”Let’s walk towards each other and let’s say goodbye.” Legendary performance artists and former couple Marina Abramović and Ulay (1943-2020) discuss their final joint performance.
After many years of collaborating in life and art, Marina Abramović and Ulay decided to end their relationship and collaboration in 1988 with one final performance piece: The Great Wall Walk. The two walked the Great Wall of China, one from the East end of the wall, the other from the West, meeting halfway: ”This was probably the most dramatic goodbye,” Marina Abramović says.
“We met one day before, and we didn’t talk. We only said good luck,” Ulay recalls. “Our greatest wish was to walk, to move.” Walking over 2000 km with no prior training took a toll on the body, but “once you get the strength, you understand the beauty of nature,” Marina Abramović says, Ulay agreeing: “I got so in tune with the Earth, with my body, which was a great sensation.”
Finally meeting each other meant closing the chapter of not only their relationship but also working together as artists: “This was so painful, the whole thing,” Abramović explains: “Saying goodbye is saying goodbye to our collaboration work, and you find yourself in a kind of emptiness.” Both went their separate ways: “When we split, it was like a person had died,” Ulay says. The couple famously reunited at Marina Abramović’s performance The Artist is Present at MoMA in 2010.
