architect: Chiharu Shiota

location: Bergen, KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes

Chiharu Shiota is internationally renowned for her intricate and spectacular thread constructions. In Bergen she will create a new work entitled “Direction” that will fill a large exhibition hall at KODE. The public is invited to enter into her installation for an ambientexperience.
In her works Chiharu Shiota seeks to awaken feelings and memories in the public. She often combines the rich symbolism of the thread with old objects that embody personal stories. With a background in painting and performance, Shiota has continued to develop her interest in the body and the bodily gesture in her installations. The visual impression is both fragile and massive, and the body’s response upon entering into the work is an important part of the artist’s objective.

Chiharu Shiota, Earth and Blood, 2014

Boats from Western Norway
Shiota’s complex thread constructions have been compared with “drawing in the air”, and frequently include everyday objects. She has also employed photography and video in several of her installations. At KODE in Bergen the artist will incorporate old boats from Norwegian West Coast in her work. These boats were once an everyday means of transportation along the coast outside of Bergen, and the title incorporates a reference to the act of travelling. At the same time Shiota touches upon the idea of finding one’s way in a broader perspective: “In this installation I concentrate on the distance we cover during our lives, and the journey we take has an unclear destination. We are heading in a certain direction but don’t know exactly where”, says the artist.

photo by Dag Fosse/KODE

About the Artist
Chiharu Shiota (b. 1972) was educated in Japan and Germany. In Germany she studied under Marina Abramović and Rebecca Horn, among others. Shiota has lived and worked in Berlin since 1996. Shiota has exhibited in museums around the world, such as MoMA PS1, New York (2003), La Maison Rouge, Paris (2011) and Kunstsammlung Nordrheinwestfalen, K21, Düsseldorf (2015). In 2015 she represented Japan in the Venice Biennale, and gained considerable acclaim for her installation “The Key in the Hand”.

KODE is one of the largest art museums in Scandinavia and situated in Bergen, Norway.
Our visitors can explore art ranging from the Renaissance era to Contemporary Art. Our collection holds more than 43,000 works, including one of the most important collections of Edvard Munch and of Nikolai Astrup worldwide.

27.X.2017 – 01.IV.2018
Bergen, KODE Art Museums and Composer Home
tel. +47 53 009704
www.kodebergen.no