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This exhibition explores the intimate world of Chinese fan painting—where poetry, calligraphy, and painted images converge in the palm of the hand. Featuring circular silk fans from the Song and Yuan dynasties (10th–14th centuries) and folding fans from the Ming and Qing period (14th–early 20th centuries), these works reflect centuries of refined aesthetic practice, personal expression, seasonal contemplation, and spiritual reflection.
Whether created by court artists or literati scholars, each fan carries the rhythm of the brush and the breeze: a fleeting moment captured in ink. Drawn from Mia’s rich collection, the selected fans invite viewers to experience how art, nature, and verse were held—literally and symbolically—in one’s grasp.

fan mounted as an album leaf; two fishermen at sea during a storm; rocks and bending trees in foreground lower right, fishermen at lower left, bamboo behind boat with a mountain range in the distance

Ink Rhythms on the Breeze: The Art of Chinese Fan Paintings

Contemplative, humorous, inventive, and surreal. These are just a few of many apt descriptions of the artworks of the Japanese artist Kenji Nakahashi. His active imagination, curiosity for his immediate environment, and embrace of the mundane provided endless inspiration and subjects for his art, inviting questions and reflections about life and everyday objects.
Born and educated in Japan, Nakahashi moved to New York City in 1973 at the age of 26, finding in the bustling metropolis the creative stimuli that would sustain his practice for the rest of his life. Best known for his concept-driven photography, Nakahashi actively experimented with a diverse range of mediums, including drawing, painting, collage, and printmaking. Relying on absurdity, visual and textual puns, and unusual juxtapositions, Nakahashi’s enigmatic images encourage viewers to contemplate both the strange and captivating aspects of everyday life.
Blending playfulness and intellectual vigor, Nakahashi often toyed with viewer’s expectations, depicting such mundane objects as street signs, drinking glasses, a hot-water bottle, and analog clocks in unfamiliar or even surreal contexts. Other subjects include storefronts, subway platforms, soaring skyscrapers, and mysterious fictional landscapes. He routinely flattened and fragmented the built environment of the city and its inhabitants into abstract geometric and kaleidoscopic forms, resulting in images that surprise, challenge, and delight.
Celebrating a recent anonymous gift of Nakahashi’s work to Mia’s collection, this exhibition showcases more than 60 photographs, prints, drawings, watercolors, collages, and one painting, representing the artist’s career from the 1970s through the early 1990s.

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Two identical round clocks placed on opposite trays of a metal balance scale. Both clocks have white faces with black numbers and hands. The clock on the left shows the time at 12:04, while the clock on the right displays 12:15.

Kenji Nakahashi: A Confident Life

For as long as there have been cameras, photographers have trained their lenses upon the human form: our heads, shoulders, knees, toes, and much more. The body is an expressive instrument, able to convey meaning through the smallest of gestures: a flick of the wrist, a purse of the lips, a bow from the waist.
Drawn from Mia’s permanent collection, all of the print photography in this show invites us to revel in the wonder of our corporeal nature—our vast capacities for communication, even in stillness, to manifest joy, playfulness, sorrow, alienation, and many other emotions through bodily signs and signatures.

Two separate photographic images forming one large image; large black-and-white image of three clasped hands at bottom center; smaller color images surrounding image of hands and handwritten notes

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

Meruhen, the Japanese word for fairy tales, originated from the German word Märchen, coined in the 15th century. The word meruhen first appeared in the early 20th century among Japanese writers interested in European romanticism and children’s literature. It soon became mainstream, and fairy tales, not only of German origin, remain popular today.
Several print artists like Kawano Kaoru (1916–1965) and Minami Keiko (1911–2004) presented fairy tale settings in their work, depicting young girls in innocent, dream-like scenarios, interacting with birds or other animals. This exhibition showcases their work along with prints by Kanamori Yoshio (1922–2016), Hori Hikaru (1952–2019), and Suzuki Atsuko (born 1968).

The illustration shows a stylized figure standing on a hill, holding a staff. Next to the person is a small dog. The hill is covered with curved, dotted lines creating a stippled pattern. To the left, a cluster of sheep is also depicted using similar lines. In the upper background, a sun with radiating lines is visible. The entire image is monochromatic, with shades of beige and light brown.

