Balkan Erotic Epic is a bold new performance work created by the iconic artist Marina Abramović. Regarded as the world’s most influential performance artist, Abramović’s transformative work has reached millions of people – from opening the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival to taking up residence in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Now she creates one of her most ambitious shows ever here in Manchester.
A four-hour ritual where ancient myth meets performance art, Balkan Erotic Epic explores the eroticism, spirituality and traditions of Abramović’s homeland through 13 visceral scenes.
Brought to life by a cast of over 70 performers, dancers, musicians and singers, the experience unfolds across Aviva Studios. Audiences are free to choose their own path – with pop-up encounters punctuating the action, bringing bodies together in dance, song and ritual.
Watch Fertility Rite, a fevered ritual where bodies writhe against the ground in a desperate call for fertility. Witness Massaging the Breast where women gesticulate over graves to awaken the earth. In Scaring the Gods, women bare themselves to the sky to banish storms. Listen closely as Elke – narrator and guide – reveals more of the mythology.
Unafraid to push the boundaries of eroticism and performance art, Balkan Erotic Epic asks its audience a timeless question: What are our bodies truly for?
Unflinching, intimate and sacred, with Balkan Erotic Epic Abramović reclaims the body as a site of power, mystery and transformation.
Balkan Erotic Epic created by Marina Abramović
Marina Abramović Artist / Director / Concept / Design
Georgine Maria-Magdalena Balk Associate Director
Blenard Azizaj Choreographer
Billy Zhao Durational Performance Director
Nabil Elderkin Film Director
Marko Nikodijević Composer
Luka Kozlovački Composer / Sound Designer
Urs Schönebaum Lighting Designer
Anna Schöttl Set Designer
Roksanda Ilinčić Costume Designer
Sonia Alcón & Fredrik Nordbeck Animation
Marco Anelli Photography
Svetlana Spajić Creative Consultant / Singer
Aleksandar Timotic Creative Consultant / Singer
Elke Luyten Performance Artist / Co-Creator of the Role
Maria Stamenković Herranz Performance Artist / Co-Creator of the Role
Rowan Schratzberger Assistant Choreographer
Helene Schönebaum Assistant Set Designer
Tigger Blaize Intimacy Coordinator
Shanti Freed Costume Collaboration and Supervisor
Rafi Gokay Wol Creative Consultant / Executive Producer for Marina Abramović
Yasemin Kandemiroğlu Creative Consultant / Producer for Marina Abramović
Commissioned by Factory International, Berliner Festspiele, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Park Avenue Armory and WestK.
Produced by Factory International
Year
2025
