Paper dreams and the future: Jacob Hashimoto enchants Siena with "Path to the Sky" at Santa Maria della Scala

The ancient Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, a place steeped in history and spirituality in the heart of the city, hosts one of the most poetic installations on the international art scene throughout the summer and until September: Jacob Hashimoto's exhibition, titled "Path to the Sky" and curated by Raphaëlle Blanga. The exhibition unfolds as an imaginary bridge between past and present, between the lightness of dreams and the solidity of stone, uniting East and West, art and spirituality, intimacy and monumentality. Hashimoto sends a powerful visual message, inviting visitors to raise their gaze and be transported into a space suspended between memory and a vision of the future.

The American artist of Japanese origin, known worldwide for his monumental paper and bamboo installations, presents a visually striking site-specific project in Siena, conceived in dialogue with the vertical spaces of the Corticella, the ancient courtyard of the Hospital. The floating sculpture, created from thousands of small, handcrafted Japanese paper kites strung with thin threads, rises toward the sky, occupying a large suspended volume. The work is not only a celebration of craftsmanship and lightness, but also a reflection on the interconnectedness of cultures, peoples, and generations that have traversed the museum complex for centuries.

"Path to the Sky" takes visitors on what is not only a sensory journey, but a truly meditative experience: from the Corticella to the Inner Road, the cascade of kites creates a vertical dialogue, ideally leading from earth to sky, from the everyday to the beyond. Each element is designed to resonate with the history of a place that has welcomed travelers and pilgrims for generations, and which today opens itself to contemporary art as a laboratory for relationships and the future.

The extraordinary monumentality of the installation is enhanced by a curation that aims to accentuate both the artisanal quality of the individual components and the immersive and unifying dimension of the whole. The effect is hypnotic: visitors walk among the light shadows of kites, following a path that invites contemplation and stimulates reflection on the relationship between past and future, body and mind, individual and community. The sense of space, traditionally linked to the sacred and welcoming, expands to become an opening towards new possibilities, new identities, new perceptive horizons.

The initiative marks the debut of a large contemporary installation in the historic halls of Santa Maria della Scala, thus laying the foundation for a renewed dialogue between old and new. The project was born thanks to the collaboration with the Galleria Studio la Città and the organizational support of Immagine Studio, confirming the museum complex's vocation to increasingly become a cultural hub, capable of welcoming and fostering a dialogue between the visual arts, historical memory, and innovation. "It is a work that fits perfectly into the rebirth of the Hospital," states the Foundation's president, "a meeting point between the past of hospitality and the future of cultural production."

Hashimoto's world, as the works on display demonstrate, is a universe of resolved dualisms and fluid connections: a dialogue between landscape and abstraction, between natural and digital, between craftsmanship and technology, between East and West. The artist uses the modular repetition of kites as a visual alphabet to convey the complexity of our time, and the choice of elements—Japanese paper, bamboo, simple shapes—speaks of roots and future, of craftsmanship and seriality, of meditation and collective movement.

The exhibition also includes a selection of collage paintings on paper: circles and rectangles representing grass, clouds, and waves compose "suspended landscapes" between imagination and abstraction. Each layer of kites becomes a metaphor for the flow of life, shared memory, and the connection to the host site. Santa Maria della Scala thus becomes a threshold: here, the artwork does not simply decorate the space, but interprets its history, creating new connections between individual feelings and the city's collective identity.

The installation encourages movement and sensory exploration, but also offers the public spaces of quiet and introspection, consistent with the former hospital's ancient functions of pilgrimage, care, and hospitality. "Path to the Sky" challenges the way we conceive of monumentality: not as closure or imposition, but as openness, suspension, lightness, the possibility of transcending one's inner boundaries to engage with the infinite. The exhibition thus becomes a journey that unites contemporary art with the layers of Sienese memory, making Siena a hub for the finest energies in international art.

For the entire duration of its opening, Santa Maria della Scala will host collateral events, meetings, guided tours, and opportunities for discussion and exploration. The Foundation thus promotes the participatory and inclusive dimension of culture, offering the community and visitors a narrative that transcends the traditional confines of exhibitions to become an experience of collective growth.