Marina Abramovic to Give Public Lecture at the Invitation of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation

On September 16, at 16:00 artist Marina Abramovic will give a public lecture “Artist Body / Public Body” at the invitation of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. The event is organized to coincide with the 14th YES Annual Meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine and will launch the public program accompanying the PinchukArtCentre’s “Fragile State” exhibition. 

The lecture will take place at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Main building (60, Volodymyrska Street, City of Kyiv, Ukraine). 

Since the beginning of her career in early 1970’s, Marina Abramovic has pioneered performance art, using the body and duration as her subject and medium. She founded Marina Abramovic Institute (MAI), now traveling institute for immaterial and durational work among all fields. In this public lecture, she will illustrate the development of the Abramovic Method as a collective experience designed for the public to connect with each other and themselves and will then present an emerging generation of performance artists from two recent MAI projects.

Fragility serves as the conceptual basis of the exhibition, reflecting a delicate state of vulnerability. This is the most salient characterization of today’s world. The term “Fragile State” is a reflection on the fragile state of the world order, and more abstractly, it refers to ideological, cultural and social vulnerability. At the same time, the concept of fragility relates to every individual personally, when it is about vulnerability of one’s body, state of mind and consciousness.  

The public program, along with the exhibition, will explore various interpretations and definitions of the concept in a series of events. Every event will examine various aspects of fragility: social, cultural, historical, philosophical and psychological. Indeed, according to many theories, fragility is a fundamental characterization for both people and states, profoundly private and political at the same time.

From September to October 2017, the program will feature lectures by prominent Ukrainian and international academicians, public figures, researchers and experts.  

Participation is free. Seating is limited. To take part in the lecture on September 16, please register here. Media are kindly asked to fill in the accreditation form here. 

Fragile State Public Program

• 13.09, 19:00 – Curatorial tour by Artistic Director of the PinchukArtCentre Björn Geldhof.
• 16.09, 16:00 – Lecture by Marina Abramovic.
• 20.09, 20:00 – Lecture by Pascal Gielen. Socio-cultural perspective of fragility.
• Pascal Gielen is the director of the research center Arts in Society at Groningen University where he serves as professor of sociology of art and cultural politics. 
• 28.09 – Lecture by Hrytsak Yaroslav. Historical perspective of fragility.
• Hrytsak Yaroslav is Ukrainian historian, Doctor of Historical Sciences and professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University. 
• 05.10 – Lecture on the philosophical perspective of fragility.
• 12.10 – Lecture on the psychological perspective of fragility.

About Marina Abramovic 

Since the beginning of her career in Belgrade during the early 1970s, Marina Abramovic has pioneered performance as a visual art form, creating some of the most important early works. The body has always been both her subject and medium. Exploring her physical and mental limits in works that ritualize the simple actions of everyday life, she has withstood pain, exhaustion and danger in her quest for emotional and spiritual transformation. Marina Abramovic has presented her work at major institutions in the US and Europe, including the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1990; Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2005; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2010; Serpentine Gallery, London, 2014, etc. She has also participated in many large-scale international exhibitions including the Venice Biennale (1976 and 1997) and Documenta VI, VII and IX, Kassel (1977, 1982 and 1992). Abramovic was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Artist at the 1997 Venice Biennale for the video installation and performance “Balkan Baroque.”