Miracle Marathon

Day 1: October 8, 10am–10pm 
Serpentine Sackler Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 2AR 

Day 2: October 9, 12pm–1am 
Second Home, 68-80 Hanbury Street, London E1 5JL 

Day tickets available from Ticketweb or Serpentine Galleries: T +44 (0)20 7402 6075

“I believe in the spirituality of the sacred. Not of religion, but of the sacred. What is the spirituality of the sacred? It’s the intuition of how we relate to the world. This is what the imaginary is: we feel the rumbling underneath us.”
–Edouard Glissant

The Serpentine’s annual festival of ideas brings together practitioners from the fields of activism, anthropology, art, architecture, literature, music, philosophy, theology and science over two days and in two locations across London, Day 1 at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery and Day 2 at Second Home.

Focusing on ritual, repetition and magical thinking, the Miracle Marathon considers ways in which the imaginary can not only predict, but also play a part in affecting long-term futures. This follows on from the 2014 Extinction Marathon, which presented environmental and human crises facing the world today (co-curated with Gustav Metzger), and the 2015 Transformation Marathon, which proposed ways of identifying and effecting change in the face of increasing complexity. The concept for this year’s Marathon was developed together with artist Sophia Al-Maria.

Both days of the Miracle Marathon are streamed live at radio.serpentinegalleries.org, as a video stream on Day 1 and as a radio broadcast on Day 2.

Participants and contributors include: Adel Abdessemed, Sarah Abu Abdallah, Etel Adnan, John P. Allen, Sophia Al-Maria, Meriç Algün Ringborg, Francis Alÿs, Kader Attia, Lekan Babalola and The Sacred Funk Project, A. Igoni Barrett, Jan Beccaloni, Lutz Becker, Mario Bellatin, Dale Berning and Ute Kanngiesser, Rebecca Bligh, James Bridle, Barnaby Brown, Federico Campagna, Anne Carson, Christo, Mark Cousins, Jesse Darling, Kris De Meyer, Pierre Depaz, Es Devlin, Manthia Diawara, Marcus du Sautoy, Jimmie Durham, Eska, Gabriel Gbadamosi, Gilbert & George, Daniel Glaser, Douglas Gordon, Kathelin Gray, Boris Groys, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, John-Dylan Haynes, Romuald Hazoumè, Caspar Heinemann, Calla Henkel & Max Pitegoff, Rose Issa, Bhanu Kapil, Navine G. Khan-Dossos, William Kherbek, Norman M. Klein, Kasper König, Satish Kumar, Syowia Kyambi (contribute to Kyambi’s project here), Leafcutter John, Let’s Eat Grandma, Maya Lubinsky, Neil MacGregor, Rachel Maclean, Fleur Melbourn, Julian Melchiorri, Gustav Metzger, Timothy Morton, Kumi Naidoo, Carina Namih, Marie NDiaye, Edna O’Brien, Andrew O’Hagan, Ben Okri, The Otolith Group, Genesis P-Orridge, Ruth Padel, Jussi Parikka, Aarathi Prasad, Paul Purgas, Milo Rau, Alice Rawsthorn, Jacqueline Rose, Carlo Rovelli, Legacy Russell, Riccardo Sabatini, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Tomás Saraceno, Simon Schaffer, Tai Shani, Jim Shaw with D’red D’warf, Takeshi Shiomitsu, Marianna Simnett, Hito Steyerl, Martine Syms, Tabitha Thorlu-Bangura, Jalal Toufic, Adrián Villar Rojas, Kemang Wa Lehulere, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Eyal Weizman, Holly White… and more.

The Miracle Marathon is curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director; Lucia Pietroiusti, Curator, Public Programmes; Ben Vickers, Curator of Digital; and Claude Adjil, Assistant Curator, Public Programmes

Core Advisory Team: Sophia Al-Maria, Lizzie Carey-Thomas, Mark Cousins, Marcus du Sautoy, Daniel Glaser, Andrew O’Hagan and Yana Peel

Curatorial Assistants: Chris Bayley, Taylor Le Melle and Nefeli Skarmea. Producers: Iain Pate, Bernd Fauler and Edd Hobbs. Serpentine Radio produced by Reduced Listening.

Miracle Marathon supported by
The Hayden Family Foundation
DLD
Wedel Art
Exhibition Circle
Frances Reynolds
Karen Roth
And donors who wish to remain anonymous
In collaboration with
Second Home
Digital Engagement supported by
Bloomberg Philanthropies
With additional support from
Google Cultural Institute
YouTube
Advisors
AECOM
Weil
Serpentine Galleries supported by
Arts Council England