Chiharu Shiota: Threads of Life
17 February – 3 May 2026
Threads of Life presented several of the immense and intricate web-like installations, which have become Chiharu Shiota’s signature. Woven from floor-to-ceiling across the Hayward Gallery’s top floor, the works responded to our gallery’s iconic brutalist architecture.
These large-scale installations engulf ordinary objects – such as shoes, keys, beds, chairs and dresses – within huge web structures made from woollen thread in an exploration of the body, memory, consciousness and the fragility of existence.
Among the new iterations of Shiota’s past installations presented within Threads of Life was During Sleep (2026), which was activated with performances throughout the exhibition’s run. Accompanying the installations were new large-scale sculptures, drawings, early performance videos and photographs,
Immersive and deeply emotive, Shiota’s works often draw from personal experience, which the artist expands into universal human concerns such as life, death and relationships.
‘Mindblowing’
Londonist
‘This is immersive art with tensile integrity’
ArtsHub
Exhibition gallery
Articles & videos
Chiharu Shiota: red string, black threads and cultural identity
Take a video tour of the Hayward Gallery exhibition Chiharu Shiota: Threads of Life with Senior Curator Yung Ma and our Associate Artist Julia Cheng.
5 things to know about Chiharu Shiota: Threads of Life
Read an introduction to the artist and her celebrated immersive large-scale installations.
Chiharu Shiota: ‘It’s when I’m in pain that I want to create most’
The acclaimed visual and performance artist talks to Marigold Warner about suffering, surviving and ‘pushing things to the limit’.
Credits & partners
Chiharu Shiota Threads of Life was realised with generous support provided by the Huo Family Foundation and Hiroyuki Maki. We are also grateful for key support from Max and Monique Burger and the TOY family, and Nicola Chu.