Marina Abramović takes over London

‘Four months ago I was in a coma… if I’d died, I’d be the only dead female artist in 250 years showing at the Royal Academy!’

With a half-century retrospective at the Royal Academy of Arts – the first main-gallery solo show for a female artist in the RA’s 255-year history – and a five-day “Takeover” at the Southbank Centre, performance artist Marina Abramović is making quite a splash in London.

She is here in person, too, and Studio International caught up with her in a bathroom backstage at the Southbank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall as she was about to open the Takeover.

Marina Abramović: Institute Takeover
Southbank Centre, London
4 – 8 October 2023.

Marina Abramović
Royal Academy, London
23 September 2023 – 1 January 2024

Marina Abramović’s opera, 7 Deaths of Maria Callas
ENO, London Colisseum
3-11 November 2023

Interview by JULIET RIX
Filmed by WILLIAM KENNEDY