Chiharu Shiota’s ‘The Soul Trembles’: North American premiere in Montreal — giant thread installations open today at the Museum of Fine Arts

Montreal, 26 September 2026 — The exhibition “Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles” opens to the public today at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA), marking its North American premiere. It is the largest solo exhibition of the Berlin-based Japanese artist ever organized in North America, and will remain open until 14 February 2027. The retrospective is organized jointly by the MMFA and Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum.

Spanning more than 30 years of Shiota’s creative evolution, the exhibition brings her signature thread installations into focus — site-specific works, meticulously hand-woven on site in red, black or white — alongside eight delicate sculptures, performance videos, drawings and rare archival documents tracing the artist’s path.

The giant immersive installations that made Shiota famous worldwide give physical form to universal emotions such as fragility, memory and hope, drawing visitors into a universe woven thread by thread, linking body, memory and soul.

The presenting partner of the Montreal exhibition is Merck Canada, which supports bringing this major retrospective before the Canadian public. CNW / Newswire.ca