In brief
- The Shangri-La Paris palace hotel is hosting six works by artist Chiharu Shiota from 20 to 28 October 2026.
- The exhibition is organised in partnership with Galerie Templon in the lobby beneath the hotel’s rotunda.
- The assembled sculptures cover the period 2022-2026 and include the architectural work Strange Home.
An unprecedented dialogue between palace hotel and contemporary art
The Shangri-La palace hotel in Paris offers an unprecedented dialogue between contemporary art and luxury hospitality by welcoming Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota for an exhibition accessible in its lobby. Conceived jointly with Galerie Templon, the showcase brings together six iconic installations created between 2022 and 2026 beneath the rotunda of the 16th arrondissement establishment, offering an inhabited and warm setting for discovery right in the middle of Art Week. This majestic backdrop, steeped in the history of Prince Roland Bonaparte, offers a fascinating perspective where 19th-century architectural grandeur meets the poetic tensions of international contemporary creation.
Every autumn, the French capital transforms into the global epicentre of contemporary art, attracting collectors, curators and enthusiasts from around the world. In this context of cultural effervescence, Shangri-La Paris’s initiative reflects a broader underlying trend where fine heritage hotel destinations seek to reinvent their public spaces. By opening its lobby doors to a visual arts approach as singular as that of Chiharu Shiota, the establishment is not merely offering a temporary backdrop: it is creating a true cultural destination accessible to passing visitors and residents alike, blurring the boundary between a place of hospitality, an exhibition space and a private residence.
An unprecedented encounter between the palace hotel and Galerie Templon
This initiative stems from a desire to offer new visibility to the work of the visual artist born in 1972, whose previous retrospective at the neighbouring Musée Guimet had suffered from Covid health restrictions. The Shangri-La hotel thus becomes an alternative domestic showcase to the immaculate walls of traditional art galleries, allowing collectors and passing visitors to contemplate the three-dimensional canvases in the atmosphere of a grand Parisian residence. The immediate geographical proximity to Chaillot Hill and the museum district reinforces the relevance of this setting, creating a natural bridge between the great national institution dedicated to Asian arts and the luminous rotunda of the luxury hotel.
The close collaboration with Galerie Templon, a major figure in the contemporary art market in Paris and internationally, demonstrates rigorous curatorial standards. Rather than imposing monumental works that would overwhelm the details of the historic architecture, the gallery and the palace hotel devised a bespoke selection, tailored to the flow of movement, proportions and natural light beneath the rotunda. The approach creates a rare intimacy with contemporary creation, very different from a conventional visit to a gallery or art fair, where visual overstimulation often prevents prolonged and contemplative viewing.
Ancient objects captured in webs of thread
Chiharu Shiota’s universe relies on the ability to evoke absence, remembrance and memory through concrete materials. By enclosing everyday objects within complex labyrinths of thread, the artist transforms familiar relics into poetic monuments. The chosen objects retain the invisible traces of their former owners, becoming receptacles for personal stories that resonate with collective memory. Within the majestic and muted setting of a historic hotel, these witnesses to the past acquire a mysterious aura, questioning the emotional value of the things that surround us and how we preserve the imprint of time.
Chiharu Shiota’s work with thread resembles spatial writing. By accumulating thousands of intersecting strands, she succeeds in materialising intangible feelings such as anxiety, hope, attachment or isolation. The integration of these textile sculptures into the circulation areas of the palace hotel invites visitors to slow their pace, step around the structures, and observe the play of shadows cast onto the marble and gilded mouldings. The stillness of the captured objects contrasts sharply with the continuous movement of travellers and passing guests, creating an unexpected space for pause and contemplation in the heart of the 16th arrondissement.
Three-dimensional canvases beneath the rotunda
The display showcases the use of coloured thread to entrap secret memories and evocative objects. The sculpture State of Being (Mask), created in 2023, holds a Venetian mask within its mesh, while State of Being (Diary) (2022) suspends the pages of a century-old diary. In the same romantic spirit, the work Inside Memory (2025) captures a typewriter beneath a dense textile network. The six artistic offerings arranged in the lobby dialogue directly with the dome and columns, establishing a captivating visual dynamic between the classical geometry of the premises and the complex organic nature of the woven structures.
Each exhibited piece explores a specific facet of the human condition. The presence of the Venetian mask in State of Being (Mask) questions appearances, social interaction and the hidden identities worn in daily life, a theme particularly revealing in the world of grand luxury hospitality. Meanwhile, State of Being (Diary) features written pages whose legibility is obscured by the density of the threads, a visual metaphor for the gradual fading of memories and the impossibility of completely freezing the past. As for Inside Memory, the typewriter frozen in time evokes literary creation, transmitted secrets and stories that have remained silent.
Strange Home and the geometry of existential vertigo
The most recent installation, titled Strange Home (2026), adopts a more stripped-back approach focused on line and empty space. Red threads stretched across fine metal uprights outline the architecture of a tilted house with disorienting perspectives, bordering on abstraction. This sculptural composition foreshadows the artistic developments that Galerie Templon will present more fully during its January autumn season. By using the shade red, a universal symbol of blood, family ties and invisible connections between beings, the artist reinvents the notion of home and expresses the feeling of rootlessness that has run through her work from the beginning.
The lopsided structure of Strange Home materialises the instability of contemporary reference points and geographical uncertainty. Presented within a palace hotel that, by definition, welcomes itinerant travellers, the work takes on a singular resonance. The minimal silhouette of this suspended house questions the concept of belonging: what is home when one is constantly on the move? By stripping her sculpture of all artifice to retain only the essence of line in space, the visual artist offers a demonstration of artistic maturity where emptiness becomes as important as the material itself.
Other artistic journeys in Parisian palace hotels
The experience offered by Shangri-La Paris forms part of a broader cultural landscape where luxury Parisian hospitality is transforming into a network of temporary galleries. While enthusiasts of contemporary creation explore the 16th arrondissement to admire Chiharu Shiota’s threadwork, other historic locations in the capital are rolling out equally bold concepts. This coordinated effervescence transforms the city into an overall artistic itinerary where the French art de vivre meets the international avant-garde beneath the gilding and glass roofs of the finest establishments.
Contemporary art arrives under Parisian domes
The hosting of visual arts projects extends to other iconic establishments in the capital during this cultural period. At Le Meurice, designer Harry Nuriev takes over Le Dalí from 20 to 25 October with a scenographic table pairing with a gourmet menu conceived by Alain Ducasse and Amaury Bouhours at 190 euros. Meanwhile, Maison Delano is exhibiting portraits of its staff created by artist Aurore Guez until 15 November. These cross-cutting initiatives bear witness to a shared desire among grand hotels to engage with contemporary creation in all its forms, whether design, photography or textile installations.
This convergence between contemporary art, design, gastronomy and architectural heritage redefines the urban luxury experience. Integrating strong artistic approaches into living or dining spaces breaks down the boundaries of art, offering complete sensory immersion. By supporting creators with distinct signatures, whether through immersive installations beneath the Shangri-La rotunda, bold scenographic offerings at Le Meurice or human projects at Maison Delano, Parisian palace hotels reaffirm their role as active patrons and cultural conduits in the heart of the capital.
