Venice Biennale
Serbia and Montenegro
Abramovic plans her legacy
The artist is opening a new performance art centre in Montenegro
By Cristina Ruiz. Web only
Published online: 02 June 2011
Marina Abramovic with Montenegrin Minister of Culture Branislav Micunovic, and right, the former factory that will house her new performance art centre
venice. Marina Abramovic has unveiled plans to open a vast performance art centre in Cetijne, Montenegro. Abramovic, 64, was born in Serbia to Montenegrin parents. She said she had worked her entire life to have performance art accepted by the mainstream art world. "With my MoMA retrospective [last year]. I think I achieved this." Now she says she is focussing on her "legacy". "When you die, the only thing you can leave behind is a good idea," said the artist.
Speaking at the Venice Biennale, the veteran performance artist said the Ministry of Culture had asked her to help transform a 140,000 sq. m former refrigerator factory into a space for the production and presentation of dance, theatre, opera, music, film, and art. The factory complex, originally opened by President Tito of Yugoslavia in 1953, consists of 28 large industrial halls including a dining room for 4,000 people.
The new centre, which will open in stages beginning in 2013, will collaborate with the Marina Abramovic Institute in Hudson, New York, which the artist is currently developing. The architect selected to transform the factory complex will be announced in September.
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