MoMA Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Sexual Assaults During 2010 Exhibition

Performance artist John Bonafede alleges the museum failed to prevent multiple assaults during Marina Abramović's 'Imponderabilia' performance.

Performance artist John Bonafede has filed a lawsuit against the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, alleging that the museum failed to prevent sexual assaults against him during a 2010 exhibition.
Bonafede participated as a nude performer in the exhibition 'Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present', specifically in the piece 'Imponderabilia' which required two nude performers to stand opposite each other in a slim doorway that visitors squeezed through.
The lawsuit alleges that Bonafede was sexually assaulted seven times by five different museum visitors during the exhibition. He reported four of the individuals to MoMA security, who ejected them from the galleries.
The lawsuit is being brought under New York's Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on sexual assault cases.
Bonafede is seeking compensation for emotional distress, career disruption, humiliation and other damages.