Confession Maria by Abramovic

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Bring this artwork back to it’s birthplace!

Marina Abramovic shot this video in Lamu. Several donkeys auditioned for the video before she choose this one. From the initials burned in its shoulder skin we can deduct the owner of the donkey. When we spoke to him in 2017 in Lamu, he remembered the time his donkey was chosen for a video.

Abramovic, a world famous performance artist, demands a lot from herself during performances. Her art originally had an agressive-political feminist weight and developed into the mystical, introspective and spirtual fase of which Confession is a good example. During the 3-month exhibition in MOMA New York in 2011 she sat every day 8 hours in front of random persons from the audience. People were often moved to tears by this deeply moving experience. The MOMA turned into a sanctuary site with a long row of people who wanted to sit in front of the artists.

Lisson Gallery represents Abramovic. The owner of the gallery built a retreat for its artists in Lamu. This is how Abramovic ended up in Lamu. She is not the only artist from Lisson’s ‘stable’ to have stayed and developed work in Lamu. As far as we know the video was not yet on show in Lamu.

Marina Abramovic: “In Confession I review the memories of my childhood and youth while staring at a donkey. My body, often subjected to extremely intense physical restraints , remains completely still in this subtitled video.”

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