Metal sculptures of children's doodles frame Manhattan skyline in Met exhibit

Sheri Walsh
·3 min read
An artistic installation of twisted metal mimicking children's scribbles against the New York skyline was unveiled Monday at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's rooftop garden. Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj said "the casual scribbles of schoolchildren done on their desks in moments of boredom or distraction reveal the fantasies and dreams of their minds." Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art/Hyla Skopitz

April 29 (UPI) -- An artistic installation of twisted metal mimicking children's scribbles, by Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj, was unveiled Monday at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art's rooftop garden.

Halilaj said the metal sculptures in his sprawling installation of Abetare, which is the name of the book he used to learn the alphabet, are based on children's doodles and drawings he found on school desks in his native Runik.

"The casual scribbles of schoolchildren done on their desks in moments of boredom or distraction reveal the fantasies and dreams of their minds," said Halilaj, who was born in Kosovo in 1986 and uses his immersive art to connect to history in his native country.

"I started to explore this in my practice in 2015, and it was important for me then to extend the dreams of my school in Kosovo to Europe, a part of the world from which my country was still isolated," Halilaj added. "Now in 2024, numerous desks and scribbles from schools across the Balkans are showcased in a new context and on a new continent."

The twisted metal sculptures, which evoke child-like images against New York City's skyline in the museum's Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, are on view through the end of October.

Art installation "Abetare" by Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj on New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art's roof garden was unveiled Monday to mimic the "casual scribbles of schoolchildren done on their desks." Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art/Hyla Skopitz
Art installation "Abetare" by Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj on New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art's roof garden was unveiled Monday to mimic the "casual scribbles of schoolchildren done on their desks." Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art/Hyla Skopitz

"The Met is thrilled to unveil Petrit Halilaj's intervention for the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden and share the deeply meaningful conversation it invites between the artist's work, the museum, the Manhattan skyline and beyond," said Max Hollein, The Met's Marina Kellen French director and chief executive officer.

"Petrit Halilaj's inspiring and multilayered work -- which is both deeply rooted in the artist's history and homeland and forward-thinking and international in scope -- powerfully reframes the complex role of the childhood imagination in history's retelling of events," Hollein added.

"Abetare" art installation by Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj on New York's Met roof garden was unveiled Monday to showcase the "scribbles from schools across the Balkans." Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art/Hyla Skopitz
"Abetare" art installation by Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj on New York's Met roof garden was unveiled Monday to showcase the "scribbles from schools across the Balkans." Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art/Hyla Skopitz

While this is The Met's eleventh in a series of site-specific commissions for the outdoor roof garden, it is Halilaj's first art installation in the United States.

"My work here at The Met is dedicated to all the children whose lives have been interrupted and deeply scarred by wars around the globe," said Halilaj. "I hope their dreams will fly us to a better future."