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Amanpour
Interview with Marwan Barghouti's Son Arab Barghouti; Interview with Artist Marina Abramovic. Aired 1-1:35p ET
Aired October 17, 2025 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:00]
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, and welcome to "Amanpour." Here's what's coming up.
As the Israel-Hamas ceasefire appears to hold, we ask what the future looks like for Palestinians in Gaza. I speak to Arab Barghouti, he's the son of
imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, about his father's detention and hope for a Palestinian State.
Then --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARINA ABRAMOVIC, ARTIST: Who creates limits? Who creates limits? I think we do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: Boundary-breaking Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic debuts what she's calling her most insane project yet. A look back at our
2023 conversation about death, sexuality and the drive to create.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a lovable guy. This is a guy who the minute you see his face, you're going to smile.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: A comic legacy that inspired a generation. Actor and director Colin Hanks tells Hari Sreenivasan what inspired him to reimagine the light
and the darkness in the life of beloved Canadian actor John Candy.
Welcome to the program, everyone. I'm Christiane Amanpour in London.
The world breathes a sigh of relief as one week on, the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appears to still be holding. But amid the jubilation in
the streets of Israel and in Gaza and the West Bank, the future of Gaza's more than 2 million Palestinians is still far from secure. Talks have
already started in Egypt to decide a post-war governance plan for Gaza. And the Egyptian government has already begun and has already named 15
Palestinian technocrats to be those transitional leaders.
But Marwan Barghouti will not be one of them. Israel has refused to release him, despite many Palestinians saying he is the only one right now who
could unite them. Imprisoned in Israel since 2002, he is considered a terrorist responsible for planning attacks which killed five Israeli
civilians during the second intifada in the early 2000s. He was convicted in 2004, but he denies all the accusations.
But it's not just Palestinians calling for his release. In our recent conversations with senior Israelis, a number have advocated for Barghouti
to be freed now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOSSI BEILIN, FORMER ISRAELI JUSTICE MINISTER: He is the most popular Palestinian right now. And he is the hope of those who want to have an
agreement at the end of the day. Only people who don't want an agreement with the Palestinians would keep him in prison right now.
GERSHON BASKIN, FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: I was asked what the mainstream Israelis think about Marwan, and I brought the opinion of about 20 senior
Israelis, former military people, generals, a couple of prime ministers, heads of the Shin Bet, heads of the Mossad, not everyone agreed, but the
majority was that Marwan needs to be released.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: This week, Barghouti's son told the media that he's concerned for his father's life after hearing from Palestinian detainees that he had
been beaten unconscious by Israeli prison guards. They deny that. The authorities deny that.
Earlier, I spoke to Barghouti's son, Arab, who joined me from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Arab Barghouti, welcome to our program.
ARAB BARGHOUTI, MARWAN BARGHOUTI'S SON: Thank you so much for having me.
AMANPOUR: So, let me just start by asking you, we know that your father's name was on the list that Hamas gave for being released, even though he's
not a member of Hamas. In fact, he opposes them. And the Israeli government refused. What is your feeling when you saw the others coming out, some of
them hardened, convicted criminals?
BARGHOUTI: I mean, it's mixed feelings. I think that I wouldn't be lying if I talk on behalf of my family that the last few days have been some of
the heaviest in our lives. And we've been through a lot. We've been through my father's assassination attempts, my father's imprisonment, putting him
in solitary confinement at the beginning of his imprisonment for three years, and so on.
[13:05:00]
But these were some of the heaviest because, first of all, we expected, to be honest, and we were very positive that he would be with us by now. The
second thing is the horrific and horrible stories that we've heard from the released detainees that were with him, around him in other cells in the
same solitary confinement in Megiddo. And the torture that he's been and being through, it's unbelievable and really, really hard for us to listen
to those stories.
AMANPOUR: So, Arab, I do want to ask you about that because there have been reports, as you say, you have talked about it, some of the released
detainees have talked about how he was they say beaten and knocked unconscious in fact in this process of being transferred from one prison to
the next. Do you know who might have done that, why that might have happened, why he was even being transferred?
