Post-performative exhibition: multimedia strategies for the representation of the body in the exhibition project – Marina Abramović: Balkan erotic epic in Berlin

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/1728-2640.2026.162.22

Abstract

Background. The article is devoted to the analysis of the exhibition project «Marina Abramović: Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition», presented at the exhibition space Gropius Bau in Berlin, as an example of the transformation of performance art into a post-performative multimedia form. The research focuses on the study of multimedia strategies for the representation of the body, the specific features of the mediatization of ritual, and the role of digital technologies in shaping the contemporary exhibition environment. Special attention is paid to how Marina Abramović reinterprets Balkan folklore, erotic corporeality, and collective memory through video installation, sound dramaturgy, spatial montage, and curatorial direction.
Methods. The methodological basis of the study is an interdisciplinary approach combining art historical, cultural, and media-theoretical analysis. The formal-stylistic method is applied to examine the visual and spatial characteristics of video installations and performative elements of the exhibition. The hermeneutic approach is used to interpret symbolic and ritual images within the context of Balkan cultural tradition. The concepts of Georges Bataille, Michel Foucault, and Victor Turner enable the analysis of the interrelation between corporeality, eroticism, power, and ritual, while the works of Erika Fischer-Lichte, Rosalind Krauss, Lev Manovich, and Claire Bishop provide the theoretical framework for understanding processes of performance mediatization, the post-medium condition of art, and immersive curatorial practices.
Results. It has been established that in the project «Marina Abramović: Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition» performance loses its character as a singular bodily event and acquires the form of a complex multimedia environment. Video installations, multichannel projections, sound compositions, scenography, and live performance form a unified representational system in which the body appears simultaneously as physical presence, media image, and carrier of cultural memory. The analysis of the works  «Scaring the Gods to Stop the Rain», «Fucking the Ground / Fertility Rites»,  «Magic Potions»,  «Tito’s Funeral», and  «Nude with Skeleton» demonstrates that digital media not only document performative action but also construct new forms of its existence. It has been shown that the artist employs mechanisms of theatricalization, cinematic montage, and image scaling to create an immersive experience in which ritual is transformed into a mediated image of collective memory.
Conclusions. The project «Marina Abramović: Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition» demonstrates the characteristic features of a post-performative exhibition in which the boundaries between performance, video art, installation, and theatrical practice become increasingly blurred. It has been proven that digital technologies play a key role in the transformation of performative art, turning the body into a multi-layered media construct. The reference to Balkan folklore and ritual practices allows the artist not only to actualize issues of collective memory and cultural identity but also to critically reflect on the mechanisms of stereotyping the Balkans within Western cultural discourse. Thus, the exhibition appears as an example of contemporary multimedia curatorial practice in which mediatization becomes the primary mode of artistic expression and representation of the body.