Marina Abramović announces launch of long-delayed UK retrospective
The highly anticipated show at the Royal Academy of Arts was postponed twice due to the pandemic.
A career-spanning exhibition of the Serbian performance artist Marina Abramović has been confirmed at the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) in London. The show, which was originally due to open in September 2020, was first postponed to autumn 2021 due to the pandemic, before being rescheduled again. It will now open 23rd September – 10th December 2023.
COVID-19 restrictions and potential lockdowns meant it was difficult to program the show due to its “performative and participatory elements”. “It became clear that autumn ’21 was still a potential risk, so to mitigate that risk, we decided to reprogram it two years later when we felt we could be reasonably certain we could present the exhibition as we and the artist had originally intended,” says a spokesperson.
COVID-19 restrictions and potential lockdowns meant it was difficult to program the show due to its “performative and participatory elements”. “It became clear that autumn ’21 was still a potential risk, so to mitigate that risk, we decided to reprogram it two years later when we felt we could be reasonably certain we could present the exhibition as we and the artist had originally intended,” says a spokesperson.
The blockbuster exhibition is set to feature works created across Abramović’s 50-year career, spanning film, photographs, objects, installations, and “re-performances” – where some of Abromovíc’s previous performances will be remade by younger performers.
Earlier this year, Abramović also reintroduced her iconic performance piece The Artist Is Present, first staged at MoMA in 2010, for an auction to provide support during the war in Ukraine. Winning bidders were offered the opportunity to participate in a restaging of the work, with proceeds benefiting Ukrainian war casualties.
