Marina Abramović to Debut Balkan Erotic Epic of ‘Unprecedented Scale’ in Manchester

Marina Abramović b. 1946, Serbia Follow +

Formidable performance artist Marina Abramović will unveil her ‘most ambitious work’ to date at Manchester’s Aviva Studios this autumn.

Titled Balkan Erotic Epic, the large-scale production will feature over 70 performers—including dancers, singers, and musicians—sacred erotic rituals from Balkan folklore between 9 and 19 October 2025.

Drawing from traditions across countries like Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria, the immersive performance includes 13 scenes recreating ancient practices. 

These range from Fertility Rite, where performers writhe against the ground, to In Scaring the Gods, featuring women baring themselves to the sky to banish storms. Audiences can move freely through the space, encountering live music, dance, and ritual acts.

Abramović is renowned for physical performances that challenge the body’s limits, including her six-hour-long endurance piece Rhythm 0 (1974), where she made herself the object of experimentation to visitors. 

Her 1997 performance Balkan Baroque, an homage to the Yugoslav Wars, saw the artist sit on a mountain of blood and flesh-covered cow bones, scrubbing away for six hours over four days while singing Serbian folk lamentations.

‘In our culture today, we label anything erotic as pornography,’ said the 78-year-old Belgrade-born artist. ‘Through this project I would like to show poetry, desperation, pain, hope, suffering, and reflect our own mortality.’

Following its Manchester premiere, Balkan Erotic Epic will tour internationally, with Barcelona dates confirmed for January 2026. Abramović will host an artist talk on 11 October.

The performance is co-commissioned by Factory International, Berliner Festspiele, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Park Avenue Armory, and WestK. 

Factory International chief executive and artistic director John McGrath called her one of the most influential artists of our time who connects with audiences across the globe.

‘This new performance work offers an unmissable opportunity for audiences to experience the next chapter of her creative life - bold, immersive, and on a scale that’s truly unprecedented,’ he said. —[O]

Main image: Marina Abramović, Women Massaging Breasts from the series 'Balkan Erotic Epic C-Print' (2005). Serbia. © Marina Abramović. Courtesy Marina Abramović Archives.