Meruhen: Japanese Prints of Fairy Tales

Few people outshine Mary’s glorious stardom. During 2,000 years of veneration, many legends have augmented the biblical outlines of her life. The stories have provided rich inspiration for artists, who often made their best efforts to create beautiful and affecting images of the Blessed Mother, Virgin, Mother of God, Our Lady, Madonna, Queen of Heaven.
This exhibition traces the life of this modest, yet courageous woman through prints and drawings from Mia’s extensive collection. They show her doing the ordinary—caring for children, moving house, and picnicking—and the extraordinary—greeting royalty and physically rising to heaven.

Black and white drawing depicting two figures, Mary and Joseph, seated in a forest-like setting with trees and bushes. Both are wearing flowing garments, and Mary is holding a child.

Mary

What is physically the largest Italian Renaissance masterpiece in the United States? The answer has been in storage at Mia for nearly 70 years.
This exhibition brings back to view Francesco Salviati’s tapestry depicting the meeting of Dante and Virgil at the beginning of the Inferno. Over 17 feet tall, the tapestry was created to cover an entire wall of the Palazzo Salviati in Florence and was woven in the 1540s at a workshop established by the Grand Duke Cosimo de Medici.
Thanks to a grant from The European Fine Arts Foundation (TEFAF), the tapestry has recently undergone conservation, allowing it to be stabilized and safely displayed once again. Due to its sensitivity to light, however, it can only be exhibited for a limited time—making this a rare opportunity to experience the work in person.
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Max Bryant, Mia’s James Ford Bell Associate Curator of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture, explores the tapestry’s artistic significance and the fascinating story of its conservation.
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The Tapestry of the Meeting of Dante and Virgil (1547–49) by Francesco Salviati

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Medieval tapestry depicting people and animals in a forest setting.

Back from the Underworld: Mia’s Dante Tapestry Restored

Drawing on ancient practices from the Iranian plateau and Mesopotamia, Ziba Rajabi’s exhibition features textile works that explore the emotions following grief—peace, acceptance, healing, and progress. Presented with a soundtrack and cushions, the installation invites visitors to gather and experience collective reflection.
Rajabi (Tehran, Iran) was the inaugural recipient of the DAG Prize in Visual Art, DAG Foundation. She&#8217;s received additional support from the Jerome Foundation and the Mid-America Arts Alliance. Her work has been included in numerous national and international exhibitions, including Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Arkansas; CICA Museum, South Korea; 21C Museum, Arkansas; and Araan Gallery, Iran, among others. She was in residence at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Vermont Studio Center, and Terrain Residency. She received her MFA from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and her BFA from the Sooreh University, Tehran.
This exhibition is part of the <a href="https://new.artsmia.org/exhibitions/maep/">Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program</a>.
Support provided by RBC Wealth Management.

Photo of a wall made up of small squares in bright red, orange, pink, and blue

Ziba Rajabi: Belly Laugh at a Funeral

Over the course of a year, a group of talented artisans in Yautepec created an intricately beaded and feathered costume known as a Chinelo as a gift to members of the Mexican diaspora in the Twin Cities. The suit, titled Immigrants, celebrates working people across national borders and highlights the essential contributions of Mexican workers in North America.
As a form of artistic resistance that emerged during the colonial period, Chinelos also embody cultural resilience. Blending Catholic and Indigenous visual traditions, elaborately masked Chinelo dancers could anonymously mock—especially during Carnival celebrations—the governing authority of European colonizers. Today, Chinelos are a popular feature of Independence Day and Carnival celebrations throughout the Mexican state of Morelos, parts of the State of Mexico, and Mexico City, especially in the boroughs of Milpa Alta, Tlalpan, Xochimilco, and Magdalena Contreras.
Through the efforts of artist and educator Xavier Tavera and the collective generosity of the artisans of Morelos, Immigrants entered Mia’s collection in 2025, ensuring future public appreciation of this one-of-a-kind work of art.

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colorful mosaic illustrating a variety of workers engaged in different activities, including construction, food service, and agricultural work.