BARGHOUTI: So, they transfer prisoners regularly from prison to prison. This happens every few months and he's been in Rimon Prison for a few
months, and then they wanted to transfer him into Megiddo Prison. On the way the (INAUDIBLE) unit, which is responsible for transferring the
detainees and these known for being the most vicious and brutal and attacking the detainees on the way, they stopped at Al-Jalama Prison and
eight different guards of that unit they handcuffed him. They put him on the ground. They started beating him up They started kicking him and they
focused on the head area, on the chest and on his legs.
And we know all these stories from the detainees who when he got to Megiddo prison, they said he came unconscious. And he was bleeding and he was
bruised and they took him into the clinic of that prison and it took him hours to regain consciousness and days and weeks to recover from that
because there is no proper medical treatment.
Why they do it? It's because they know they have the green light to do it. They've already killed more than 77 Palestinian detainees inside prison in
the last two years Unfortunately, there is no accountability whatsoever on them and this is exactly why they keep doing it because no one is stopping
them.
AMANPOUR: So, you know the Israeli national security minister, Itamar Ben- Gvir, denies this totally. He said he denies the allegations, but added that he was, quote, "proud" that Barghouti's situation has changed
radically during my tenure. He said, play time is over, holiday camps are over.
This is a video clip from when Ben-Gvir visited Barghouti in prison. Let me just play these 15 seconds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ITAMAR BEN-GVIR ISRAELI NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER (through translator): You will not win. Whoever will mess with the people of Israel, whoever will
murder our kids, whoever will murder women, we will erase them. You need to know that throughout history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: Wow. That's actually the first time I've seen that video. I know it's been out. But number one, your father appears unrecognizable. And that
is -- I mean, that's harsh. When you saw that what was your reaction to the words and the way your father looks?
BARGHOUTI: I mean I was shocked. I was shocked a lot because, you know, my father has been through a lot and you can see that from his body and how he
looks. He lost a lot of weight. He looked as if he aged. I think, you know, then -- when I processed that I remembered my father's words when he used
to always say that they will use the ugliest tactics to try and break him. And I think someone like him who has been struggling for the cause for more
than 50 years will never be broken by someone like Ben-Gvir.
Ben-Gvir -- I think this video and this picture that you just saw will go down in history as a great representation and a perfect representation of
the face of the Palestinian struggle, the embodiment of the Palestinian struggle in my father and the face of the current and the reflection of the
current Israeli government. This is a fascist government that is calling for the killing and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.
And I think -- and I'm sending this message to the Trump administration and to international and western governments, what are you waiting for? This is
a man who is my father who has been calling for the two-state solution, who has been calling for coexistence, who is the most popular Palestinian
leader and he's been targeted? This is the fourth time that he gets assaulted by the Israeli prison authority, under the supervision of Ben-
Gvir who is bragging about that. What are we waiting for? This is a politician, a parliament member. Where is his protection? It's unbelievable
to see all of this and only silence from western governments on this.
[13:10:00]
AMANPOUR: And, you know, introducing you we actually have shown a number of people, especially senior Israelis, who've said that Marwan Barghouti
should be released now. But your father was sentenced in 2004 to five life terms plus 40 years for planning attacks that killed five civilians during
the Second Intifada. He has obviously denied them. He refuses to recognizes the court's legitimacy, and I know that that you all deny all this.
However, as you said, he does remain the most popular leader.
I just want to play this one clip of Marwan Barghouti from the documentary "Tomorrow's Freedom," a long time before this picture of him we saw from
this summer in his jail cell. Here's this clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARWAN BARGHOUTI, PALESTINIAN PRISONER AND THEN SENIOR FATAH LEADER: Israel succeeded to arrest my body, but not my head and not my soul. They
will not succeed it to do that. They will not break our will for independence and for freedom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: Some people call him, you know, a resistance hero, a freedom fighter who could come out and including, as I said, some senior Israelis
in the national security and political space. Why do you think that all these years in jail, 22 years and unable to see his family for a long time,
unable to speak publicly to anybody, why has he maintained this? Popularity amongst the Palestinian people? What do they see in him?
BARGHOUTI: First of all, as I said like my father embodies the Palestinian struggle and this story is a great representation of the Palestinian
struggle and what we've been through as a people. You're talking about someone who was put in prison the first time at the age of 15, and then at
the age of 18, and then decade after decade going to prison in and out because he was always calling for Palestinians rights.
