In 1915, Sophie Taeuber and Jean Arp met for the first time, in Zurich. They met quite by chance, and Arp, who was later to become her husband and collaborator, was fascinated by this &ldquo";“serene and amiable&rdquo”;" woman, who lived her life &ldquo";“like a character from a Book of Hours, studious both at work and in sleep&rdquo”;“. At this time, Taeuber was a teacher at the city&rsquo”;“s School of Arts and Crafts and an outstanding pupil of the expressive dance classes run by Hungarian choreographer Rudolf Laban and the revolutionary dancer Mary Wigman. In her keenness to transform the world, to design it in order to change it, the curiosity of Sophie Taeuber-Arp (Davos, Switzerland, 1889 &ndash”;" Zurich, 1943) embraced such wide-ranging forms of expression as painting, dance, tapestry, drawing, embroidery, furniture and interior design, photography, architecture, set design and puppet-making, all with equal intensity. With each one, she examined, resolved and reconciled the contradictory extremes that served as the backdrop for modern art: Figurative art and Abstraction, Dada and Geometric Abstraction, disorder and harmony, art and craft&hellip";" Was it possible for a Dada artist to be a Constructivist? Could a Figurative artist be an Abstract artist? These initially irreconcilable approaches coexisted in the work of Sophie Taeuber-Arp, who frequently served as the hinge between two different eras, surrounded by artistic proposals which found in her the logical, productive nexus. For this reason, her name was linked to the key formative moments of the Avant-garde movement, from her stunning first appearance in radical Dada, to her visual works and research on geometric abstraction, which were closely associated with the French movement Cercle et Carré (Circle and Square). From the Surrealist Hugnet to the Dada poet Huelsenbeck, from painter and filmmaker Richter to performer Emmy Hennings, and other artists such as Kandinsky himself, the members of the Avant-garde movement spoke of Taeuber with astonishment and admiration. &ldquo";“Everything to do with Taeuber has the luminosity of sunlight, and is the miracle which has replaced tradition. She is full of invention, whim and extravagance,&rdquo”;" declared German artist, Hugo Ball. Sophie Taeuber-Arp belonged to a generation of socially-committed women who were anxious to transcend the limits traditionally imposed on women. Daughters of the &ldquo";“new women&rdquo”;" of the 19th century, who had helped to initiate the feminist and suffragette movements, these independent women almost all came from the upper and middle classes and had pursued advanced studies. Their influence on the cultural scene in the 1920s and 1930s was considerable. They played an essential role in the artistic and literary production of their time and brought forth a new vision of the world driven by their staunch desire to challenge the established order. Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Avant-garde Pathways The exhibition that the Museo Picasso Málaga is devoting to Sophie Taeuber-Arp, from 19 October 2009 to 24 January 2010, will demonstrate the highly modern and radical duality that was at the heart of her work. Like a dance sequence, it is a journey through the artist&rsquo";“s work, with over 130 exhibits that include paintings, drawings, collages, textiles, puppets, plans, photographs, sculptures and furniture. The Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Avant-garde Pathways exhibition has been divided into three sections. Broken Rhythm examines the work from her earliest period, in which Dada and Constructivism coexist openly, side by side”;" Inhabiting Spaces explains the artist&rsquo";“s contribution to interior design and architecture”;" and Living Geometry focuses on her actual geometric compositions, which were always infused with her passion for integrating opposites. Each of the works contains movement that is created by the tension between contradictory territories&mdash";“the integration of life and art that is the most extraordinary feature of Sophie Taeuber-Arp&rsquo”;“s work. The exhibition is curated by Estrella de Diego, Professor of Contemporary Art at the Complutense University in Madrid. De Diego has been a guest lecturer at universities in Spain and abroad, and has curated numerous exhibitions, including Lost Bodies. Photography and the Surrealists (Fundación La Caixa, 1996) and Warhol on Warhol (La Casa Encendida, 2007). Her research focuses on gender theory and visual studies, subjects on which she has written widely. Her books include Tristísimo Warhol (Very Sad Warhol), Editorial Siruela, Madrid, 1999”;" Querida Gala. Las vidas ocultas de Gala Dalí (Dear Gala. The Hidden Lives of Gala Dalí), Espasa, 2003";" and Maruja Mallo, Fundación Mapfre, 2008. Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Avant-garde Pathways has been made possible thanks to the contributions made by seventeen museums, public and private collections from France, Germany, Switzerland and the USA that have loaned their works. Three of these institutions are foundations related to Taeuber-Arp: Fondation Arp, in Clamart, France";" Stiftung Hans Arp und Sophie Taeuber-Arp eV, in Rolandswerth, Germany";" and Fondazione Marguerite Arp, in Locarno, Switzerland. The educational area and complementary activities To complement the exhibition, visitors can also see About Sophie Taeuber-Arp, an educational area in Gallery 12 of the MPM, in which they can take a closer look at the life and work of the artist, and at the fertile and dynamic context of the Avant-garde movements, and the freeform creative style of the men and women who lived so intensely during this fascinating period of art history. The MPM has also organized a series of lectures which will examine Sophie Taeuber-Arp and her historical and artistic context. The guest speakers will be university professor Eugenio Carmona (15 October)“;” art historian Medea Hoch (22 October)“;” architect Luis Fernández-Galiano (29 October)“;” writer Espido Freire (5 November)“;” historian Jean-Fran&ccedil";“ois Chevrier (12 November)”;" teacher and architect Francesco Dal Co (19 November)“;” and author Soledad Puértolas (3 December). On 26 November, there will also be a round table discussion comprising the curator, Estrella de Diego, and artists Eva Lootz and Marina Núñez. All the talks will be held in the MPM Auditorium at 8.00pm, and entrance is free. Organized in collaboration with the Universidad de Málaga. The MPM will be publishing two catalogues of the exhibition, one in Spanish and the other in English. The catalogue contains essays by Sophie Taeuber-Arp herself, and by curator, Estrella de Diego, Chiara Calzetta Jaeger, director of Fondation Arp, in Clamart, and Walburga Krupp, director of Stiftung Hans Arp und Sophie Taeuber-Arp, in Rolandswerth. The catalogue contains pictures and documented descriptions of all the pieces on display in the exhibition. On the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, from 21 October to 20 January, the MPM Library will be holding an informal debate, titled Cabaret Literario, (Literary Cabaret), to discuss subjects such as the Avant-garde art movement, art and Feminism, or Bauhaus. To take part, all you have to do is register at the MPM Library (tel. 952 12 76 12). The exhibition is also the subject of Gallery Talks, the guided tour which takes place at MPM every Thursday at 6.00pm. This activity is free with the price of admission. In the Projection Room, the documentary Sophie Taeuber-Arp, directed in 1993 by Christoph K&uuml";“hn, will be shown on a loop during Museum opening hours. The film provides witness accounts from relatives, friends and other artists that reveal the various different facets of Taeuber-Arp: loving wife of fellow-artist Hans Arp, radical Avant-garde activist, teacher at the modern Werkbund school, and muse. Finally, the Reading Room will be providing a public documentary research desk on Sophie Taeuber-Arp, with a selection of documentary sources which may be consulted to complete and enhance the exhibition visit. Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Avant-garde Pathways Dates: 19 October, 2009 to 24 January, 2010 Curator: Estrella de Diego Price: 4,5 &euro”;" (8 &euro";" exhibition + MPM Collection) . Discounts available. Publications: catalogue and brochure Web: www.museopicassomalaga.org Press Office: prensa@mpicassom.org