“Immigrants”: A Gift from Morelos to Mia

In the 1957 movie Funny Face, Audrey Hepburn tells Fred Astaire, whose character is based on the photographer Richard Avedon, to “Take the picture! Take the picture!” This memorable scene homes in on the importance of the sitter and photographer relationship in determining when the moment is just right to take a photograph.
This exhibition draws mainly from Mia’s photography collection and from across the medium’s history to explore different types of portraiture. The selection includes artworks in which performance, collaboration, and experimentation are at the core of their making—and others when chance proves pivotal to depicting someone’s likeness.

Black and white photo of a dresser with a portrait, bottles, and figurine

Take the Picture!

How can a life in art help one to heal from generational trauma? In his landmark exhibition and feature-length film “Exhibiting Forgiveness,” celebrated contemporary artist Titus Kaphar draws upon his early life and coming of age to create a transmedial and deeply personal response to that question.
Through a selection of paintings made specifically for the film, this exhibition focuses upon essential moments in Kaphar’s storyline to immerse visitors in a process of recognition, understanding, and acceptance that parallels his character’s journey to adulthood within the film.

Titus Kaphar’s screenplay Exhibiting Forgiveness tells the story of a father and son who reunite after years of estrangement and follows their choices as to how to make peace with the past. Featuring hundreds of film stills and paintings, this book documents the development of Kaphar’s movie from script to screen.
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Large painting of a house with a figure of a child pushing on its edge.

2026.16a,b

Exhibiting Forgiveness

In &#8220;María Berrío: Songlines,&#8221; the Colombian artist builds monumental scenes by layering hand-cut Japanese paper onto canvas—constructing images mostly piece by piece with rare areas of painting. Figures and forms emerge through this meticulous process, creating dense compositions that shift between precision and abstraction. Bringing together artworks from the past decade, the exhibition traces how Berrío draws on literature, music, and global histories to create symbolic, open-ended narratives.
&#8220;María Berrío: Songlines&#8221; is organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Art and San José Museum of Art.
Following its presentation in Minneapolis, the exhibition will travel to the San José Museum of Art, where it will be on view February 12–July 12, 2027. It will then be on view at the Wichita Art Museum August 14, 2027–January 2, 2028.
Generous support for the national exhibition tour provided by Hauser &amp; Wirth and Victoria Miro. Mia&#8217;s presentation made possible with kind support from iArtis Foundation and Maria G Bales.

This catalogue was published on the occasion of María Berrío&#8217;s nationally touring exhibition and includes texts by Berrío, Katherine Brodbeck, co-curators Lauren Schell Dickens and Leslie Ureña, and an interview with the artist by Valéria Piccoli, alongside copious illustrations and details of Berrio&#8217;s spellbinding work.
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Painting of group of people gathered indoors, seated on chairs arranged in a circle. In the foreground, a person in a blue dress with intricate patterns and a fur collar lies back on an armchair, eyes open. To the left, a person bends over a container, preparing something. Several other individuals sit closely together, some holding papers and others interacting or playing games.

María Berrío: Songlines

Come enjoy crop art without the crowds! The Great Minnesota Get-Together returns to Mia in 2026 as curators once again pick outstanding pieces from the Minnesota State Fair’s beloved crop art showcase.
Expanding on last year’s celebration, this exhibition presents more than 20 works by crop artists, featuring the five that earned the coveted “Best in Show” ribbons.

Collage of crop art from the 2025 Minnesota State Fair.

Cream of the Crop: The Second Harvest

Step into Parisian luxury at Mia. &#8220;Paris Couture&#8221; brings more than 80 haute couture masterpieces from the Palais Galliera, spanning the late 19th century to today.
The exhibition features icons such as Dior, Balenciaga, Schiaparelli, and Grès. Together, these extraordinary garments show couture as one of the great art forms of the modern era. You’ll see imagination matched with flawless technique and lavish materials. Get close to the details and discover how couture ateliers transformed dressmaking into high art.
The galleries create an immersive, opulent experience built for shared wonder and slow looking. It’s an ideal evening or weekend outing—only at Mia for a limited time.
Contributing members see the exhibition for free, daily. Reserve your free member tickets today.
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Mia members at all levels can see the exhibition for free on Member Days: Sunday, October 11; Thursday, October 29; Saturday, November 21; and Thursday, December 17, 2026; and Friday, January 1, 2027.
Not a member yet? Learn more and join today.
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Join us for a free public tour of the exhibition and gain deeper insight into the pieces in the exhibition. Note: The tour is free, but you need a ticket to enter the exhibition.
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This guide is designed to help learners to make connections between high fashion as it developed in Paris beginning in the 1880s and their own lives today. It also includes a short introduction to the elements and principles of fashion design to assist you in talking about the fashion creations with students of all ages.
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https://new.artsmia.org/programs/teachers-and-students/teacher-resources/education-guide-paris-couture

