Performance artist Marina Abramović has unleashed her latest project, Balkan Erotic Epic. This spellbinding four-hour happening connects archaic Slavic traditions to today’s explorations of intimacy and eroticism. Originally commissioned by Factory International, the first of many shows that will take place inside Aviva Studios. Now at 79, the artist fearlessly confronts her African-American ancestry and visionary aesthetic in this eye-filling, mind-opening exhibition.
Abramović, in a diary recently made available to the New York Post and booked solid until 2029, just had bilateral knee replacement surgery. Even with this in mind, she does not abandon the ideals of her art, welcoming each interpretive display to their audience each night. She acknowledges the monumental task of directing while acting definitely poses some hurdles.
The performance consists of 13 separate tableaux based on ancient rituals, fairy tales and myths from Slavic culture. Over 70 actors, dancers and local performers will be involved in this ambitious undertaking. Through an immersive narrative and staging, the show seeks to explore the beautiful, terrifying complexities of the human experience.
We have hell. That’s why this is so important. I want to get back to the basics of everything,” Abramović announced. In an interview with The Guardian, she stressed her interest in examining universal human truths. This exhibition is a kind of homecoming, a gift to all those who have supported her lifelong journey through art and performance.
Perhaps the most striking feature of Balkan Erotic Epic is its frank and unabashed representation of nudity and eroticism. Female performers were specifically requested not to shave their underarm and pubic hair for three months leading up to the performance. This choice is in keeping with Abramović’s goal of disrupting traditional standards of beauty and body image.
The show features surreal elements, including a “mushroom garden” with five-metre penises sprouting from the ground, designed to provoke thought and discussion around sexuality and human existence. In the complex narrative structure of the performance, Abramović has interwoven a fictionalized version of her mother. She bases that conflict, in part, on her own fraught relationship with her very religious Orthodox Christian father.
Abramović stated about her mother’s influence on her, “If I had just read one page of her diary when I was alive, my life with my mother would have been different.” The artist shared intimate details of their relationship: “She wanted to make me a warrior. She never kissed me my entire life. Ever. I asked her one day, at 40, why. She said she didn’t want to spoil me.”
Yet Balkan Erotic Epic is more than just spectacle. It aspires to stir more profound meditations on humanity itself. “For me, these rituals deal with the history of human beings. It’s about humanity, not about pornography. That’s incredibly important,” Abramović explained.
The groundbreaking production is an incredible highlight for Abramović herself as she nears the age of 80 next year. The exhibition will next tour to the Park Avenue Armory in New York. She’s excited to celebrate this artistic milestone while continuing her artistic and career development there.
Reflecting on her extensive career, Abramović stated, “I had a difficult life, I had a good life, I had a more interesting life than I could possibly have imagined. So I want to embrace that moment.” Her impact is still being felt, pushing audiences to reconsider and rethink the role of art in the world.
Although she struggles with finding a balance between artistic direction and performance impact, Abramović can’t wait to start this new venture. My God, oh my God! To begin with, my works are extremely spare. This is not minimal. I’ve never been a part of anything so complicated, so audacious… And scarcest of all—and the hardest to come by—I wake up in the middle of the night. I’ve never been THIS WAY for any other work,” she confessed.