It is impossible to put into words how much I adored this conversation. Which, in a way, is apt because Marina Abramovic is one of our greatest living artists and renowned for expressing through her work, the thoughts, feelings and emotional impulses that lie beyond words. Born in 1946 in post-war Yugoslavia, she painted from the age of 14 and spent the next 50 years pushing herself to extremes of physical and mental endurance in search of fundamental truths. Last month, her exhibition opened at the Royal Academy in London - the first solo show by a woman in the RA’s main galleries. But if all this sounds quite serious, fear not - in person, Abramovic is a wonderful, engaging and light-hearted presence, full of wisdom and profound thoughts but also a lot of giggles. We talk about fear and belonging, love and heartbreak (and how to get over someone), introversion and performance, and she teaches me all about what Christopher Columbus can tell us about failure. One of my favourite ever episodes - and that's saying something.

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Marina Abramovic at the Royal Academy runs until 1 January 2024. Book your tickets here. A full schedule of performances can be found here.

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I'm going on tour! To AUSTRALIA, mate! You can now purchase tickets to see me live at Sydney Opera House on 26th February 2024 or the Arts Centre Melbourne on 28th February 2024.

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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted and produced by Elizabeth Day. To contact us, email [email protected]

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Social Media:

Elizabeth Day @elizabday

How To Fail @howtofailpod

Marina Abramovic Institute @abramovicinstitute Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices