© Hayward Gallery
Chiharu Shiota: Threads of Life
17 February 2026 — 3 May 2026
On NowThe Hayward Gallery presents Chiharu Shiota's immersive red-thread installations woven floor-to-ceiling across its brutalist top floor, accompanied by sculptures, performance videos and live activations of During Sleep throughout the exhibition's run.
From Hayward Gallery
Chiharu Shiota is best-known for her large-scale installations which engulf ordinary objects – such as shoes, keys, beds, chairs and dresses – within huge web structures made from woollen thread. The resulting works are immersive and deeply emotive, often drawing from personal experience, which Shiota expands into universal human concerns such as life, death and relationships. Accompanied by new large-scale sculptures, drawings, early performance videos and photographs,...
Read more at Hayward Gallery →Critic Reviews
TimeOut
Asiimov Baker
"A perplexingly dense tangle of crimson thread leaps from one wall to another across the whole space, as if alive. Dangling from this are hundreds of keys – maybe one of them fits the double doors standing in the middle of the room, upon which more thread encroaches. Walking through this room feels like searching through one’s memory for the correct key that’ll unlock something."
Read full review →The Telegraph
Alastair Sooke
Sappy, superficial eye-candy for selfie-takers
"The visual impact is arresting but superficial. Threads of Life could be an eerie set for a movie or a music video; a selfie before it would look great. The work's message is too literal and sappy."
Read full review →The Guardian
Eddy Frankel
So on-the-nose it gives you a nosebleed
"It's so superficial that it's totally meaningless, so on the nose it gives you a nosebleed. It's so about everything, it's essentially about nothing. Realistically, this isn't aimed at anyone who wants a genuine encounter with art; it's aimed at people who want to take selfies in galleries."
Read full review →The Times
Laura Freeman
Art as flimsy as ancient knicker elastic
"Being able to stand in the middle of art doesn't make it truly immersive. You may wend your way through Shiota's strings but you don't imaginatively lose yourself in them."
Read full review →Visit
Southbank Centre, London·View on artmap
Sunday11am–6pm
MondayClosed
Tuesday11am–6pm
Wednesday11am–6pm
Thursday11am–6pm
Friday11am–8pm
Saturday ·11am–6pm
Related Exhibitions
© Hayward Gallery
Chiharu Shiota: Threads of Life
17 February 2026 — 3 May 2026
On NowThe Hayward Gallery presents Chiharu Shiota's immersive red-thread installations woven floor-to-ceiling across its brutalist top floor, accompanied by sculptures, performance videos and live activations of During Sleep throughout the exhibition's run.
From Hayward Gallery
Chiharu Shiota is best-known for her large-scale installations which engulf ordinary objects – such as shoes, keys, beds, chairs and dresses – within huge web structures made from woollen thread. The resulting works are immersive and deeply emotive, often drawing from personal experience, which Shiota expands into universal human concerns such as life, death and relationships. Accompanied by new large-scale sculptures, drawings, early performance videos and photographs,...
Read more at Hayward Gallery →Critic Reviews
TimeOut
Asiimov Baker
"A perplexingly dense tangle of crimson thread leaps from one wall to another across the whole space, as if alive. Dangling from this are hundreds of keys – maybe one of them fits the double doors standing in the middle of the room, upon which more thread encroaches. Walking through this room feels like searching through one’s memory for the correct key that’ll unlock something."
Read full review →The Telegraph
Alastair Sooke
Sappy, superficial eye-candy for selfie-takers
"The visual impact is arresting but superficial. Threads of Life could be an eerie set for a movie or a music video; a selfie before it would look great. The work's message is too literal and sappy."
Read full review →The Guardian
Eddy Frankel
So on-the-nose it gives you a nosebleed
"It's so superficial that it's totally meaningless, so on the nose it gives you a nosebleed. It's so about everything, it's essentially about nothing. Realistically, this isn't aimed at anyone who wants a genuine encounter with art; it's aimed at people who want to take selfies in galleries."
Read full review →The Times
Laura Freeman
Art as flimsy as ancient knicker elastic
"Being able to stand in the middle of art doesn't make it truly immersive. You may wend your way through Shiota's strings but you don't imaginatively lose yourself in them."
Read full review →Visit
Southbank Centre, London·View on artmap
Sunday11am–6pm
MondayClosed
Tuesday11am–6pm
Wednesday11am–6pm
Thursday11am–6pm
Friday11am–8pm
Saturday ·11am–6pm