On Friday, Marina Abramović staged a shared seven minute silence at the UK’s biggest songs event. In case her communication was vague, the Serbian designer wore a pale decorative column dress that, when her arms were outstretched, opened out into a peace sign.
Abramovi, who is renowned for her esoteric approach to efficiency art, when invited members of the public to communicate with her but they liked during a 6-hour sitting. The 1974 part, titled “Rhythm 0”, resulted in a loaded weapon being held to her head.
On the Glastonbury primary stage Abramović asked the show’s 250, 000 participants to turn inside. People come to enjoy themselves. “They’re drinking, taking medication, the wind is good”, she told ahead of the occasion. However, I’m asking them to stop and reflect on the current state of the planet, which is utterly heaven.
The artist also chose a memorable dress as if silencing a music festival the size of a small English town wasn’t enough. Her hands were lost in the round of the enormous white arms as she stood high and her arms sloped to make the top of the peace mark. At shoulder level, more material jutted out to build the benefit- down ‘V’ shape. The Chinese jacket served as the inspiration for the dress, which Riccardo Tisci, her friend and former Burberry creative director, had in mind. According to Abramović, it will eventually be exhibited in a gallery.
While we’re more comfortable seeing peace signs printed on grain tops or paint tote bags, Abramović and Tisci’s IRL- making is closer to the sign’s creation story. The icon, which was created by British artist Gerald Holtom, first appeared on a 1958 peace march in London and was later adopted by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament ( CND). Holtom claims that he originated the mark as a human being. “I drew myself: the picture of an entity in despair, with arms and hands outstretched, inwards and backward in the manner of Goya’s farmer before the firing squad. I circled the gathering to make it line-friendly.”
More than six years later, Holtom’s peace signal has become one of the world’s most recognized symbols — especially on the tarmac. It has been used for everything over the years, from Fendi Baguette sacks to Dior knitting. The design was crafted into lavish pendants on big, beautiful donkey rope chains at Moschino in 2014, and it was subsequently displayed in a Sharpie-style scrawl on disturbed messenger bags as a punctuation point for the modified phrase “Make fashion, not war.”
Abramović’s dress was very much in- keeping with Glastonbury’s overall theme for 2024: Peace. Holtom’s mark was seen throughout the festival grounds, crowning the roof of the newly established Peace Stage, and earlier in the week, appearing in the sky during the event’s second always device display.
As she faced the crowd, Abramović surrendered to the power of the symbol sewn into her dress. See how the universe can produce positive energy. What Holtom initially saw as a sign of desperation has since morphed into an open embrace.