The second thing is that I think people see in him a unifying figure. In Palestine it's -- you know, we need unity, and I think that unity in
Palestine represents a positive force for stability and peace in the region. We can't get to any political settlement as Palestinians without
our unity and he's someone who has all the credibility to unite the Palestinian people including the prisoner's document.
In 2006 when he brought every single faction including Hamas and Islamic jihad and signed on the only and first and only until today document that
was signed amongst all Palestinian factions that stated that Palestine -- Palestinian State will be built on the 67 borders. Resistance will be
limited to within the 67 borders and the targeting of civilians is forbidden.
The third thing is that he's someone who's very progressive He has a political vision that is inclusive of the whole of the Palestinian people
and that's what we need. We need credibility. We need the trustworthy leadership. And that's why I think it's very, very important to have our
elections as soon as we can and as soon as possible.
AMANPOUR: So, now that you're watching and essentially you say he's for a two-state solution something that certainly Benjamin Netanyahu and the Ben-
Gvir's of his coalition do not want despite the Trump 20-point plan. So in a way, do you think he's being kept in precisely because he might be some
kind of either transitional or figure who could unify all these disparate factions at this time for a political resolution that includes that two-
state solution?
BARGHOUTI: 100 percent. I think if you look at -- you know, there has been 800 Palestinians freed, detainees with life sentences since my father went
to prison, 800. And most of them have way more complicated -- according to the Israeli courts, of course, way more complicated security cases and yet,
they keep him and they make sure that his name is dropped and they make sure that his veto.
It's not because he's never been a security threat. My father is a politician and he's never been -- even when you mentioned this court. This
court was reviewed by many independent legal teams and they said that it would be impossible to say that this man has been given a fair trial. He
never confessed to any of those allegations because he's a politician and he has nothing to do with the military work.
And I think this is precisely why the Israeli government sees in him a political threat. They don't want coexistence. They don't want two-state
solution and they say it, it's not my words, it's their words. And I think the International Community has to make a decision, either they agree and
accept that the Israeli dominance on the land apartheid regime and the slow and ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Palestinian people or they impose
on the Israelis to accept sitting on the table and working for a political settlement.
[13:15:00]
My father can do the latter. My father can bring and gather all the Palestinian people and he has the credibility and the track record to do
so.
AMANPOUR: You know, I tell you from somebody who's covered a lot of these wars and then transitional justice and on to peace, we know that a lot of
people with a lot of blood on their hands have come out with Northern Ireland, wherever you want to look and become political actors to end these
wars. So, it would help Israel's security as well, according to the senior Israelis who say that, you know, he would be that kind of a unifying
factor.
But how do you think -- have you ever sort of thought about how Marwan Barghouti would come out and even try governance? I mean, there's massive
corruption we know that has to be reformed and changed. There's so much disparate and disunity amongst the Palestinian factions. There's a complete
breakdown in governments, even amongst -- even in the recognized Palestinian Authority, not to mention, you know, Hamas and its horrendous
record in Gaza. Could he actually govern? Is that the kind of person your father is?
BARGHOUTI: I think he is. If you go back, you need to remember that my father holds a PhD. He's an educator. He's someone who's very academic. I
remember that he's been working in the last few years on a very comprehensive political vision. And my father takes his writings very
seriously. He wrote 120 pages of his political vision about Palestine. And it focuses on reform. It focuses on having more women in power because he's
a feminist and he's been working for women's rights and supporting my mother's work in that field for decades. He wants the youth participation
in politics. He's someone who's very democratic.
You know, when we were young, we -- he used to -- whenever we go to a restaurant or any place that we want to go to, my siblings and I would have
to vote for the place that we want to go for. And we have to accept the voting to instill the democratic principles in us. This is the type of
leader that he is. And yes, he is qualified to lead the Palestinian people. And that's why you will find in every single poll, he's by far the most
popular Palestinian leader. Not because he's promised us with schools and buildings, but he knows how to lead and he's been in politics for decades
now.
AMANPOUR: Have you appealed to President Trump? I mean, President Trump is really right now focusing on this region and on so-called phase two, which
involves governance. Have you appealed to President Trump?
