Since the beginning of her career in Belgrade during the early 1970s, Marina Abramovi? has pioneered performance art, creating some of the form's most important early works. Exploring her physical and mental limits, she has withstood pain, exhaustion, and danger in her quest for emotional and spiritual transformation. Abramovi? was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Artist at the 1997 Venice Biennale. In 2010, Abramovi? had her first major U.S. retrospective and simultaneously performed for over 700 hours in The Artist is Present at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Abramovi? founded Marina Abramovi? Institute (MAI), a platform for immaterial and long durational work to create new possibilities for collaboration among thinkers of all fields.

7 Deaths of Maria Callas is an opera project created by Marina Abramovic premiering at the Bayerische Staatsopera in Munich 2020. In collaboration with an all star creative team and through a mix of narrative opera and film, Abramovic re-creates seven iconic deaths from Callas' most important roles throughout her career, followed by an interpretive recreation of Callas' actual death played by Abramovic on stage. This book serves as a companion to the live performance and provides a behind the scenes look into the different elements that make up this conceptual and dynamic homage to the classic and iconic singer.