The Hero

Marina Abramović

Marina Abramović is one of the most influential artists of the contemporary era, widely recognised for redefining the possibilities of performance art. For more than five decades, her work has explored the limits of the body, the power of presence and the transformative potential of human connection, creating experiences that challenge audiences to confront themselves, one another and the world around them.

Emerging from Belgrade in the early 1970s, Abramović became a pioneer of performance art through works that tested endurance, vulnerability, trust and risk. From the groundbreaking Rhythm series and the Golden Lion-winning Balkan Baroque to the landmark performance The Artist Is Present at MoMA, her practice has consistently pushed beyond traditional definitions of art, transforming time, attention and presence into artistic materials. Throughout her career, she has explored how ritual, stillness and collective participation can generate heightened states of awareness, empathy and transformation.

Abramović’s relationship with CIRCA has extended these investigations into both public and digital space. In 2022, she collaborated with the platform on The Hero 25FPS, her first NFT project, reimagining one of the most celebrated works of her career for a new generation of audiences. This was followed by Unconditional Love (2023), a manifesto calling for compassion, forgiveness and human connection, first performed at London’s Royal Academy of Arts. In 2024, CIRCA partnered with Abramović and Glastonbury Festival to present Seven Minutes of Collective Silence. Performed live before tens of thousands of festivalgoers, the work achieved what many would have considered impossible: bringing silence to one of the loudest and most celebrated music festivals in the world. Extending far beyond Worthy Farm through CIRCA’s global network of screens and international media coverage, the project demonstrated Abramović’s enduring belief that collective attention, stillness and presence remain among the most powerful forces available to us.

Founder of the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI), Abramović continues to shape generations of artists while expanding the possibilities of performance beyond the museum and gallery. Through a practice grounded in presence, participation and transformation, she has demonstrated how art can create profound encounters between individuals and the wider human community.