Over the past half century, Marina Abramovic has earned worldwide acclaim as a pioneer of performance art. This handsome book records the first UK exhibition to include works from her entire career. Re-performances of some of her best-known and most radical works appear alongside new works created especially for the exhibition. An augmented reality app for iOS and Android enables readers to watch films of Abramovic's original performances while reading the book.

An essential purchase for all followers of Abramovic's extraordinary 50-year career, this important new publication brings expert voices into the debate that her ground-breaking work engenders. How far should an artist push herself in pursuit of her work? What role does the audience play in creating a performance? How can performance art outlive the moment in which it takes place?

Expo: 23/09/2023 - 10/12/2023, Royal Academy of Arts, London - 16/03/2024 - 14/07/2024, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam


Karen Archey is Curator of Contemporary Art at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Adrian Heathfield is Professor of Performance and Visual Culture at the University of Roehampton, London. Svetlana Racanovic is Professor of Theory of Contemporary Art in the Faculty of Fine Arts Cetinje at the University of Montenegro. Andrea Tarsia is Director of Exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Devin Zuber is Associate Professor of American Studies, Religion and Literature at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and George F. Dole Professor of Swedenborgian Studies at the Center for Swedenborgian Studies, Berkeley.

Over the past half century, Marina Abramovic has earned worldwide acclaim as a pioneer of performance art. This handsome book records the first UK exhibition to include works from her entire career. Re-performances of some of her best-known and most radical works appear alongside new works created especially for the exhibition. An augmented reality app for iOS and Android enables readers to watch films of Abramovic's original performances while reading the book.

An essential purchase for all followers of Abramovic's extraordinary 50-year career, this important new publication brings expert voices into the debate that her ground-breaking work engenders. How far should an artist push herself in pursuit of her work? What role does the audience play in creating a performance? How can performance art outlive the moment in which it takes place?

Expo: 23/09/2023 - 10/12/2023, Royal Academy of Arts, London - 16/03/2024 - 14/07/2024, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam


Karen Archey is Curator of Contemporary Art at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Adrian Heathfield is Professor of Performance and Visual Culture at the University of Roehampton, London. Svetlana Racanovic is Professor of Theory of Contemporary Art in the Faculty of Fine Arts Cetinje at the University of Montenegro. Andrea Tarsia is Director of Exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Devin Zuber is Associate Professor of American Studies, Religion and Literature at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and George F. Dole Professor of Swedenborgian Studies at the Center for Swedenborgian Studies, Berkeley.