The exhibition 'We Built A Fantastic Palace At Night...', which is being shown at the Institut Giacometti in Paris and curated by Hugo Daniel, presents a dialog between the works of contemporary artist Petrit Halilaj and those of Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966).
Petrit Halilaj has been influenced by the war in his home country of Kosovo since his childhood. In his work, Petrit Halilaj develops a practice in which individual and collective histories meet. Drawing, and in particular drawings of children, play an important role.
From 2015, he developed a kind of graphic lexicon in the 'Abetare' series, in which children's drawings are transformed into drawings in space. Two works from this series are on display at Deutsche Telekom – Magenta Mitte in Berlin.
In 1932, Alberto Giacometti copied a child's drawing that he discovered on the sidewalk in Avenue Villemain in Paris. This drawing is the starting point for the dialog between the two artists.
Referring to a text by Alberto Giacometti on his work 'Le Palais à 4h du matin' (1932), the exhibition and its title explore the dynamics of the fantastic and fragile constructions of both artists' works.