Take a closer look at some of the exquisite items featured in the exhibition with our free digital guide.
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Enjoy Mia in an entirely different way, with exhibition-inspired food, wine, and spirits experiences held after hours in the museum’s galleries.
Wednesday, October 21, 6–9 p.m.; Wednesday, November 18, 6–8 p.m.; Wednesday, December 2, 6–9 p.m.; Wednesday, December 16, 6–8 p.m.; and Wednesday, January 13, 6–9 p.m.
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Explore Mia’s “Paris Couture” exhibition and sketch costumed figures using low-pressure exercises and a variety of materials. This course is suited for all experience levels, including beginners.
Tuesdays, 1:30–4 p.m. 
October 27–November 24, 2026
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Join us for an evening just for educators, featuring free admission to the exhibition, new learning resources, refreshments, and time to connect with colleagues.
Thursday, October 29 
4:30–7 p.m.
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Paris in Style is an evening that blends fashion, conversation, music, and community with an engaging museum experience.
Thursday, November 5 
5–8 p.m.
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Panel Discussion and Mixer: Paris in Style

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Vision and Voice, Mia’s event for young adults, is your stop for chill vibes, good food, and amazing art. Plus enjoy free access to &#8220;Paris Couture.&#8221;
Thursday, November 12 
6–9 p.m.
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Join artists, filmmakers, designers, archivists, performers, and cultural thinkers to reexamine couture beyond luxury. This free program is curated by Womxn in Windows.
Saturday, November 21 
10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
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Mafic Ocean and Mia partner for a series of immersive experiences focused on the exhibition. Enjoy talks, performances, hands-on creation, and much more, all with some of Minnesota’s most fashion-forward experts.
Thursday, December 3, 10, and 17 
5–9 p.m.
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Mafic Ocean x Meet at Mia: “Paris Couture”

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Join us for a conversation about German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and learn how he looked at past designers to create modern fashion.
Thursday, November 19 
6:30–7:30 p.m.
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Looking Back, Designing Forward: Karl Lagerfeld and Fashion History

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Join fellow art enthusiasts and tastemakers for an unforgettable after-hours party in the galleries celebrating the opening of the exhibition.
Saturday, October 3 
8–11:30 p.m.

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Celebrate the opening of “Paris Couture” with a screening of Saint Laurent (2014), a film that highlights Yves Saint Laurent’s life from 1967 to 1976, when the designer was at the height of his career.
Sunday, October 4 
2–4:30 p.m.

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The image shows a person posing with their back to the camera. They are wearing an intricately patterned outfit. The top features yellow and black horizontal stripes and is adorned with ornate designs. The sleeves are detailed with black feathered cuffs.

Calendar

Saturday, October 17, 2026

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Featured Events

Titus Kaphar: “Exhibiting Forgiveness” Public Guided Tours

“Paris Couture” Public Tours

The Subject Lecture Series

Kitchens of Hope: Immigrant Stories, Food, and Art

The Gaily Show x Mia Film Festival

Panel Discussion and Mixer: Paris in Style

Looking Back, Designing Forward: Karl Lagerfeld and Fashion History

Freedom to Adorn

The Arnold and Augusta Newman Lecture Series: An-My Lê

Mafic Ocean x Meet at Mia: “Paris Couture”

MAEP Artist Talk: Rotem Zin-Tamir

Friends Lecture: Lalla Essaydi

Calendar

Saturday, October 17, 2026

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Ongoing Exhibitions

Paris Couture

Cream of the Crop: The Second Harvest

María Berrío: Songlines