KUNST HALLE SANKT GALLEN PRESENTS OCTOGONE BY CHALISÉE NAAMANI

Through September 13, 2026, Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen presents Octogone, the first solo exhibition in Switzerland by French-Iranian artist Chalisée Naamani (Paris, 1995). The exhibition brings together a selection of textile works, sculptures, and site-specific installations that encapsulate the artist’s most recent research into the political, cultural, and symbolic dimensions of textiles and clothing.

Working through processes of layering and collage, Naamani combines fabrics, images, and texts to create works that evoke garments and their intimate relationship with the body. Entirely hand-sewn and embroidered, these assemblages are composed of appropriated, reused, and reproduced materials, giving rise to what the artist calls vêtements-images (“image-garments”). While they borrow the language of clothing, these works are not intended to be worn. Stripped of their utilitarian function, they become sculptural objects through which garments emerge as cultural and political devices capable of embodying questions of identity, social structures, and symbolic meaning.

Naamani’s practice draws on a wide-ranging network of references, from international protest movements—including the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran and the Yellow Vests movement in France—to ornamental textile traditions, religious iconography, popular culture, corporate branding, and her own family archives. By layering these visual and narrative sources, the artist reflects on the continuous circulation and appropriation of images and symbols in a globalized world shaped by migration, social media, and the accelerated rhythms of the fashion industry. Within this framework, fashion is reimagined as an inherently political arena where systems of power, identity formation, and collective resistance converge.

The exhibition’s title, Octogone, refers to the Zurkhaneh (“House of Strength”), the traditional Iranian training space distinguished by its octagonal arena, where the ancient martial discipline of Varzesh-e Pahlavani is practiced. Banned in Iran for centuries because of its perceived “revolutionary potential,” this historic site of physical and cultural resistance provides both the conceptual and formal framework for the exhibition.

Naamani’s investigation also extends to other sporting imaginaries, including boxing and football, which she uses to examine gendered representations of the body and contemporary ideals of performance and physical optimization. By juxtaposing athletic equipment with objects associated with early childhood learning, the artist intertwines her experience of motherhood with a critical reflection on normative concepts of achievement, growth, and bodily autonomy. Through strategies of quotation, appropriation, and recombination, she opens up a space in which these categories can be questioned, destabilized, and reinterpreted.

Octogone has been organized by Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen in collaboration with Palais de Tokyo in Paris and Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna, underscoring the international scope of a project developed through a network of leading European art institutions.

Born in Paris in 1995, where she continues to live and work, Chalisée Naamani has recently presented solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (Octogone, 2026); Ciaccia Levi, Paris (Goodwill, 2025); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (Octogone, 2025); and La Galerie – Centre d’Art Contemporain de Noisy-le-Sec (Week-ends éphémères, 2021). Her recent group exhibitions and performances include Wardrobe at Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau – Le Corbusier, presented as part of Fondazione Furla’s project at Arte Fiera Bologna (2026); Cabane at Le Delta, Namur (2025); Rayon Jouets at Hangar Y, Meudon (2024); After Laughter Comes Tears at MUDAM – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg (2023); and Power Flower at the Nice Biennial (2022). In 2023, she was awarded the Pista 500 Prize by the Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin, following the Prix Benoît Doche de Laquintane, which she received in 2021.

The exhibition is on view at Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, Davidstrasse 40, CH-9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland. Opening hours are Tuesday through Friday, 12:00 – 6:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. For further information: +41 (0)71 222 10 14, info@k9000.ch, www.k9000.ch.