The mahJ presents the first exhibition in France devoted to Israeli artist Noa Eshkol (Degania, 1924 – Holon, 2007). A pioneer of modern dance and a choreographer, she was also a remarkable textile artist. The exhibition sheds light on her work from the 1950s to the 2000s, her Wall Carpets, and her choreographic compositions through drawings, photographs, and videos.
Dancer, choreographer, and artist Noa Eshkol remains a central figure in modern dance in Israel. Known for her movement notation system, she founded the Chamber Dance Group in 1951. Her choreographies are danced suites whose great restraint is matched only by their complexity. In the last thirty years of her life, dance was joined by the creation of Wall Carpets, large textile compositions made “without rules,” “without theory,” “only passion,” as she wrote. From one art form to another, from choreographic creation to the composition of Wall Carpets, from collective bodily expression to the singularity of an almost pictorial textile body of work, her work, still little known until recently, fascinates a new generation of artists. “Noa Eshkol, 1924-2007. Dance and Compositions” is the first exhibition devoted to the artist in France. It retraces her life and work as a whole, and also presents installations by artists Yael Bartana and Sharon Lockhart. Born in the kibbutz Degania Bet, founded in 1920, Noa Eshkol trained in Tel-Aviv at the school of German choreographer Tile Rössler, a representative of expressionist dance. From the end of the Second World War, she continued her training with Rudolf Laban in Manchester. But the notation system developed by the Hungarian theorist was not enough for her; she sought her own path. Back in Israel in 1951, she founded her company. To the sound of a metronome, lit by neutral lighting, her dancers wore black costumes in a minimal setup designed to highlight the precision of the movement sequences. For nearly twenty years, movement notation would be the focus of her life. She taught, took part in research groups, and composed. The Yom Kippur War, in October 1973, marked a turning point. Declaring “No time to dance,” she abandoned dance to create large textile works with her troupe, made from scraps and second-hand clothing, sewn onto pieces of fabric using the appliqué technique. These compositions oscillate between abstraction, still life, and landscape. This activity continued for nearly three decades and gave rise to almost 1,800 works, making Noa Eshkol one of the most inventive and prolific textile artists of the 20th century.
Admission: From 0 to 13 euros. ▷ Full price: €13 ▷ Reduced rates: €9 (18-25-year-olds who are not European residents, large families); €5 (18-25-year-old EU residents) ▷ Free for Amis du mahJ and under-18s. See other free admission conditions on mahj.org.
Source: paris.fr — photo: © The Noa Eshkol Foundation for Movement Notation, Holon, Israël / Photo Jens Ziehe, Berlin