BARGHOUTI: I mean, we're trying, we're trying our best to do so. And if I can send the message to President Trump, if he wants to end this conflict,
as he said a few days ago, that said, you know, 3,000 years of conflict, I want to end that and so on, I think that my father represents a reasonable
leadership, someone who has, as I said, like a unified Palestinian political vision and can bring all Palestinians towards that vision that is
based on coexistence. But he will never compromise on Palestinians rights of freedom, living with dignity and so on.
So, we are trying our best. And I think that there is a great opportunity that international powers, including the U.S. administration can understand
the importance of my father, if they really are serious about ending this conflict once and for all.
AMANPOUR: Arab Barghouti, thank you so much indeed. And you even and your family haven't seen him for years. So, thank you very much.
BARGHOUTI: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: We'll be right back after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:20:00]
AMANPOUR: My next guest is calling her upcoming project her most insane yet. And for Serbian artist Marina Abramovic, that is no mean feat. She has
built her reputation on radical, thought-provoking work, which has seen her scream until she's hoarse, stand naked in public, and stare into the eyes
of strangers for hours at a time.
Her new show, "Balkan Erotic Epic," just launched in the U.K. It's an exploration of sexuality and folklore through dance, music, and song. When
we met in 2023, she told me that for her, art is about finding limits and then pushing right past them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: Marina Abramovic, welcome to the program. There is performance art and then there is you. Just to walk around this exhibition really makes
me wonder, are there any limits that you will not go to? Your body is your tool and it is extraordinary what you do to it.
MARINA ABRAMOVIC, ARTIST: But this question, I can answer with another question, who create limits? Who create limits? I think we do, you know,
and I think it's very important to -- when I get an idea, that I am not interested in the idea I like, I'm interested in the idea I hate, and I'm
incredibly scared of, because that means there is a problem that I have to solve. And then I like to do it.
So, the only thing that I'm doing, I'm using my own body in order to stage that kind of fears in the front of the public I'm going through, if I can
go through, you can do too.
AMANPOUR: So, the way you've performed going through is through a door, where originally you and your lover at the time stood in a doorway, naked.
And the challenge was for the visitors to walk through you. What fear were you addressing there? And what did you aim to accomplish?
ABRAMOVIC: No, first of all, you know, the main idea was there was a big performance festival in Italy at that time, very early in 1977. And we were
thinking, what are we going to do with this festival? But you know, the idea was, if there's no artists, there will not be museums. So, artists are
the door of the museum.
So, we want to be, in a very poetical way, the door of the museum. To do that, we have to rebuild the door smaller. So, it's really narrow,
actually, entrance. In those days, it was impossible. In MoMA, it was already not possible. In many other museums, you have to have a second
entrance that people have an alternative.
But it's 1977, we had the radical way of doing stuff, which now, because of political correctness and so on, we are not able to do anymore. So, the --
we have lots of restrictions of the -- of art today.
And then, the idea was, we go through. And the fear was, really, to be naked and to have hundreds and hundreds of people passing so close,
chatting your body, and have this intimacy. Not easy. Not even mention stepping on your feet. And --
AMANPOUR: And did that happen?
ABRAMOVIC: Oh, yes, many times.
AMANPOUR: And did people either intentionally or not touch you in areas that you didn't want?
ABRAMOVIC: In that particular work, there were people so intimidated, they would go very close, they would try to avoid eye contact, and they would
say, scusa me, in Italian, excuse me, which was beside the point, we create the situation. There was one only man who had a small camera, and just
passed very fast, and took photo of our genitals.
AMANPOUR: That is very weird. But here's the question, Marina, you say that in the intervening years, you've had to provide alternative spaces for
people who are uncomfortable of experience that close intimacy.
A, is that a censorship? And B -- self-censorship? And B, how do you react to society's how could she do that? This is just so naked. This is so, you
know, too revealing, et cetera?
ABRAMOVIC: If I will read the criticism from the '70s, I will never leave the house. I was completely crucified. My mother and father, first of all,
when I was doing stuff like a Bernie (ph) Star, communist star on the square in Belgrade, there was a question in the communist parties about the
education I had. Professors was thinking that I should be put in mental hospital. It was -- everybody was against it.
I had to believe so much in this kind of form of art, until now, that actually this form of art, really, I think that's the incredibly important
because it's immaterial, it's time-based, you have to be there to watch it and see it, and it's highly, highly emotional. And it's the only way I can
do it.
