Marina Abramović takes on London this autumn, featuring exhibitions and talks at the city's top institutions
Get ready for a double dose of Marina Abramović's artistry in London this autumn. She'll be showcasing her work at both the Royal Academy of Arts and the Southbank Centre, along with engaging conversations.
Image: Marina Abramović, Four Crosses: The Evil (positive), 2019. Corian, aluminum, iron, oak with LED panels, 550 x 357 x 29 cm. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Marina Abramović
Marina Abramović, a trailblazing artist and pioneer in performance art, is gracing London with a series of extraordinary events throughout the autumn. Immerse yourself in her groundbreaking work at the Royal Academy of Arts' first major solo exhibition, showcasing five decades of her artistic journey. Experience the Institute Takeover at the Southbank Centre, an event that promises an intimate glimpse into the world of durational performances. Join Abramović and author Katya Tylevich as they unravel the pages of Marina Abramović: A Visual Biography, offering an intriguing unparalleled insights into her life and artistry.
Marina Abramović at the Royal Academy of Arts
Marina Abramović Exhibition
The Royal Academy of Arts proudly presents Marina Abramović's first major solo exhibition in the UK. Delve into her pioneering performance art that has revolutionised the mainstream over five decades. Witness a comprehensive display of her practice, featuring photos, videos, installations, and live re-performances of iconic pieces. Abramović's transition from a painter to a performance art icon in the 1970s introduced repetitive, endurance-based actions as her focal point. Explore her relentless push against the boundaries of the live body in art and her exploration of existential and social elements.
Date: 23 September 2023 - 1 January 2024. Time: 10.00am - 6.00pm. Location: Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD. Price: £25.50 - £27.50. Book now.
Image: Marina Abramović, The Hero, 2001. Single Channel Video (black and white, sound); 14 minutes, 19 seconds. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Marina Abramović.
Curator Talk with Marina Abramović
Join curator Andrea Tarsia and Marina Abramović in a discussion about her meticulously curated exhibition at the Royal Academy, exploring pivotal career moments and the future of performance art.
Date: 27 September 2023. Time: 6.30pm - 7.45pm. Location:The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD. Price: £25/£15 in person or £10/£8 online. Book now.
Marina Abramović at the Southbank Centre
A Visual Biography: Marina Abramović in Conversation with Katya Tylevich
Marina Abramović and author Katya Tylevich will discuss their upcoming book, Marina Abramović: A Visual Biography. Explore Abramović's life and art through unseen images, personal archives, and insightful interviews. The blurred lines between artist and art come to life in this unforgettable journey.
Date: 1 October 2023. Time: 7:30pm. Location: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. Price: £15 - £25. Book now.
Image: Marina Abramovic book cover image.
Marina Abramović Institute Takeover
Witness a complete transformation of the Queen Elizabeth Hall into a realm of durational performances curated by Marina Abramović and the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI). Experience site-specific, long-durational pieces by diverse artists, encapsulating endurance, presence, and audience engagement.Get backstage access to dressing rooms, green rooms, and the auditorium, and immerse yourself in the artistry of this unparalleled event.
Date: 4 - 8 October 2023. Time: Wednesday - Friday at 6.00pm, Saturday & Sunday at Noon & 4.00pm. Location: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Foyer, and backstage. Price: £60. Book now.
With 172 exhibitors at Frieze London alone, that’s a lot of booths, and you only have so many hours to spend time in them all. Our top ten ranges from the heavyweight blue chips to younger galleries, and from big-ticket showstoppers to the stands that literally made us stop mid-sentence…
You have your Frieze Exhibitions Guide. You have your Frieze Music Nightlife Guide. But what about all the other collateral events and activations around the city? Lo and behold, there are many. Luckily for you, we’ve compiled a separate list of events to keep on your radar this Frieze Week, from a knit-and-sip crochet club to the Frieze London opening parties everyone is invited to.
