Patrons who attended Art Basel Miami Beach on Friday got a little more than they expected when a fight resulted in a stabbing. The incident occurred in close proximity to the event’s main exhibit, “The Swamp of Sagittarius.” The bizarre event sounds horrific, as one woman reportedly pulled out another X-Acto knife and stabbed another woman in the arms and neck. A police spokesperson says, “The injuries are non life-threatening,” but the victim was rushed immediately to the hospital.
Both women were guests of the event, and the most disturbing aspect of this crime is that other patrons believed they were merely watching performance art. The victim was left bloodied on the ground, and no one immediately moved to help her. After police arrived, other patrons assumed the police tape surrounding the scene was part of the show. Naturally, everyone was shocked when they were informed that the events that transpired were very real. Amanda DeSeta spoke to the Miami Herald: “It’s a very strange place for something like this to happen.”
One of the exhibit’s artists, Naomi Fisher, heard the commotion and then saw the victim being helped by paramedics. She said, “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.'” How terrifying.
(Via Miami Herald)