The Moment the Snow Melts: Chiharu Shiota

19 November 2025 – 20 September 2026
Free entry

The Moment the Snow Melts is the site-specific installation by Chiharu Shiota (Osaka, 1972) that MUDEC presented in November as a teaser for the exhibition Il senso della neve (The Sense of Snow) (February 2026).

The installation transforms the Agora space into an evanescent landscape of threads hanging vertically from the ceiling. Among these threads float notes and pieces of paper bearing the names of people who have been part of our lives, but whom, for various reasons, we can no longer meet.

From September onwards, the public will be able to contribute to the installation by sharing their thoughts or drawings on the theme, either by leaving them in the box provided in the museum or by submitting them digitally.

Chiharu Shiota’s suspended snowfall is intended as a space for meditation, where the public can experience the presence of absence. For the artist, “melting snow represents the final moments of something coming to an end; it is the last echo. It evokes the end of a long silence and the retreat of the cold that once held everything in its tight grip”.

The artist uses the ephemeral nature of snow as a metaphor to reflect on human relationships and how they inevitably begin and end. The bonds, represented by threads, fade with time, often leaving feelings of frustration and sadness in their place. The names written on the paper serve as a reminder that even if something or someone is lost, they will not be forgotten, and that, with time, a new spring will come.

An opportunity to learn more about Chiharu Shiota will be the exhibition “Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles” at the MAO Museum of Oriental Art in Turin, from October 22, 2025, to June 28, 2026, curated by Mami Kataoka and Davide Quadrio, with curatorial support from Anna Musini and Francesca Filisetti. The artist’s solo exhibition explores universal themes such as identity, memory, and relationships through immersive installations made of intertwined threads, drawings, sculptures, and photographs. The works invite the public to reflect on intimate emotions and dreamlike visions, transforming the museum spaces into contemplative and engaging environments.

The Moment the Snow Melts is curated by Sara Rizzo with the support of 24 ORE Cultura.