Amphis Foundation Archive

Marina Abramović en Ulay tijdens hun performance The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk op de Chinese Muur

In 2025, the RKD acquired the archives of the Amphis Foundation, donated by former board member Frank Lubbers. Founded in 1983 in Amsterdam, the foundation was closely involved in the realisation of the performance artwork The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk (1988), conceived and performed by Ulay (the pseudonym of Frank Uwe Laysiepen) and Marina Abramović. This project marked the end of their long-standing and intensive artistic collaboration.

Kleurenfoto van de performance The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk van Marina Abramović en Ulay op de Chinese Muur — Marina Abramović / Ulay, *The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk*, 1988, performance. Photographer unknown, The Hague, RKD, Amphis Foundation Archive

Abramović and Ulay’s Walk

Marina Abramović and Ulay each undertook a ninety-day walk along the Great Wall of China. Ulay set out from the western end at Jiayuguan Pass, on the edge of the Gobi Desert, and walked eastward. Abramović began in the east at Shanhaiguan Pass, also known as “the Dragon’s Head,” near the Yellow Sea, and headed west. According to Chinese mythology, the Wall forms a boundary between good and evil and traces the path of a dragon that moves underground as a guardian deity, embodying the life force of the earth. These symbolic and mythological meanings of the Wall played a significant role in the conception of the performance.

Final chapter

When preparations for the project began in 1983, in collaboration with the Amphis Foundation, the original plan was for the artists to meet halfway along the Wall and marry there. After five years of negotiations with the Chinese authorities, however, their relationship had deteriorated to such an extent that the plan to marry turned into a farewell. In Shenmu, near Erlang Shan in Shaanxi Province, they met on 27 June 1988, after which they each continued their artistic practice independently. The work can therefore be regarded as the final chapter of their joint oeuvre.

zwart-wit foto van Marina Abramović en Ulay op de Chinese Muur — Marina Abramović / Ulay, *The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk*, 1988, performance. Photographer unknown, The Hague, RKD, Amphis Foundation Archive

The realisation of the performance depended on lengthy negotiations with the Chinese authorities, a political dimension that is clearly reflected in the archive. The project also resulted in a documentary, The Great Wall of China: Lovers at the Brink (1989), directed by Scottish filmmaker Murray Grigor. As part of the collaboration with a Chinese broadcaster, the Amphis Foundation received a commemorative medallion. The documentary was later presented in installation form in several exhibitions, including one at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in 1989.

Penning met doosje van de China Central Television Station — Medallion with case (broadcasting souvenir) from China Central Television (CCTV). The Hague, RKD, Amphis Foundation Archive

Archive

The Amphis Foundation archive reflects the complexity and scale of the performance. Covering the period 1983–1992, it includes black-and-white and colour photographs, handwritten letters sent by Ulay from the Wall, the foundation’s charter, agreements and grant applications, business correspondence, financial and legal reports, and receipts. The archive also contains practical documents relating to the preparation of the journey, such as shopping lists, a packing list, route descriptions, and maps.

Landkaart van China met kleurmarkeringen van de gevolgde route tijdens de performance The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk — Map of China with coloured markings indicating the route followed during the performance *The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk*, 1988. The Hague, RKD, Amphis Foundation Archive

The archive is also unique from an artistic perspective: it contains film scripts, a synopsis, and notes in which Marina Abramović and Ulay recorded their artistic views and ideas about the performance. As such, the archive offers insight not only into the political, economic, and institutional frameworks within which the work was created, but also into the conceptual development and practical execution of a large-scale performance art project beyond the walls of the museum.