Inbal Ben Haim

Pli

Rope

PLI is an acrobatic and poetic project revolving around body and paper. At the crossroads of circus and fine arts, the project Pli was born out of the encounter of Inbal Ben Haim (circus artist), Alexis Merat (folder – paper crusher) and Domitille Martin (plastic artist and scenographer). Together they invented a new suspension apparatus: an aerial paper rope. Through a surprising dialogue, they tackle materialist and human notions to speak about the fragility and the power that resides in both the material and in each one of us.

Biography

Born in Jerusalem, Israel in 1990, Inbal Ben Haim has developed a dual path in visual arts, sports and movement arts. She discovered aerial circus at the age of 13 through the Free Dome Project and later with Cirque Shabazy. After completing her civil service in Israel, where she developed a circus pedagogy for at-risk youth, Inbal Ben Haim moved to France. There she honed her aerial skills at circus schools such as Piste d’Azur and the Centre National des Arts du Cirque in Châlons-en-Champagne. Specialising in vertical rope, she weaves a unique relationship between body and material.

Her artistic language lies at the intersection of circus and the visual arts, balancing the intimate and the spectacular, the here and the elsewhere. In 2018, she co-created the show RACINE(S) with L’Attraction Compagnie. Her second creation, PLI, co-created with Domitille Martin and Alexis Mérat, was a 2021 circusnext laureate and supported by Les Subs as delegated producer. Inbal Ben Haim was an associate artist at CCN2 in Grenoble from 2020 to 2022 and will become an associate artist with circusnext in 2024. She is also a member of the Maison Courbe collective.