Noa Eshkol at the mahJ: contemporary dance and textile compositions in the Marais

The Museum of Jewish Art and History, housed in the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan, in the heart of the Marais district of Paris, presents Noa Eshkol, 1924-2007. Dance and Compositions, from 16 April to 30 August 2026. This exhibition highlights the Israeli artist Noa Eshkol, a major figure in modern dance, choreographer, movement theorist and textile designer. Through drawings, photographs, videos, archives and wall-mounted works, the show invites visitors to discover a singular body of work at the crossroads of the stage, gesture and the visual arts.

Noa Eshkol, from choreographed movement to Wall Carpets

Born in Degania in 1924 and passing away in Holon in 2007, Noa Eshkol holds a significant place in the history of the modern dance scene in Israel. Trained in Tel Aviv, then in Manchester with Rudolf Laban, she, in the 1950s, developed with Avraham Wachman a system for notating movement. This research aimed to capture the gesture with precision, beyond mere oral or visual transmission.

In 1951, she founded the Chamber Dance Group, a company through which she explored a minimalist choreographic language. Her works are marked by striking sobriety: black costumes, neutral lighting, no elaborate sets, and metronome-driven accompaniment. Movement itself becomes the central subject, examined in its structure, its rhythm, and its relation to the collective.

Key moments from the Noa Eshkol exhibition in Paris

The mahJ’s journey traces the full arc of its oeuvre, from the 1950s to the 2000s, illustrating how dance and textiles inform and echo one another in its artistic practice.

• Sketches and documents on movement notation;
• Photographs and videos tied to their choreographic works;
• Archives dedicated to the Chamber Dance Group;
• A selection of their famous Wall Carpets, large textile wall compositions;
• Works and installations by Sharon Lockhart and Yael Bartana, artists inspired by their heritage.

Starting in the 1970s, Noa Eshkol stepped away from the stage to devote herself to creating Wall Carpets. These wall hangings, woven from recycled fabrics, garments and scraps joined by the appliqué technique, hover between abstraction, still life and landscape. This hands-on, collaborative process gives rise to a vast body of works that places the artist among the most inventive textile creators of the 20th century.

A program focused on dance and movement

As a complement to the exhibition, the mahJ expands the journey with encounters, tours, workshops and activities focused on the body in motion. From events in the auditorium and workshops with the Chamber Dance Group – Noa Eshkol Foundation to programs for younger audiences, guided tours and Feldenkrais sessions, the aim is to deepen visitors' understanding of the artist and their choreographic vocabulary.

A scenography that weaves archives, gestures and textile compositions

In the mahJ’s spaces, the exhibition links the rigour of choreographic writing with the seemingly free textures of textile compositions. Visitors move from dance-related documents to vast swaths of fabric, where shapes, colors and materials form a language that is almost pictorial. This juxtaposition sheds light on the shift from an art of movement to a visual practice, without a total rupture: with Noa Eshkol, rhythm, assembly, structure and composition remain central.

The mahJ, a heritage jewel in the Marais

Located at the 71 rue du Temple, in the Marais district, the mahJ provides a historic setting for this exhibition devoted to an interdisciplinary artist. The museum sits near the Centre Pompidou and is reachable notably via Rambuteau and Hôtel de Ville stations. Open from Tuesday to Sunday, with Wednesday late hours depending on the period, the venue makes it easy to combine this visit with a cultural stroll through one of Paris's most iconic neighborhoods.

With Noa Eshkol, 1924-2007. Dance and Compositions, the mahJ presents an exhibition that reveals a body of work that has long remained largely unknown in France. Spanning modern dance, graphic research, kibbutz memory, Israeli history and textile creation, this cultural encounter invites audiences to view movement, material and the various forms of artistic transmission from a new perspective.