AMANPOUR: What are you saying here, Marina? This is quite --
[13:25:00]
ABRAMOVIC: I made the skeleton exactly my size. And by lying, I'm lying and the skeleton is breathing. I just want to know, you know, how that
feels, this transition.
Sufis said, life is a dream, and death is waking up. I just want to know that moment, because the moment that I want to die is without fear, without
anger and consciously. Three things. And that's something that I -- and you need to train during the life, it doesn't come just like that.
AMANPOUR: Death is a huge part of your life and your work.
ABRAMOVIC: Yes.
AMANPOUR: You're always thinking about death?
ABRAMOVIC: All the time. So, here, you --
AMANPOUR: So, what -- how do you stay happy and positive?
ABRAMOVIC: I'm hilarious in real life. I'm honestly ready to standup comedy. I have so much -- I need to laugh. Because work is so heavy.
AMANPOUR: And this here is dramatic. What caused you to -- this is your reflection on the Balkan Wars.
ABRAMOVIC: Yes.
AMANPOUR: And I covered the Bosnia War.
ABRAMOVIC: Yes. You know, you can't clean the blood. And I'm cleaning blood, which is never can be, but they also create a metaphor that this can
be in any war anywhere. Here, when we open the show, Palestinians, Israelis, Ukrainians, Russians, they're all here in this room.
AMANPOUR: And the drama of the performance was you sitting on these bones, which are real cow bones, real meat, real blood?
ABRAMOVIC: Real blood. Six days I do this, six hours a day. Six hours, you know, counting.
AMANPOUR: How did that affect you spiritually?
ABRAMOVIC: It's -- you know, I really -- I'm very proud of this piece because I know this piece could be forever. Doesn't matter -- it was my war
that I was showing on Balkan, but after that, you can be used anywhere. And this is so important, that artists should not create something which is
temporary. You have to create something which is transitory, that have transition to any war, any time, any place.
AMANPOUR: So, we're sitting in this room, which is very important because it has your -- almost your signature piece, of the Chinese -- the Great
Wall in China. And it was designed for you and your lover, Ulay, to walk from each end. That's a total of 5,000 plus kilometers. You walked about
2,500 each.
ABRAMOVIC: 2,500 each.
AMANPOUR: Exactly. It took you what? Three months or so to walk. What were you meant to do when you met? And what did you actually do?
ABRAMOVIC: So, this project started after we lived with Aboriginals of Central Australia, one year in the desert. And we realized that time, the
astronauts, when they land on the moon, said that only two visible buildings made by hand, human hand, is the pyramids and Great Wall of
China. And we had the idea at that time in the desert, let's walk Great Wall of China.
In eight years, we were writing to Chinese government letters. In eight years, we were getting very friendly answers, but we didn't move anywhere.
The idea was to walk this Chinese wall, and we meet in the middle, and we married. And eight years, Chinese don't answer.
So, we finally found the one man who was a specialist on China politics. And we show him all these letters. And he said, he started laughing. I
said, what is so funny about it? He said, you know, Chinese have 17 ways to say no. And in these eight years, they exercised all 17 ways. I mean, so,
we have to go through the government, the Dutch government and the Chinese government. And finally, after eight years, we got permission to walk the
great of China. But at that time, our relation was ending.
But as we never give up anything, we say, OK, now we're going to walk. Instead of marry, we're going to say goodbye. And one of our friends,
Americans say to us, why are you just didn't make phone call? He missed the whole point.
AMANPOUR: But I mean, seriously, it must have been very painful, no, when you finally met after all those years of work, after something that was
meant to be a celebration of your love and your unity, actually, it was the dissolution. Was it emotional? Did you cry?
ABRAMOVIC: It was incredibly emotional. First, emotional for a few reasons. Because before, if you, you know, lose love of your life, you
still can go back on your own work. But in this time, I was 40 exactly, and all our work for 12 years was signed with two names.
So, we -- both of us didn't have any more our own work. So, for me, it was just, you know, I lost the love, but I also lost the work. I was nowhere to
come back. And this was an incredibly depressing moment of my life.
AMANPOUR: And then, a few years later, you went back to an amazing performance that went viral around the world, "The Artist is Present." It
first showed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, I think. And what happened? Because something like 1,500 people came and sat next to you and
tried to stare you out. But on one occasion, your former lover came.
