The art of transgression: Elisabeth Jappe, the Moltkerei Werkstatt and the development of performance art in Europe

Elisabeth Jappe (1934–2021) and the Moltkerei-Werkstatt, the influential Cologne-based space she founded in 1981, played a crucial role in shaping performance art in Germany and beyond. Dedicated to experimental and ephemeral art forms, the Moltkerei functioned as a public stage and a residency programme. This article marks the first in-depth exploration of Jappe’s contributions, made possible by the recent accessibility of her estate at the Archiv der Avantgarden – Egidio Marzona, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. By situating her work within broader debates on liveness, it highlights her impact on the historiography of performance art, having provided an early stage for figures such as Marina Abramović, Nam June Paik and Ulrike Rosenbach. The article will focus on her curatorial vision of Grenzüberschreitung – the transgression of national, artistic and ideological boundaries – through which she fostered exchange across Europe throughout the 1980s, paving the way for Eastern European artists to break into the West German art scene.