October 24, 2013 marks the inauguration of Marina Abramović project at Ekebergparken, a sculpture and national heritage park in Oslo, Norway. To realize the project, Abramović travelled to Oslo in August of 2013 to collaborate with a cast of 300 of Oslo’s inhabitants to create a special, site-specific performance as an homage to Edvard Munch’s
The Scream (1895). Against the same landscape as seen in the famous painting by Munch, the inhabitants of Oslo released their emotions by screaming. The unveiling of Abramović’s work coincides with the ongoing celebration of Edvard Munch’s 150th anniversary.
Today at noon EST, Abramović returns to the park's Munch Point to unveil her artwork for Ekebergparken - a frame that visitors to the park are invited to stand behind and scream as in the Munch painting. The inauguration of the sculpture will include a performance, Abramović's first in Scandinavia, in which members of the public are invited to enact the scream behind the frame, culminating with Abramović herself. Both the sculpture and performance use the same landscape where Munch found inspiration and sketched his first idea for
The Scream. This event will be on view
live on the
Ekebergparken's website.
As Abramović describes the project: "When I visited the Ekeberg Park in September last year and wandered through the landscape that inspired Edvard Munch’s The Scream over 120 years ago, I had this spontaneous idea. I asked the group of people with whom I was walking to scream out their feelings from the very spot that inspired Munch. I saw immediately that the idea could be realized; that we all experience anger and existential issues that have to be expressed. This seems just as necessary in today's society as in Munch's time. And hereby lies the key to Munch's persistent popularity and our recognition of his artistic universe. For Munch, a wander through the park resulted in paintings, lithographs and texts. I want to create a piece of interactive art with the people of Oslo, and together with them rediscover
The Scream and the satisfaction of giving vent to our emotions."
For more information on the project and Ekebergparken, please visit please visit
Ekebergparken's website.
Image: Marina Abramović at the National Gallery, Photo: Ivar Kvaal
