“Italy, I love you. And my heart is with you”. With these words Marina Abramović greets the Italian people in an exclusive video for Palazzo Strozzi, sent as a personal contribution to the project IN TOUCH. The Serbian artist joins Ai Weiwei and Tomás Saraceno by sending a message of solidarity and encouragement emphasizing how Italians are demonstrating “great courage and great feeling of community and humanity” and that the COVID-19 crisis represents an emergency now global that must serve us as an opportunity to rethink our relationship with the planet: “human consciousness must change, our approach to the world and the planet must change”.
This is my message to Italy and to the people of Italy which I love deeply. I know this is a moment of crisis and the virus is everywhere but at the same time from the disasters we have to learn a lesson. And the Italian people are showing great courage, great feeling for community and humanity. We are going to fight this together. It is something is going to pass but what is really left is a very valuable experience that human consciousness should change, our approach to our world and our planet should change. This is the lesson that we have to learn. Italy, I love you. And my heart is with you.
Marina Abramović represents one of the most famous and influential figures of contemporary art world. With her works, in over 50 years of career, she has has revolutionised the very idea of performance art, putting her body to the test to probe her outer limits and her potential for expression. Marina Abramović. The Cleaner exhibition in 2018 represented a unique moment in the history of Palazzo Strozzi for its ability to engage people and to reflect on concepts such as vulnerability, empathy and trust, which today resonate strongly and take on a new value of inspiration and reflection.
Photo Alessandro Moggi
