.

Syrigana is a collaboration with the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra, currently led by Dardan Selimaj and guest conductor Gregory Charette. It was established in 2000 and stands as the premier institution for classical music in the Republic of Kosovo.

+about petrit halilaj

+about kosovo philharmonic orchestra

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If you would like to join the artist and the creative ensamble for the premier and would like to RSVP to this event

+info: julia@kurimanzutto.com