Digital Editions
Newsletters
Subscribe
Digital Editions
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Diary
blog

Performances at the Royal Academy (and flights) are off limits for Marina Abramovic following an embolism

The godmother of performance art also plans all-women tea party at the RA

The Art Newspaper
4 September 2023
Share
Marina Abramović

Photo: Marco Anelli © 2022

Marina Abramović

Photo: Marco Anelli © 2022

The Royal Academy’s (RA) forthcoming Marina Abramovic retrospective spanning 50 years of work is the blockbuster show we’re all waiting for this autumn (23 September-1 January 2024). It is also shockingly the first solo show by a woman in the RA’s Main Galleries, prompting a quirky project from Abramovic just made for the Brits.

“The fact that in 255 years, there has been no woman showing solo in this big space makes it a huge responsibility,” Abramovic tells the RA Magazine. “This is one of the reasons that I absolutely want to hold a Women’s Tea Party at the RA, a private event just for the girls, you know. I want to invite young artists. I want to invite writers, scientists, politicians, women from all kinds of fields, actresses. I want to invest my own energy, to give them my work and my life through the show, and then have tea. This is the fastest sponsored party I’ve ever organised. We immediately found a sponsor; it looks like the English really love tea.”

But Abramovic has also suffered a setback along the RA way. “Now [following an embolism] there is a new restriction in my life. For six months, I can’t take a plane. Usually I take a plane every two, three, five days. So this is an incredible restriction, not planned. To come to London, for the Royal Academy show, I must take the boat from New York,” she adds. Subsequently it appears she won't be taking part in any of the stamina-busting performance pieces planned for the exhibition including The House with the Ocean View (2002). Four significant works will be reperformed not by the starry Serbian herself but by emerging artists, says the RA Magazine.

DiaryMarina AbramovićRoyal Academy of ArtsPerformance art
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Data protection
Privacy policy
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscription T&Cs
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Instagram
Bluesky
LinkedIn
Facebook
TikTok
YouTube
© The Art Newspaper

Related content

Exhibitionsnews
24 May 2022

Twice-postponed Marina Abramovic show will finally come to London in 2023

The performance artist’s exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts was announced along with shows on Impressionism, Black artists from the American South, and Hispanic art

José da Silva
Marina Abramovićinterview
16 October 2020

Marina Abramovic TV: five-hour takeover will teach you everything you need to know about performance art

As well as her new Sky Arts programme, the artist's mixed reality work The Life will be sold at Christie’s this month, with an estimate of £400,000-£800,000

Ben Luke
Buyer's Guideanalysis
10 October 2023

Marina Abramović: a buyer's guide

Everything you need to know about the artist’s market before you start building your collection

Anny Shaw
Exhibitionspreview
31 August 2023

Marina Abramović gets Royal Academy of Arts show—but will she be present?

While the London exhibition has been developed in close collaboration with Abramović, the exact nature of her live participation is yet to be determined

Chloë Ashby