Marina Abramović, the celebrated performance artist, is preparing for what she describes as the most important project of her life: Balkan Erotic Epic, a four-hour performance commissioned by Factory International at Aviva Studios in Manchester. The show, which runs from 9 July to 3 August, features over 70 performers enacting ancient rituals and folklore from across the Balkans, including Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey, and Serbia.
The performance includes scenes of women beating their breasts in mourning, dancing skeletons, a giant orgy, and a 'mushroom garden' populated by five-metre-high penises. Abramović explains that these rituals, used for farming, childbirth, weddings, and funerals, 'with absolutely no exception, used the genitals – the vagina and the penis – in so many different ways.' The show begins with the funeral of former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito and ends with wedding revelries.
Abramović, now nearly 79, admits to feeling daunted by the scale of the production. 'I’ve never done anything so complex, so daring … I wake up in the middle of the night. I’ve never been like this for any other work,' she says. The artist, known for previous endurance works such as sitting silently for 700 hours at MoMA, will introduce each performance but is unsure if she will participate physically.
John McGrath, artistic director of Aviva Studios, notes that the venue was built with Abramović in mind. 'When we were developing the building, she was right at the top of our list. We felt she could do something amazing here,' he says. Abramović initially proposed a collaboration with Lady Gaga, but changed plans after an emergency meeting.
Abramović is unfazed by potential scandal, recalling the tabloid reaction to her 2023 London retrospective, which featured a naked couple in a doorway. 'Nakedness brings so much power because people are scared, interested, amused,' she says. The show aims to rediscover the past and our present selves through ancient erotic rituals, blending live performance, film, music, and animation in the vast 64-metre-long, 21-metre-high space.
