Marina Abramović: Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition

Name: Marina Abramović: Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition
Start: 2026-08-23T10:00:00.000+02:00
End: 2026-08-23T19:00:00.000+02:00
Location: Gropius Bau

A person perceived as female, wearing a black headscarf, is standing outdoors and is massaging her naked breasts.

Marina Abramović, Women Massaging Breasts I from the series Balkan Erotic Epic, C-Print, 2005, Serbia © Marina Abramović, Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026

15.4.23.8.2026

Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri 12:00–19:00
Sat, Sun 10:00–19:00
Tue closed

Gropius Bau

Recommended for ages 16 and over

Contentnote

15 / reduced 10

Tickets

Marina Abramović, one of the most influential contemporary artists, presents Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition at Gropius Bau, marking her first major solo show in Berlin since the 1990s. The exhibition brings together historical and new works by the performance artist, tracing her ongoing engagement with ritual, eroticism, death and the body as a site of political resistance.

Women beat their chests and massage their breasts in lamentation, while a living naked body lies entwined with a skeleton: drawing on the folklore of Abramović’s native Balkans, the exhibition weaves together filmic and sculptural installations with live performance. Interspersed with moments of humorous exaggeration, the exhibition reimagines the Balkans as a place where erotic energy functions as a means for communities to confront death, ensure fertility and restore balance within the natural world. Here, the erotic emerges as a vital force through which boundaries between life and death, individual and collective, begin to dissolve.

Celebrating their 75th birthday, the Berliner Festspiele unfold Balkan Erotic Epic in two parts: following the exhibition at Gropius Bau, Balkan Erotic Epic. The Stage Version, a new multi-hour theatre production, will open the Performing Arts Season in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele in October 2026.

All You Need to Know for Your Visit

FAQ

How can we visit the exhibition without long waiting times?
We recommend booking timed-slot tickets onlinein advance. This way, you can skip the line at the ticket desk and avoid your preferred time slots selling out.
Can we only visit the exhibition within the booked time slot?
No, the selected time slot applies to entry only. You’re free to stay as long as you like – and you can also visit the parallel exhibition by Peter Hujar / Liz Deschenes before or after.
How can we book tickets for a later date?
Exhibition tickets are currently available up to mid-May. On 5 May at 12:00, tickets for dates up to the beginning of September will be released.

Exhibition Texts

Learn more about the works on display and the themes of the exhibition.

People are standing in an exhibition room. In the foreground, on a white platform, there is a table and a chair. On the table are a jar of honey, a bottle of wine, and a metronome.

Events

Programme Overview

All guided tours and events of the public programme can be found in our overview.

Publication

On the Erotic

Learn more about the third volume of our book series The Practices – What Moves Artists.

Content Note: The exhibition addresses events of war and racist violence and includes depictions of self‑harm and sexually explicit acts.

Curated by Agnes Gryczkowska, curator and writer, and Jenny Schlenzka, Director, Gropius Bau, with Elena Franziska Setzer, Assistant Curator, Gropius Bau, and Savannah Thümler, Curatorial Assistant, Gropius Bau
Exhibition Management: Katharina Heise, Sophie Winckler and Nora Bergbreiter, Project Management

Download exhibition imprint

Marina Abramović: Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition is funded by

Partners: Wall BouvetLadubay Dussmann
Media partners: Monopol BerlinArt Link Madame Fräulein H.O.M.E. Flair FluxFM Tagesspiegel