Michal Rovner — Le Louvre — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: May 19 → August 15, 2011

Israeli multimedia artist Michal Rovner, who came to public attention in 2005 with her exhibition entitled “Fields of Fire” at the Jeu de Paume, explores the themes of archaeology, memory, and territory with an oeuvre that is deeply influenced by the socio-political conflicts in the Middle East.

She views the past as a perpetual movement. Discussing her work, she says

“What I want to do is find the connection with stones. It’s the temporal process that interests me most, and the Louvre allows for a temporal and spatial shift from one room to another, one period to another.”

Michal Rovner chose to install her exhibition at the Louvre in the Department of Near Eastern Antiquities (in the rooms devoted to Syria, Jordan, and Palestine) and the medieval moat. She creates her works in situ, projecting her videos directly onto the walls and ancient objects. She proceeds through stratification, superposing the palace facades and foundations, sparking a dialogue between her moving figures and the ancient inscriptions on steles and sarcophagi.

The exhibition continues on the esplanade of the Cour Napoléon, where Michal Rovner presents a work entitled “Makom” (Hebrew for “space”): one ruined and one standing temple, built by stonemasons of various faiths and origins with stones from the ruins of houses in Jaffa, Gaza, Jerusalem, Bethlehem…

With her politically committed, sensitive, and meditative work, Michal Rovner abolishes the borders between periods and cultures.