In this work, Abramovic invites the public to experience their body, their mind and the space surrounding them, completely deprived of any sense of hearing or sight. It brings the notion of Fragile State onto the viewer’s body and mind, placing them in a position of vulnerability while concentrating on a central notion in Abramovic’s work: “nothingness”. As she said: “The hardest thing is to do something which is close to nothing.” This work was originally created at Sean Kelly Gallery, New York.


A Fragile State often reveals a delicate moment of vulnerability and might be an accurate description of the world around us. The notion of Fragile State reflects upon the fragile state of the world order, or in a more abstract sense it refers to ideological, cultural and social vulnerabilities. But it is equally a notion that can be understood in a deeply personal sense, the fragility of body and mind.This exhibition meanders systematically in between those different definitions of the Fragile State. It provokes conversations linking the fragility of our body and mind, and the fragility of ideologies and historical understandings. It draws parallels between the fragility of youth and that of a country at war conflict or the fragility of life and that of a State at risk.

“Fragile State” is a major international group exhibition with 10 leading artists including Marina Abramovic, Jan Fabre, Urs Fischer, Douglas Gordon, Damien Hirst, Carlos Motta, Oscar Murillo, Santiago Sierra, Barthelemy Toguo and Ai Weiwei.
‍Learn more about the exhibition here.
Text by Bjorn Geldhof, artistic director of the PinchukArtCentre