Morus Art Group, a London cultural initiative founded by Alya Entts, makes its first public appearance in the city on 15 October with Out of the Blue, an exhibition that follows an artistic career through its first phases, from early promise to a first award, guidance from others and the point at which an artist begins working independently…
Celebrating its 21st edition in 2026 is Darbar Festival: the leading festival of Indian classical music in the UK. The five-day celebration of Hindustani and Carnatic music is themedThe Shock of the New, and will feature many artists never heard before in the UK…
Ironworks is the latest venture from LWE and PROJEKT, transforming a historic industrial warehouse on the banks of the Thames in East London into a next-generation electronic music venue. Spanning more than 150,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, Ironworks has the capacity for 7,000 people…
Kistefos, an hour north west of Oslo in Jevnaker, pairs a preserved wood pulp mill with one of Europe's most ambitious sculpture parks. The industrial museum keeps its machinery turning, while 60 works, almost all of them site specific, are spread along the Randselva river. Here is a guide to the sculptures not to miss…
Frieze London and Frieze Masters run from 14 to 18 October 2026 in The Regent's Park, marking the 24th edition of the contemporary fair and the 14th of its historical counterpart. Between them they bring 318 galleries to north London for five days, and with them the annual reordering of the city's cultural calendar that is Frieze Week…
Olympia has announced a 12-month partnership with the Design Museum, bringing a programme of free cultural activations to the West London destination across 2026 and 2027. Announced on 24 September, the collaboration draws on the museum's exhibitions and creative programme, positioning the 140-year-old site as one of the capital's newest cultural hubs…
Tickets are now on sale for Skate at Somerset House with Virgin Atlantic Holidays, which returns to the Strand courtyard from 11 November 2026 until 10 January 2027.
Alice Delhanty's first solo exhibition, Invented Fire, opened at Tache on Newman Street in Fitzrovia on 24 September 2026. The show presents fifteen new paintings in acrylic, among them large triptychs measuring more than three metres across, all made over the past year.
Apple has opened Apple Music Hall, a new live music venue inside London's Battersea Power Station, aimed at bringing artists and fans together through small, one-of-a-kind performances…
This week in London (21–27 September): Wigmore Hall opens its Autumn Piano Festival, Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss swap roles nightly in Electra/Persona at the National Theatre, and major new exhibitions from Amar Kanwar and William Kentridge open across the city's galleries…
Established in 2006, Contemporary Istanbul is Turkey’s leading art fair. This year’s edition sees more than 70 galleries from 24 countries participating. Nearly a quarter of these galleries are first-time exhibitors, demonstrating its growing reach…
FLO London’s Festival Correspondent Sofia Carreira Wham reports on the 2026 edition of Roskilde Festival, held from 27 June - 4 July in Roskilde, Denmark.
Somerset House Studios is marking its tenth anniversary this autumn with two major projects, a new film installation at its home in Somerset House and a three night takeover of a former power station in East London.
This week in London (14–20 September): Panels at Southbank's Letters To The Future, AW26/27 opens at Drumsheds, Grand shows at Fashion Week, Rodrigues' Catarina at the National Theatre, Outdoor art at Frieze Sculpture, Awakenings at the V&A Late, Historic tea at the Royal Albert Hall.
Artist Tschabalala Self unveiled her bronze sculpture Lady in Blue in Trafalgar Square, becoming the 16th commission for the Fourth Plinth since the programme began in 1998. The nine foot tall figure depicts an everyday young woman rendered in vivid blue…
Mike Skinner, the man behind The Streets, is teaming up with PATRÓN Tequila for a one-off evening in the capital this month, billed as Re-Mastered Live. The night will feature an in-depth conversation between Skinner and two long-time collaborators who've worked alongside him…
There is no doubt the temporary loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum is the once-in-a-lifetime experience to rule them all. Meticulously stitched by hand by talented women, the embroidery has never returned to English soil in over 900 years since its creation around the 1070s. Although many worried for its fragile condition, visitors lucky enough to bag the £33 ticket…
Kew Gardens is rolling out a new discounted admission scheme this autumn, offering entry for £10 every Tuesday starting 8 September 2026 and continuing through 29 December 2026…
Once a year, museums, theatres, and concert halls across Denmark open up specifically for the country's youth, and this September, K7 Week is back for another round, now bigger than ever. The initiative began in Denmark in 2020 as a way to draw young people into cultural life…
With more than two decades of experience across the art world, Anna Maja Spiess has seen the industry from almost every angle, from private and public collections and blue-chip galleries to art start-ups, cultural partnerships and arts publications…
London Sculpture Week returns for its fifth edition from 19 to 27 September 2026, bringing together some of the capital’s leading public art programmes across a series of free and ticketed events…
V&A East Museum is staying open until 10pm every Thursday throughout September, with free DJ sets, a pop-up bar and late-night access to its exhibitions and galleries….
A key engine within the Surrealist movement was the collaborative nature between artists. During the late 1930s, Paris became an epicenter for contemporary artists and writers, many of whom co-created and lived together. Two couples exemplify this spirit of collaboration: Max Ernst and Leonora Carrington…
Step up your game with this vibrant Ahwenepa Nkasa scrunchie!