Paris’ Grand Palais presents —before its complete reopening in the spring of 2025— the poetic installations of Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota, “The Soul Trembles” (to March 19, 2025). The exhibition, co-organinised with the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, is an opportunity to discover Shiota’s collection of works spanning over 25 years. It includes several large-scale installations alongside sculptures, performance videos, photographs, drawings, and documentary footage of her stage designs for dance and opera.
Exhibition visitors are greeted and immersed in a meditative space with a monumental installation titled “Uncertain Journey,” a work with over 170 miles of red wool suspended from the ceiling above skeletons of boats, which the artist has said act as metaphors.
Through her intricate installations and diverse mediums, Shiota reflects on the fragility of human existence and the tumultuous emotions that shape our lives. The exhibition invites visitors to explore the depths of consciousness, relationships and the essence of life itself.
Known for her monumental installations, Shiota (born in Osaka in 1972) combines performances and installations in a process where the body occupies a central place. Since the mid-1990s, Shiota has been producing intertwined wool and wire installations, creating spectacular graphic networks. Inspired by personal experiences and everyday intimate objects, her work touches audiences with its authenticity and quest to comprehend life’s “uncertain journey.”
“The Soul Trembles,” Chiharu Shiota, Grand Palais, Paris, to March 19, 2025