Following their success at EXPO 2025: Yuriko Sasaoka and the ‘Polonia x Skłodowska-Curie's Magic Lab’ project at the Shiga Museum of Art

The most important works by Yuriko Sasaoka from recent years will be presented at her solo exhibition at the Shiga Prefectural Museum of Art. The exhibition “Paradise Dungeon”, opening on 17 January 2026, will feature both the artist’s early works – made available to the public for the first time – and a completely new, large-scale installation. The show will also include a work created as part of the project “Polonia x Skłodowska-Curie’s Magic Lab”, developed in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as a part of the accompanying program of World Expo EXPO 2025 in Osaka.

“Paradise Dungeon” – a new exhibition of Yuriko Sasaoka’s work with a Polish connection

The Shiga Prefectural Museum of Art will present a solo exhibition by artist Yuriko Sasaoka entitled “Paradise Dungeon”, which will include the work “Polonia”, created in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the project “Polonia x Skłodowska-Curie’s Magic Lab – The Power of Migration”. This piece is an artistic reinterpretation of Marie Skłodowska-Curie, portrayed not as a monument of science, but as a migrant, a mother, a social activist, and a modern researcher.

The exhibition will offer a broad overview of Sasaoka’s oeuvre: from early video works from 2011, through her most significant works from subsequent years, to new pieces created especially for this occasion, illustrating the evolution of her artistic language. Among the presented works will be “Icarus’ Bride” and “Animale”, as well as the video “Untitled” (2011), shown to the public for the first time. The central point of the exhibition will be a new, large-scale installation titled “Torch”, inspired by the motif of cooking.

Visitors will be invited on a journey through darkened rooms forming the “Paradise Dungeon”, where they can experience the carnivalesque, intense artistic world of Yuriko Sasaoka.

The exhibition is curated by Yasuhiro Arai from the Shiga Museum of Art. The organizers are the Shiga Museum of Art, Kyoto Shimbun, and the Melco Group. Partners of the event include Dib Bangkok and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. The exhibition will be open to the public until 22 March 2026.

Yuriko Sasaoka – a Japanese artist long connected with Poland

Yuriko Sasaoka, one of the most prominent representatives of the young generation of Japanese artists, works primarily with video, while also using media such as installation, sculpture, and drawing. She attracted the attention of critics and audiences through works in public space, such as the project “MUSE” (2025), presented at Grand Front Osaka, and “LOVERS” (2024), shown at the Omotesandō crossing in Tokyo.

Sasaoka's works feature characters played by the artist herself or created using fragments of her face and body – both disturbing and humorous at the same time. They sing about “love” and “family” to the rhythm of a march, delivering direct and powerful messages to viewers. In contrast to the contemporary tendency to create video works that aim for the most perfect possible illusion of reality, Sasaoka consciously emphasizes editing “noise” in her work, highlighting the characteristics of the medium she uses. This approach can be interpreted as an attempt to view digital art through the prism of painting, where decisions related to montage and editing become equivalents of brushstrokes.

Sasaoka is also an artist who has been connected with Poland for many years, where she has presented her work on numerous occasions, establishing relationships with local cultural institutions and artists, such as during her first European solo exhibition at Trafostacja Sztuki in Szczecin. The work “Polonia”, which will be on display during the “Paradise Dungeon” exhibition, is also the result of the Polish-Japanese dialogue in which the artist actively participates. 

Media contact:
Malwina Malinowska 
e-mail: [email protected] 

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