Trouble in Paradise
Curated by Rein Wolfs
Bundeskunsthalle / Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn
24 April – 11 October 2015

The work For the Birds by Alvaro Urbano and Petrit Halilaj was first conceived during the artist residency program at Villa Romana, Florence in 2013. 

Inspired by the artists’ personal living-studio space in Berlin, which is shared with canary birds through a customized aviary tunnel system that allows the birds to move freely through the building, the work developed into a larger site-specific project for the Villa Romana. With the help of friends, a large tunnel-like structure was built on the compounds of the residency where Halilaj and Urbano stayed for a few months, a system which connected one part of the building to another, passing through the Villa’s garden. 

In 2015, the artists recreated For the Birds and adapted it to the space of the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn, Germany. Here, birds were hosted in an aviary on the balcony of the institution’s library, from which they could access other parts of the building through a tunnel. 

The work adapts in form to the space where it is rebuilt. The tunnel should provide the birds with a possibility to move freely around the architecture.

Participant artists in the show “Trouble in Paradise”:  Michael Beutler, Vajiko Chachkhiani, Thea Djordjadze, Petrit Halilaj, Maria Loboda, Christian Philipp Müller, Olaf Nicolai, Tobias Rehberger, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Michael Sailstorfer, Tino Sehgal, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Alvaro Urbano, Ina Webe