The public programme of the exhibition Chiharu Shiota. The Soul TremblesCurated by Chiara Lee and freddie Murphy
21 October 2025 – 28 May 2026
MAO Museo d’Arte Orientale, via san Domenico 11Combo, corso Regina Margherita 128OGR Torino, corso Castelfidardo 22
For the first monographic show in Italy by artist Chiharu Shiota, Evolving Soundscapes will explore contemporary musicians and sound artists whose practice resonates with Shiota’s central themes. The programme will offer a multifaceted soundscape, engaging deeply with Shiota’s artistic vision and bringing together diverse approaches to sound and performance.
The public programme will extend beyond the museum, starting with a collaboration with Combo for the exhibition opening. A series of shows in partnership with OGR Torino will create a shared public programme, connecting both to Shiota’s exhibition themes and to the ones linked to Electric Dreams, the temporary exhibition held at OGR Torino.
Artists will present a wide spectrum of explorations: performative sound installations that create textured soundscapes blurring the lines between art and music (Asuna); sculptural sonic compositions (Rie Nakajima); the interplay of silence and noise as a form of temporal suspension (Keiji Haino); and the resonance of space through the human voice (Fuji Yuki). Others will reimagine identity and urban energy: reconnecting animistic roots with neon-colored cityscapes (WaqWaq Kingdom), merging Asian heritage with exuberant modernity (JPN Kasai), or navigating the tension between introspective routines and night life exuberance (Tamanaramen).
The programme will also reflect on memory and temporality, exploring the symbolic echoes of Buddhist philosophy and Asian heritage through sonic journeys into the unknown (Masayoshi Fujita), and the tension between minimalism and physicality (Rai Teteishi).
The programme
Tuesday 21 October 2025 – 10 pm@ Combo Torino, corso Regina Margherita 128WAQWAQ KINGDOMUltramodern Folklore: experimental club sounds intertwine with Japanese mythologyWaqWaq Kingdom is a Japanese tribal bass duo, consisting of Kiki Hitomi and Shigeru Ishihara, based in Leipzig and Berlin. Their genre and time bending sound is like a psychedelic Nabe hot pot: melting Japanese traditional style Minyo with Jamaican dancehall, footwork, dub, techno, tribal polyrhythms and Super Nintendo soundtracks in an endless range of stylistic adventures.Shigeru Ishihara aka DJ Scotch Egg - has been a distinctive alien orbiting the dance music galaxy for over a decade, releasing radiantly unpredictable solo records through the legendary and now defunct experimental label Load Records, and performing as a member of British post-rock band Seefeel. Vocalist & lyricist Kiki Hitomi is formerly a member of King Midas Sound (along with The Bug and Roger Robinson), and co-founded iconic Japanese dubstep-noise duo Dokkebi Q.Free admission
Thursday 4 December 2025 - 7:30 pm@ MAOTAMANARAMENA singular universe where sound and image merge seamlessly, transcending genres and borders.Tamanaramen is an audiovisual duo based between Tokyo and London, formed by sisters Hana (visual artist) and Pikam (singer/producer). After pursuing their own solo careers, they came together as a unit in 2021.Through a fusion of abstract soundscapes, whisper-like vocals, and visuals inspired by skin textures and flowing, vibrant colors, they create a singular universe where sound and image merge seamlessly, transcending genres and borders. Their work delicately illuminates human loneliness, offering solace while capturing both the introspective intimacy of daily life and the extroverted energy of the night’s dance floor.They have presented their work at international platforms such as SXSW and MUTEK Japan and they are also active as the DJ unit 4ngelkidz, performing at a wide range of events—from club nights across Japan to fashion brand parties and major art exhibitions.Participation included in the admission ticket to the exhibition The Soul Trembles.
Thursday 29 January 2026 - 7:30 pm@ MAORAI TATEISHI (goat JP) feat. Koshiro HinoAn holistic attempt to push ancient wind instruments beyond their limitsRai Tateishi is a shinobue and noh flute player, Japanese taiko drum performer, and a vital force in both traditional and experimental music. After honing his skills with the internationally acclaimed Kodo Taiko Performing Arts Ensemble, he went on to found his own group Azuma and has since been active as a performer, collaborator, and educator, presenting his work worldwide and directing community-based festivals in Japan.Now living a hermetic existence in a depopulated Japanese village, Tateishi has refined his sound in deep communion with his instruments, developing a style that transcends their usual boundaries. A master of the shinobue and a key member of the cult avant-garde outfit goat (JP), he channels ancestral spirits through fearless improvisations that range from lyrical breaths to percussive passages, alien sonorities, and ritualistic intensity. His solo debut Presence (on Koshiro Hino’s NAKID label) was recorded without overdubs, weaving shinobue with shakuhachi, khene mouth organ, and Irish flute into a music that feels entirely his own. At MAO, Tateishi will be accompanied by musician Koshiro Hino, one of his partners in goat (JP), who will process his sound in real time.Participation included in the admission ticket to the exhibition The Soul Trembles.
