Song Dong. Soul Out

Song Dong. Soul Out is the first solo exhibition in Italy dedicated to the Chinese artist Song Dong, born in Beijing in 1966, hosted at the Mao Museo d'Arte Orientale in Turin from 23 October 2026 to 27 June 2027.¹²

The exhibition is curated by Li Zhenhua and Davide Quadrio, with Francesca Filisetti and Rebecca Ricci, and with the scientific advice of Manuela Lietti. It is conceived as a site-specific project involving the entire museum, placing Song Dong's works in dialogue with the permanent collections and with the historic architecture of Palazzo Mazzonis, home of the Mao. The exhibition path traces over thirty years of the artist's research through installations, photographs and performance videos.¹²

At the heart of Song Dong's work are individual memory, family relationships and the changes in contemporary Chinese society; his research draws on the Taoist thought of Laozi and Zhuangzi and on Zen thought, and engages in dialogue with international artistic movements such as Arte Povera, Japanese Mono-ha, Minimalism and Conceptual Art.¹²

Visitors are welcomed by «Believe», a luminous installation with a cascade of red light that opens a reflection on the meaning of trust. Among the main works is «Waste Not», shown for the first time in Italy after being exhibited at the Barbican Centre in London, at MoMA in New York, at the Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf and at the Vancouver Art Gallery: the installation brings together over 10,000 everyday objects accumulated by the artist's mother, Zhao Xiangyuan, including the wooden frame of her house, as her passion for collecting had become an obsession after her husband's death in 2002.¹²

The theme of family bonds returns in «Touching My Father» and «My Daughter Is My Four Seasons», dedicated respectively to the artist's father and daughter. Public participation is at the heart of «Borrow Light», an installation made up of hundreds of lamps lent by citizens in response to the museum's invitation.¹

Sources

1. Al Mao di Torino Song Dong. Soul Out, prima personale italiana dell'artista cinese — ANSA Piemonte, 22 October 2026
2. Song Dong. Soul Out, la prima mostra personale in Italia dedicata all’artista — Il Torinese, 24 October 2026