Marina Abramovic, a Serbian performance artist, revealed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had approached her for assistance in rebuilding schools in Ukraine. In an interview with the Modern Art Museum in Shanghai, Abramovic stated that she was the first artist to support Ukraine in their war against Russia and lend her voice to the cause. She mentioned that Zelensky had invited her to be an ambassador for Ukraine and aid in the reconstruction of schools for the affected children.
Additionally, Abramovic mentioned her involvement as a board member of the Babyn Yar organization, which works to protect a holocaust memorial center dedicated to Jews who were killed by Nazis in Ukraine. The artist is renowned for her performances characterized by endurance and pain, often featuring universal themes of life and death. She uses symbolic visual elements such as crystals, bones, knives, tables, and pentagrams.
In 2021, Abramovic installed “The Crystal Wall of Crying” in Kyiv, a symbolic artwork honoring Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Described as a “wall for healing,” it served as an extension of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. The artist emphasized that while the park may appear beautiful and full of life, it also holds the heavy memory of terrible events.
Abramovic recently became the first woman to have a solo retrospective exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in the United Kingdom. The exhibition, running from September 23, 2023, to January 1, 2024, allows visitors to enter between two nude models. Born in Belgrade in 1946, Abramovic studied fine arts in Belgrade and Zagreb before relocating to Amsterdam in 1976. She is known for her notable performances, including “The Great Wall Walk” in 1988 and “The Artist is Present” in 2010.