The Soul Trembles in Montreal
Renowned artist Chiharu Shiota presents her exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
The Montreal Fine Arts Museum (MMFA) is hosting The Soul Trembles exhibition by artist Chiharu Shiota, marking the first time the exhibit has been presented in North America. The exhibition was organized in collaboration with the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan and has been displayed in nine other countries.
Born in 1972, Chiharu Shiota is a Japanese performance and contemporary artist who has lived and worked in Berlin since 1996. This year she was awarded the L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an award the French Minister of Culture gives to artists who have contributed significantly to French and global culture.
Mami Kataoka, the director of the Mori Art Museum, helped coordinate the collaboration between the two museums.
In a press release, Kataoka described the exhibit as a showcase of Shiota's trajectory.
Many of her works focus on themes of mortality, absence and immigration. Shiota explores these topics by drawing inspiration from her life experiences as an immigrant and cancer survivor.
Visitors can view the exhibit by taking a grand marble staircase to the museum's second floor. Above the stairs, just outside the exhibition hall, an installation of black threads hangs, cascading down and over boats made of white thread and metal. This first piece is titled “Where Are We Going?”
“It would be nice if it were here [year-round],” attendee Jean Dumont said.
One of the exhibition's biggest installations is “Uncertain Journey.” It wraps around the entire room, with red wool springing out of six boat-shaped metal frames.
I was inside that installation all by myself while it was being constructed. I had [a feeling of] ‘oh my God, I am the luckiest person in the world to be in this space right now.’ — Iris Amizlev, special projects curator, MMFA
The museum hired 12 Concordia University students and alumni from the fine arts department to help mount the work alongside a team of local assistants.
Iris Amizlev, the special projects curator at the MMFA, helped organize this iteration of the exhibition.
According to Amizlev, “Uncertain Journey” exists as a different version every time it is presented, as the work is always made to adapt to the space it's in.
“I was inside that installation all by myself while it was being constructed. I had [a feeling of] ‘oh my God, I am the luckiest person in the world to be in this space right now,’” Amizlev shared.
“It’s a lovely and surprising room,” visitor Lina Mori said.
The first exhibition room is dedicated to the early years of her career. The first work presented here is a charming painting of a butterfly sitting on a flower. It was made in 1977 by a five-year-old Shiota.
The rest are paintings Shiota made in her university years before she switched to performance art, sculpture and installation. The following rooms focus on the intricate thread work that has become a staple of her career. The second room explores the connection to the body.
“The mind and body become detached from each other, and I am no longer able to put a stop to these uncontrollable emotions,” read a quote by Shiota, written on the wall next to the installation “Out of my Body.”
At the centre of the room, a table full of small doll furniture is connected by a red thread. This piece is named “Connecting Small Memories.”
The furniture is arranged to resemble scenes from different domestic spaces
Shiota shared in an interview with Say Who that “Connecting Small Memories” took on a different meaning after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was thinking about all of us sitting in our homes, every home like a little universe itself,” Shiota said.
The exhibition spans four exhibit rooms, with works of different sizes occupying the space in unique ways. It will be presented until Feb. 14, 2027.
This article originally appeared in Volume 47, Issue 4, published October 27, 2026.
