In 2015, during the Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art, I walked into the Japanese Pavilion, and for a few seconds I didn’t think much of it, surrounded by thousands of red threads plunging into two boats, covering the walls and ceiling, tightly woven to soften the sharp angles of the space and adorned with thousands of keys. And suddenly, I have tears in my eyes; I find it hard to leave the pavilion—I’d like to stay a little longer.
That’s the effect Chiharu Shiota’s work has—a kind of sublime unease that feels very much like a therapy session. When she talks about her work, she says, “I created this installation from my own body.”
This fall, starting September 26, 2026, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is hosting a retrospective of Chiharu Shiota’s work, for the first time in North America. Chiharu Shiota was present for the unveiling of this exhibition, which reads like a diary of the soul—she wove all the installations herself, on-site.
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RED, THE BODY, THE SOUL
Chiharu Shiota, a Japanese artist who studied art in Berlin—alongside the iconic Marina Abramović—began by working in painting before moving on to performance, sculpture, and installation. But throughout her career, she has consistently explored the dichotomy between body and soul, presence and absence, and the intangible connections that bind humanity.
Her thread installations—including the red-woven piece *Key in the Hand* (2015), which brought me to tears in Venice—resemble, in a way, the blood vessels of the body, or the mycelium that connects the roots of all the trees in a forest.
At the Museum of Fine Arts this fall, you can see—and feel—it in the installation *Voyage Incertain*.
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A DIARY OF THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE
Two bouts of cancer, from which she has now recovered, fueled this dissociation of body and soul. Chiharu Shiota separates her soul from her battered body, her skin from her body, and parts of her body.
Her performance works—including the visceral *Becoming Painting* (1994) and the sublime short film *Bathroom* ( 1999)—are featured at the beginning of the exhibition. Visitors can also see her sculptures, drawings, and sets designed for theater and opera.
As we move through the rooms, we transition from the physical realm to the poetic tribulations and emotional installations for which the artist is best known today.
The exhibition, which Chiharu Shiota quite simply compares to her life, is a true retrospective in red and black of the artist’s work over the past 30 years—and a must-see this fall.
In addition to the exhibition, the Museum’s Cinema will screen films selected by the artist;
- BOY MEETS GIRL (1984) by Leos Carax / Sunday, September 27, 12:00 p.m.
- DOGVILLE (2003) by Lars Von Trier / Sunday, October 25, 12:00 p.m.
- THEATER OF THOUGHT (2022) by Werner Herzog / Sunday, December 6, 12:00 p.m.
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PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Where? Museum of Fine Arts, 1380 Sherbrooke Street West
When? September 26, 2026, through February 14, 2027
What? $32 for ages 26 and up, $16 on Wednesday evenings / free for ages 25 and under, members of Indigenous communities, and people with disabilities and their companions
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