Twelve Trailblazing Women Artists Transform Interior Spaces in ‘Dream Rooms’

With its roots in the conceptual and immersive experiments of the Dadaists and Surrealists in the early 20th century, installation art emerged as its own genre in the late 1950s. The approach gained momentum during the next couple of decades, usually revolving around site-specific responses to interior spaces. Taking many forms, installations sometimes incorporate light, sound, projections, performances, and participatory or immersive elements.

“While many of these works were made by women, histories of art have
tended to focus on male artists,” says a statement from M+ in Hong Kong, which is currently presenting Dream Rooms: Environments by Women Artists 1950s-Now. The show “addresses this imbalance by foregrounding the visionary contributions of women artists.”

a cushion filled room — Pinaree Sanpitak, “The House Is Crumbling” (2017/2025), © Pinaree Sanpitak

Dream Rooms features 12 room-scale installations created by artists located across four continents. Originating at Haus der Kunst München in 2023 with the title Inside Other Spaces, the exhibition then traveled to M+, where the artworks have been reconstructed.

Some pieces date back several decades, like Yamazaki Tsuruko’s “Red (shape of mosquito net)” from 1956 and Aleksandra Kasuba’s “Spectral Passage” from 1975. “The exhibition explores forms and ideas that speak to their time, while also encouraging visitors to explore, laugh, wonder, or embrace feelings of unease,” the museum says.

Three new works have been commissioned from three Asian artists specifically for this exhibition. These include Pinaree Sanpitak’s “The House Is Crumbling,” which was first conceived in 2017 and is reimagined for Dream Rooms. Chiharu Shiota’s “Infinite Memory” features a cascade of the artist’s signature red string, and Kimsooja’s atmospheric “To Breathe” is composed of translucent film on window that diffracts the light into prismatic patterns around the museum.

Dream Rooms continues through January 18, 2026. Find more on the museum’s website. You might also enjoy exploring more site-specific work by women artists featured in Groundswell: The Women of Land Art.

a person stands in a glowing red cube — Yamazaki Tsuruko, “Red (shape of mosquito net)” (1956), © Estate of Tsuruko Yamazaki. Photo by Agostino Osio–Alto Piano, courtesy of Haus der Kunst München

a glass windowed room with prismatic shadows — Kimsooja, “To Breathe” (2022), © Kimsooja, courtesy of Studio Kimsooja

children sit in a vibrant glowing environment — Aleksandra Kasuba, “Spectral Passage” (1975), © Estate of Aleksandra Kasuba. Photo by Constantin Mirbach, courtesy of Haus der Kunst München

a person stands amid dangling red string — Chiharu Shiota, “Internal Line” (2024). Image © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn and Chiharu Shiota, courtesy of the artist

a white woman wades through a pile of white feathers — Judy Chicago, “Feather Room” (1966), © Chicago Woodman LLC, Judy Chicago. Photo by Lok Cheng

children and adults sit in a cushion filled room — Pinaree Sanpitak, “The House Is Crumbling” (2017/2025), © Pinaree Sanpitak

a vibrant cushion structure — Marta Minujín, “¡Revuélquese y viva!” (1964), © Marta Minujín

children run through a colorful environment — Lea Lublin, “Penetración / Expulsión (del Fluvio Subtunal)” (1970)

a vibrant cushion structure with a person lying inside — Marta Minujín, “¡Revuélquese y viva!”
(1964), © Marta Minujín.
Photo by Lok Cheng, courtesy of M+, Hong Kong

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