Serbia’s Vucic decorates artist Marina Abramovic

Abramovic, the Belgrade-born artist to a family of Yugoslav Partizans, had her first exhibition in her home town in September 2019, after 44 years.

She is recognised worldwide as a performance artist, philanthropist, writer, and filmmaker.

"Her work explores body art, endurance art and feminist art, the relationship between the performer and audience, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind," a website says.

In a letter that accompanied the Gold Medal presented to her in New York by Serbia's ambassador to the US Marko Djuric, Vucic said his country "is developing and implementing a cultural policy ready and able to attract and retain young artists, who, like Marina Abramovic, will not have to leave the country to realise their artistic vision."

Abramovic told the state broadcaster RTS she never expected any medal during her lifetime, but that "the president's message and his words as to why he was awarding me that medal really touched me, emotionally."