Image: Centre Pompidou-Metz
The Centre Pompidou-Metz will present ‘Mutual Gaze’, described as a final participatory exhibition by Marina Abramović, from 9 May to 23 November 2026. The programme listing displays the dates as 8 May–23 November 2026 and identifies the presentation as ‘The Abramović Method – Mutual Gaze’. The supplied dates therefore differ by one day at the start of the programme.
The exhibition is free to enter. ‘Mutual Gaze’ invites visitors to take time to look at one another, experience an intimate shared space and encounter a human connection in which time takes on another dimension.
Participants are instructed to sit on a chair before closing their eyes and taking a few deep, calming breaths. They are then told to open their eyes and concentrate their gaze on the eyes of the person seated opposite them. The instructions ask both people to sustain eye contact with one another.
Participants are also instructed to remain as still as possible, blink as little as possible and breathe as slowly as possible. Together, these directions specify a sequence of sitting, closing the eyes, breathing deeply, opening the eyes and maintaining a mutual gaze while limiting movement, blinking and the speed of breathing.
