Marina Abramović

Works from all creative periods; audience as performers

The Kunsthaus Zürich presents Marina Abramović’s first comprehensive retrospective in Switzerland. It includes works from all her creative periods, along with live restagings of some historical performances. Of particular interest is a new piece designed specially for Zurich that directly involves the audience. Abramović is known for her ‘long-durational performances’, in which she explores physical and mental limits. These works invite visitors to experience mindfulness and self-perception in new ways.

The exhibition covers a range of media, including video, photography, sculpture and drawing, along with live restagings of iconic performances such as ‘Imponderabilia’ and ‘Luminosity’. In ‘Imponderabilia’, visitors have to literally pass between the artists, a powerful physical and mental experience in its own right. Abramović’s focus on interaction and participation, which is also in evidence in ‘Decompression Chamber’, the work developed specially for Zurich, makes this retrospective unique.

Marina Abramović’s first retrospective in Switzerland is being developed in close collaboration with the artist. It is a cooperation with the Royal Academy in London, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Kunstforum Vienna.

Supported by Swiss Re, Partner for contemporary art, and the Georg and Bertha Schwyzer-Winiker Foundation.

Trigger warning

Please note that in the exhibition, during the performances, there are depictions of nudity and works of art on the themes of death and physical pain that may be perceived as disturbing.

Ill.: Marina Abramović, The Spirit in Any Condition Does Not Burn, 2011, © Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives / 2024, ProLitteris, Zurich