(5 / 5)

A once in a lifetime opportunity – Marina Abramovic has been an idol of mine from a young age when performance art was being introduced to me as a performer. A strong female taking the performance world by storm, to listen to this woman talk about her life, work and future only a few yards away was nothing less than extraordinary.

A simple set up on a Q&A, Abramovic is at all times in control. Known for moving interviewers in the direction she wishes to go, this simple Q&A soon becomes a little less simple, flustering the interviewer as she opens up to interesting, moving or hilarious stories on a tangent.

Growing up with not such a wonderful childhood, from the age of 14 when she put on her first performance, she says she believed even then she was too old to put on performance work as greats such as Mozart had done so at a much younger age. She takes her pain, her love, her anger and releases it in her performance art, challenging boundaries and the society of the time.

An honest woman, there is nothing she does not offer on the plate to us. From such inspiring and emotionally full work, I expected a serious yet dedicated woman. And she is, but mostly, she is funny. She has an addictive and wonderful personality that makes your ribs hurt and a can do, but also care free attitude that is inspiring and envious of.

An interesting point made by Abramovic, is that she does not believe she is a feminist. Questions from the audience about femisim, one from an art student from South Korea where woman are taking their sexual abuse and turning it into art is offered to Abramovic to comment on. And she does not hide behind a lie – she has experienced pain, euphoria, many emotions that you can see in her work but she admits she has never been abused, nor has she had any patriarchal/misogynist comments or influence and admits that this way she cannot comment. A lucky lady, we think of performers of having some tormented soul, but this woman has not, she is purely clever, creative and a genius.

Marina Abramovic has released a memoir on her life, and it is my belief that this is worth a good read for all performers, male or female to explore and gain insight into one of the greatest performance artists in our world.