Marina Abramović and Ulay's Performances in Lyon Exhibition

From September 15, 2021 to January 2, 2022, macLYON presents 'The collection: performances 1976-1988', a retrospective of the collaborative performances by Marina Abramović (Belgrade, 1946) and Ulay (Solingen, 1943 – Ljubljana, 2020). The exhibition centers on their iconic piece 'Nightsea Crossing', which was first presented at macLYON in 1986 as the final step of a project involving 22 performances across various cities. The artists remained motionless and silent facing each other for days, testing psychological and physical endurance. The complete 'Nightsea Crossing' has been acquired by macLYON, including photographs and objects documenting its development. The exhibition also features performances such as 'The Lovers: The Great Wall walk', 'Imponderabilia', 'Breathing in / Breathing out', 'Light / Dark', 'Relation in Time', and 'AAA-AAA'. After their separation, Abramović and Ulay created an archive of their performance recordings, co-produced and acquired by macLYON and the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven. Curators Hervé Percebois and Thierry Prat note that the works challenge physical limits, relationship boundaries, mental capacities, and social codes related to gender, sex, and normality, addressing anthropological themes of couple dynamics, gender issues, pain management, danger, environmental contact, and social critique.