An interview about performance series created by the Israeli-born Ariel Aspell and Rachel Libeskind
To mark the end of the Jewish festival of Shavuot, which is also known as the Jewish harvest festival, Rachel Libeskind was interviewed by Deutschland Funk.
Schawuot als Performance: Interview mit der Künstlerin Rachel Libeskind
The word “Shavu’ot” actually has a broader meaning than just harvest, as it also commemorates the renewed reception of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. Artists have been dealing with this festival for seven weeks, and not by chance, because during these seven weeks, the Omer Count takes place.
Seven weeks are counted between the two spring festivals of Passover and Shavu’ot.
In the week of the Jewish Holiday Shavu’ot, and as the grand finale to the Omer Count program, Ariel Efraim Ashbel and Rachel Libeskind presented an event inspired by the medieval tradition of “the Tikkun”. Hebrew for “amending” or “correcting”, it describes in the context of this holiday the tradition of studying the Torah for a whole night.
In this night-long-happening, they discussed this holy day, study, play music, make images and host guests. Thoughts, bodies, traditions, images and sounds, artists and guests created a tapestry of emerging performative contemplations.