Legendary international conceptual artist Marina Abramović and the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI) have chosen eight artists - Dr Christian Thompson, Collective Absentia, Indigo Perry, Li Binyuan, Melati Suryodarmo, Mike Parr, SJ Norman and Yingmei Duan - to engage in site-specific, long-durational work during the 2024 Adelaide Festival, from 1 – 4 March.

The event, titled Marina Abramović Institute: Takeover, will also include a video installation by Abramović, introducing the project and guiding visitors through exercises from the Abramović Method.

“In 1979, I visited Australia to participate as part of the European dialogue at the first Sydney Biennale. A year later, Ulay and I received a grant from the Australian Arts Council. We used this grant for research and to travel in central Australian deserts, and visit Aboriginal tribes in this area. These visits not only influenced my way of thinking and approach to performance art but also changed my view of the world," says Abramović.

"I am so grateful to Adelaide Festival for inviting Marina Abramović Institute and supporting this presentation of long durational performance, in the context of its historically multidisciplinary, diverse, and vibrant programming.

"It is a highlight for us to present a new work by Mike Parr, an internationally recognized pioneer, who began to create long durational works on art in the 70’s, alongside Christian Thompson and SJ Norman, who I met on my last trip to Australia in 2015. The writer Indigo Perry will document the project in a writing performance. We are looking forward to bringing four international artists from Asia: Li Binyuan, Yingmei Duan, Melati Suryodarmo and Collective Absentia.”

The participating artists have provided further information about their works, which can be found on the Marina Abramović Institute: Takeover event page.

Ruth Mackenzie CBE, the Artistic Director of Adelaide Festival, says: “It is an honour to have my heroes Marina and the MAI make their Adelaide Festival debut in 2024. It has been an inspiration to work with the MAI team on this historic show and I am so excited to see everyone’s work in our venues.”

Marina Abramović Institute: Takeover will be the latest global communal participatory project created by MAI, following London (2023), Amsterdam (2022), Istanbul (2020), Bangkok (2018), Kyiv (2017), Athens (2016) and São Paulo (2015).

The event will be held from Fri 1 March - Mon 4 March at the Space Theatre and surrounds. Visitors are encouraged not only to observe but also to actively participate. Audience members can return over the over of the project to track the changes and surprises in the evolving, long-durational pieces.

Tickets are available for purchase as either single-day passes or a four-day multi-pass through the event page.

About the Marina Abramović Institute

Marina Abramović Institute (MAI) presents and supports performance art at a global scale. Through an artist-driven process, the institute maintains both a multidisciplinary approach to performance and a focus on long-durational work.

MAI aims to address the complexity of the present time to shift the awareness and consciousness of human beings through performance. It promotes interdisciplinary collaboration between practitioners of all disciplines, including art, science, technology, and spirituality.

In 2023, MAI opened its space in Karyes, Greece to support creative processes around performance art and generate collaborative thinking. The institute hosts Cleaning the House, a workshop developed by Abramović to reset the body and help understand one’s physical or mental limits. The workshops are open to public participants coming from any discipline.