Witnesses thought art exhibition stabbing was performance art

A section of an art exhibition in Florida was transformed into a crime scene after a fight escalated to a stabbing at Art Basel Miami Beach inside the Miami Beach Convention Center on Friday night, police said. A woman pulled an X-Acto knife and stabbed another woman in the arms and neck, said Miami Beach police spokeswoman Det. Kathleen Prieto.



“The injuries are non life-threatening,” Prieto said. The victim was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital; the assailant, whom police did not identify, was arrested at the scene. Both women were patrons of the art show, not exhibitors. Some patrons thought the stabbing was a performance art presentation. Others believed the police tape cordoning off an area of the convention center was part of an art installation.



The stabbing occurred in a corridor near an art installation entitled “The Swamp of Sagittarius,” by Miami artist Naomi Fisher. Fisher said she was at her exhibit when she heard a scuffle and later saw a woman being wheeled away by paramedics at about 5:30pm. “A guy walked up to me and said, ‘I thought I saw a performance, and I thought it was fake blood, but it was real blood,’” Fisher said.



Art gallery representatives who witnessed the incident said they saw a woman with what appeared to be a pen in her neck. Sara Fitzmaurice, a spokeswoman for Art Basel, said: “The attack was an isolated incident that was immediately secured. The suspect was apprehended by police who were at the scene within seconds of the incident. ... Our thoughts are with the victim.”