ABRAMOVIC: Yes. But actually, I invite him as a -- you know, the guest of honor and that moment with absolutely no idea he is going to ever sit with
me. This was not even the question.
[13:30:00]
So, when he came and just appear in the front of me, you know, I never break the rules. I am -- like I'm a soldier. I am warrior. I do things
absolutely as I decide. This was the only time I broke the rule. Because in the front of me, it was a man I love so much, and it was in front of me,
somebody, it was not the public, it was life itself.
So, I put my hand on the table and touch him and just cry. It was one of these moments that it was so intense.
And it's so interesting how the young people in -- on -- become a kind of viral everywhere because people realize real emotions, because I have like
flashback of 12 years, all the goods, all the best relations easy, it was not easy, it was hell, it was wonderful, it was passionate, it was all at
once.
AMANPOUR: And it was a rule that you broke because I was one of them who came and sat in front of you. And I know people try to make you laugh, try
to make you break your gaze, try to make you, you know, not be as disciplined as you were. And I was staggered by how passive and
unemotional, but your eyes, you know, talked. So, it was something for you to break that rule.
ABRAMOVIC: Yes, that was really high emotions. But also, I had very lots of emotion with the people sitting in front of me because I could see
solitude. I could see pain. I could see unhappiness. I could see, you know, the happiness. I could see so many different emotions.
But what's interesting about the sitting, just that moment, and why it's so simple, is when you're waiting first in the line for a long time, finally
you come and sit in the front of me, and you are watched by the people waiting, you're watched by cameras, you're watched by photographic -- you
know, photographer, and you're watched by me, basically, you're nowhere to escape except into yourself.
And when that happened, you kind of show me the true self, and I could see it, and you could see yourself. And then, all the people start crying. I
mean, we have so much people crying. It was really a very emotional moment. And, you know, Klaus Biesenbach, who's the curator of the show, he said to
me, when I gave him the idea, he said, this is ridiculous. Nobody going to sit on this chair because it's New York. Nobody have time. This chair will
be always empty. The chair was never empty.
AMANPOUR: And there were lines around the block.
ABRAMOVIC: And people sleeping outside, and last week. It was really something to remember.
AMANPOUR: So, if that was kind of gentle and communicative, one of your exhibitions, which is here now, is a table of 72 objects that you say, do
what you will with these objects, I am the tool, do whatever you want to me. Tell me how that played out, because it turned out pretty violent at
one point.
ABRAMOVIC: But you know, I was 23 years old. I was so angry. I was so angry on the public not understanding what performance art is. And whatever
I was doing, I was always judged. And they say, OK, what if I don't do absolutely nothing? I am the tool. I am there with you, and they are the
objects. And you do stuff. I'm not doing it.
And it was incredible to see that. Because I done this in Naples. And in Naples, when the objects did for pleasure, and for violence, including
bullets and pistols, it was incredible.
In the first -- it was six hours. The first one, two hours, nothing really happened. Then they cut my -- they give me rolls. Then they cut my shirt,
then they put the pins in the rolls into my body, then they cut and steal (ph) my scarf and they suck my blood on my neck. Then they, you know, carry
me around. There was so much -- the violence.
Very interesting thing happened. Women didn't do anything. Women told men what to do, and women took -- when I was crying, they would take
handkerchief and wash my face from the tears.
AMANPOUR: How do you interpret that?
ABRAMOVIC: I don't. I have no question.
AMANPOUR: I'm shocked.
ABRAMOVIC: This was happening. And then, the moment, after six hours, the gallery said to me, I am -- you know, it's finished because I was like
absolutely statue, you put the head like this, stay like this, whatever you do, I'm in this position after the six hours he say it's over. I was full
of blood, water, half naked. I was walking towards the public as me. They run away, all of them.
And then I came to the hotel and I look myself in the mirror and I have just piece of white hair, straight.
AMANPOUR: Really?
ABRAMOVIC: Just white, one night.
AMANPOUR: Your head turned white in one night?
ABRAMOVIC: Yes.
AMANPOUR: One streak?
ABRAMOVIC: Yes. After this piece. This was a piece that I realized that I really could be killed.
AMANPOUR: And somebody did point a loaded gun at you.
[13:35:00]
ABRAMOVIC: Yes. And then, another person came and took the gun --
END
