Noa Eshkol

The mahJ presents the first exhibition in France dedicated to Israeli artist Noa Eshkol (Degania, 1924 – Holon, 2007). A pioneer of modern dance and a choreographer, she was also a prodigious textile artist. The exhibition illuminates her work from the 1950s to the 2000s, her Wall Carpets, as well as 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 sequences whose great sobriety is matched only by their complexity.

In the last thirty years of her life, in addition to dance, she produced Wall Carpets, large textile compositions, “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 corpus, her work, still confidential until recently, fascinates a new generation of artists.

“Noa Eshkol, 1924-2007. Dance and Compositions” is the first exhibition dedicated to the artist in France. It traces her entire life and work, and also features installations by artists Yael Bartana and Sharon Lockhart.

Born in 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. After 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. Returning to Israel in 1951, she founded her company.

To the sound of a metronome, illuminated by neutral light, her dancers wore black costumes, following a minimal setup designed to highlight the precision of the movement sequences. For nearly twenty years, movement notation was the meaning of her life.

She taught, participated 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, consisting of