Ronit Elkabetz was an award-winning actress and filmmaker, a muse and fashion icon, and Israel’s most international filmstar. She impressed film critics and movie lovers with her powerful acting that evolved like a crescendo. She often played women on the margins of society struggling for their liberty against the institutions of family, tradition, marriage and the state. From 2004 to 2014, Ronit Elkabetz wrote and played the role of Viviane Amsalem in the internationally highly acclaimed cinematic trilogy she created together with her brother, Shlomi Elkabetz. She has left a precious cinematic heritage. But not only. Her fans can now discover new facets of Ronit Elkabetz. A new exhibition honours Israel’s best actress.
(Above) Ronit Elkabetz photographed by Gabriel Baharlia, 2011
EXHIBITION HONOURS ISRAEL’S BEST ACTRESS
The Design Museum Holon presents Je t’aime, Ronit Elkabetz, an immersive, multi-sensory exhibition journey through key defining moments of the life of Ronit Elkabetz, focusing on fashion and film. It illustrates how the artist created the act of dressing as a transgressive performative act, charging the garment with powerful messages. This exhibition is a collaboration between Shlomi Elkabetz, film director, brother, and close collaborator of Ronit Elkabetz, and fashion curator and historian Ya’ara Keydar.
Je t’aime, Ronit Elkabetz presents the fashion collection of the actress. It features 528 apparel items meticulously collected and stored in Tel Aviv and Paris over four decades and recently donated by the Yashar and Elkabetz families to the Design Museum Holon. The collection includes film costumes, couture and red-carpet dresses from both international designers like Christian Lacroix and Alber Elbaz, and local Israeli designers like Victor Bellaish, as well as accessories, jewellery and photographs. These are displayed alongside video art and sound installations in a unique juxtaposition of cinema, art and sartorial innovation.
(Above) Ronit Elkabetz photographed by Gabriel Baharlia, 2008
JE T’AIME, RONIT ELKABETZ
The display of the garments was created in collaboration with designer Victor Bellaish, who sculpted the clothes, breathing new life into them, as well as homage-like dresses and hand-sewn mannequins, which were all created especially for the exhibition.
In October 2017, Design Museum Holon was selected by National Geographic Traveller as one of the 15 must-sees museums around the world.
(Above) Ronit Elkabetz loved to dress in black and to wear black eyeliner. (Photos of the exhibition by Shay Ben Efraim)
(Above) The actress wore this haute couture gown by Christian Lacroix in fall or winter 2000/2001.
(Above) Ronit Elkabetz wore this yellow dress by Alber Elbaz for Lanvin in 2008 on the runway of Tel Aviv Fashion Week.
(Above) Ronit Elkabetz (1964-2016) was known for her powerful acting and her ethereal beauty. (Photo by Gil Hayun, 2015)
VIDEO: I24 NEWS PRESENTS THE FASHION EXHIBITION “JE T’AIME, RONIT ELKABETZ”
(Above) Fashion historian and curator Ya’ara Keydar presents the exhibition Je t’aime, Ronit Elkabetz in a news programme, announcing that it might also open in Paris and New York. Keydar teaches courses on fashion museology and fashion in film at New York University’s School of Professional Studies.
(Above) Ronit Elkabetz in a video wearing a black diamond dress. (Itzik Badash, 2005)
VIDEO: A FASHION SHOOTING WITH RONIT ELKABETZ
Cover photo: Joseph Dadoune, 2000, Ronit Elkabetz in the film SION by Joseph Dadoune, 2006.
Adi Kaplan, 1994, Ronit Elkabetz on the set of the film Scar directed by Haim Bouzaglo, 1994.
More infos on the exhibition Je t’aime, Ronit Elkabetz.
