Chiharu Shiota at Japan Society

In New York, art is often perceived as light, and the viewer as a moth drawn to it. Museums and galleries become beacons: some attract, others point the way toward new meanings and discoveries. The challenge is not to get lost in the webs of images that artists generously spread along the path.

Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota has created just such a web — both literal and metaphorical — in her new installation “Diary”, which opened on September 12 at Japan Society.

A Labyrinth of Memory

Visitors are invited to walk through a labyrinth woven from countless red threads. These threads evoke images of flames, blood vessels, neurons, or in a more intimate interpretation the intestines, through which memories pass, releasing the body from the pain of the past. Hidden within the installation are diary pages belonging to Japanese soldiers of World War II and German civilians in the postwar years.

In this way, Shiota explores the theme of war and its aftermath, marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Yet her work reaches beyond history: it weaves together reflections on mortality, the personal experience of living “between two homelands” Japan and Germany and her own biography.

Layers of Meaning

In addition to the installation, the exhibition features independent art objects and video works. One of the most powerful is a video piece in which Shiota shares her experiences of battling cancer (in 2005 and again in 2017). The result is a deeply layered exhibition: from war and memory to embodiment, pain, and hope.

The accompanying texts are dense with meaning: war, illness, migration, memory. Combined with the powerful visuals and immersive atmosphere, Shiota’s project is both profoundly moving and, in today’s terms, highly Instagrammable.