Sunday 8 February 2026 6 pm@ OGR Torino, corso Castelfidardo 22ASUNA + RIE NAKAJIMAPartecipazione inclusa nel biglietto di ingresso alle mostre
ASUNA “100 Keyboards”A mesmerising undulating sonic harmony of one hundred cheap plastic keyASUNA is a Japanese sound artist recognized internationally in the experimental music and art scene. Active since the late 1990s, he emerged from Tokyo’s improvised music community, blending influences from hardcore and punk to delicate, melodic sound worlds.His recent large-scale project 100 Keyboards is a site-specific performance featuring over one hundred toy keyboards playing the same key, creating an undulating sonic harmony that is both mesmerizing and mysterious. The work has been presented at major international festivals and venues, including BAM in New York.ASUNA’s performances often use unconventional sound sources, from wind-up toys to popping candy and kazoos, combining playful experimentation with the profound sensibility of a true avant-garde artist.
RIE NAKAJIMAAn inventive works of mechanical and sound bricolageRie Nakajima is a sculptor and sound artist living in London. She creates sounds for installations and performances using a combination of motorised devices and daily objects, fusing sculpture and sound. Her artistic practice is open to chance and the influence of others.Her first major solo exhibition was held at IKON Gallery in Birmingham in 2018. She has also worked with Museo Vostell Malpartida (Cáceres), Tate Modern (Londra), Serralves Museum (Porto), ShugoArts (Tokyo), Hara Museum (Tokyo), The Wattis (San Francisco) e Cafe OTO (Londra).Her collaborators are Pierre Berthet, Angharad Davies, David Cunningham, Keiko Yamamoto, miki yui, hans.w.koch, Marie Roux, Billy Steiger, David Toop and Akira Sakata.Participation included in the admission ticket to the exhibitions.
Sunday 15 March 2026 - 6 pm@ OGR Torino, corso Castelfidardo 22KEIJI HAINO + MASAYOSHI FUJITA
KEIJI HAINO "POLYGONOLA acoustic set"A key voice in Japan’s countercultural soundscapeOver four decades, Keiji Haino has thrived at the fringes of improvised music, becoming both a pioneer of and paragon for turning rock music inside out after earning attention during the ’80s for Fushitsusha, his on-again, off-again psychedelic powerhouse. Across the next quarter-century, he steadily emerged from Japan’s underground as an experimental extremist.Haino’s almost 50-year career has encompassed a dizzying range of approaches from wild, guitar-led ensemble rock and near-Neolithic drumming; live electronics, untutored explorations of lute and flute, to voice experiments and extended performances for gamelan and other percussion. Throughout, Haino has retained a visionary focus upon temporary suspension through noise (and silence) whilst refining a mercurial, highly distinctive method and an arrestingly dramatic on-stage presence that borrows the raiments of performance art.In this special event in Torino, he will perform on polygonola, a metal-flat polygonal instrument, based on the 2nd dimensional vibration theory, built by Naoki Skura.
MASAYOSHI FUJITAAn impressive exercise in ambient soundscapingMasayoshi Fujita is a Japanese vibraphone player based in Hyogo. He first learned how to play the drums, followed by extensive vibraphone training which led to writing his own jazz and electronic-influenced compositions. Having released more ambient, electronic recordings, Fujita began to experiment outside of traditional vibraphone styles, preparing his instrument with pieces of metal, strips of foil and other objects in the search for new possibilities that resulted in new sounds that expanded the vibraphone spectrum without eroding the instrument’s intrinsic character.He has released five LPs on cult label Erased Tapes including Stories (2013), Apologues (2015), Book of Life (2018), Bird Ambience (2021) and Migratory (2024), and has collaborated with electronic producers including Jan Jelinek and Guy Andrews.Participation included in the admission ticket to the exhibitions.
Thursday 9 April 2026 - 7:30 pm@ MAOFUJI YUKISingular hymns suspended between wonder and contemplationFuji-Yuki is a Japanese vocalist who uses her voice like an instrument. With special vocal techniques, glossolalia and electronic pedals, she creates a wide variety of sounds.Inspired by the spirits of Buddhism and Shintoism, she creatively transforms her vocals into an ambient drone or prayers resonating in a church-like space. Her live performances are always different, depending on the place and space they take place in. She is also known as the vocalist of the experimental band Sarry. Participation included in the admission ticket to the exhibition The Soul Trembles.
Thursday 28 May 2026 - 7:30 pm@ MAOKASAIWonderfully naive blend of Japanese folk music with footwork-inspired beats and glitching sound designsKyoto-based artist KASAI has been experimenting with ancient folk styles since 2015. Using the Japanese concept of 温故知新 (onko-chishin), meaning "developing new ideas based on study of the past," Kasai finds a totally unique expression of Japanese Ondo and Minyo folk music infused with a hypnotic and exuberant modernity through beats and complex rhythms of footwork.Like many of his generation, KASAI has lived in different places, often in the suburbs, and does not see himself rooted in a hyper-local folk culture as a minyo artist might have been a century ago. Yet he brings minyo back to its roots in the everyday — the material realities of ordinary life, with its timeless hardships and joys, making it a rare look into the life of the contemporary working-class in Japan. He has released the albums OWN ℃ (2021) and J/P/N (2023) on Chinabot, and also ran the cassette label Hoge Tapes.Participation included in the admission ticket to the exhibition The Soul Trembles.
