Forget-me-not
Nobel Peace Center, Oslo
25 August 2023 – 25 August 2030

Three giant, blue flowers will greet visitors on their way out of the Nobel Peace Center. The acclaimed artist duo Petrit Halilaj and Álvaro Urbano are showing in Norway for the first time.

Oversized flowers installed in human environments are a recurring motif in the joint practice of Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj and Spaniard Álvaro Urbano. The installation Forget-me-not (2023), crafted in stainless steel and painted canvas, at the Nobel Peace Center suspends three forget-me-nots above the staircase, visible for both passersby and visitors in the building. It is the first time a work by the artist duo is shown in Norway. The installation will be a permanent part of the visitors experience when the Nobel Peace Center reopens after refurbishment in August.

Individually, both Halilaj and Urbano have established themselves as talented artists with strong artistic practices, but they have also worked and lived together since 2014. They are interested in the entanglement between nature and human-made structures, and how they affect each other. Together, the duo draws on their personal and collective histories to create new environments, exploring and negotiating the space between human and the natural world. Both of their practices incorporate personal and playful elements that inquire and challenge societal norms. Forget-me-not (2023) belongs to a body of work representing specific flowers the artists exchanged over the course of their relationship, scaled up to become eternal monuments of shared memories. In this way, a private moment of affection and care grows into an expression of queer love that reclaims its space.

Photos by Werner Zellien