Marina Abramovi?, Balkan Erotic Epic at Gropius Bau reaches its finale
Published on 09/01/2026 at 15:29 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Marina Abramovi? brings her ambitious project Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition at Gropius Bau in Berlin to a close this week. As the Berliner Festspiele state, the large-scale solo exhibition runs from April 15 to August 23, 2026, marking her first major Berlin show since the 1990s. Berliner Festspiele press release
The Berlin exhibition at Gropius Bau
Installed across ten rooms, the atrium and even the in-house restaurant Beba, Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition positions Marina Abramovi?’s performance practice at the center of Gropius Bau’s spring and summer program. The institution frames the project as among the most ambitious works of her career, linking erotic folklore, communism and pagan ritual. Gropius Bau exhibition page
The show combines historical pieces and new commissions to address how the body becomes a site of political resistance. In the context of Berlin’s 75th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele, the exhibition also forms the first part of a broader two-part undertaking that will continue as a stage work later in 2026.
Nude with Skeleton and daily performance schedule
Within the exhibition, Marina Abramovi?’s performance Nude with Skeleton anchors the program as a durational work staged daily, except Tuesdays, between 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM on the first floor of Gropius Bau. Berlin’s official ticket portal specifies that the performance is free to attend, with visitors required to hold an exhibition ticket for entry. Berlin events listing
Originally enacted by Abramovi? in 2002, Nude with Skeleton presents a naked, heavily breathing body lying under a human skeleton, producing an intimate image of mortality and shared fragility. In Berlin, the piece functions as a recurring live hinge in the exhibition, intensifying the visitor’s encounter with the themes of death and erotic charge already present in the surrounding video and photographic work.
All news and background on Marina Abramovi?
Further reporting on Marina Abramovi?’s exhibitions, performances and institutional projects is available in the AD HOC NEWS archive, from Berlin’s Gropius Bau to Venice and beyond.
The work core around Balkan Erotic Epic
With Balkan Erotic Epic, Marina Abramovi? returns to motifs drawn from Balkan folklore and oral history, documenting rituals that address sexuality, superstition and bodily knowledge. Video works show villagers performing gestures intended to protect harvests, enhance fertility or ward off misfortune, reframed by Abramovi? within a contemporary art context.
The exhibition expands this material into an installation landscape where film, photography and sound bind together with performance scores. The spatial arrangement in Gropius Bau underscores how repetition, duration and the charged presence of the performer’s body remain central to Abramovi?’s practice, even when she appears only via recordings or delegated performances.
Where the artist stands now
Marina Abramovi?’s Berlin exhibition Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition closes on August 23, 2026 at Gropius Bau, with no additional date in the immediate 30-day window officially announced beyond the scheduled conclusion of the show.
Marina Abramovi? at a glance
- Artist: Marina Abramovi?
- Medium / Genre: Performance and installation art
- Born: 1946, Belgrade, former Yugoslavia (today Serbia)
- Place(s) of practice: Studio practice between Europe and the United States
- Active since: Early 1970s, with formative performances in Belgrade and later works with Ulay
- Key work groups: Rhythm series, Balkan Erotic Epic, The Artist Is Present, Seven Deaths of Maria Callas
- Current/last exhibition: Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition, Gropius Bau, Berlin, April 15 to August 23, 2026
- Major collections: Works in major public collections including MoMA (New York), Tate (London) and the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam)
- Awards: Multiple international honors, including Golden Lion for Best Artist at the Venice Biennale (1997)
- Next date: No officially announced date within the immediate 30-day window following the closure of the Gropius Bau exhibition
Frequently asked questions about Marina Abramovi?
Where is Marina Abramovi? currently on view?
Marina Abramovi? is currently on view in Berlin with Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition at Gropius Bau, running from April 15 to August 23, 2026, as confirmed by the Berliner Festspiele and Gropius Bau information.
What is the performance Nude with Skeleton in Berlin?
Nude with Skeleton is a durational performance within the Gropius Bau exhibition, staged daily except Tuesdays from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM, where a naked body lies under a skeleton to evoke an intimate confrontation with mortality.
How does Balkan Erotic Epic fit into Marina Abramovi?’s broader work?
Balkan Erotic Epic extends Abramovi?’s long-standing interest in ritual, endurance and the social body, translating Balkan folklore around sexuality and protection rituals into multi-channel installations, performances and photographic series within institutional exhibition formats.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
