The Untitled KUSAMA Project

The Untitled KUSAMA Project is an immersive, non-narrative theatrical exploration that began with the life and work of Yayoi Kusama, transmuting the emotional and philosophical impact of her art into a live, participatory theatrical experience. Rather than dramatizing Kusama’s biography, the piece spirals outwards from her ideas, and obsessions — dots, infinity, repetition, reflection — and asks what they do to us as viewers, and how those sensations might be shared, expanded, and embodied in a room together. Created by Japanese composer Yuriko Shibata and queer Australian writer Andrew Strano, The Untitled KUSAMA Project draws from their experiences as immigrants and outsiders, translating Kusama’s exploration of self-obliteration and cosmic scale into music, ritual, and collective play. The audience is not simply watching the piece unfold — they are part of it, contributing sound, presence, and energy in ways that echo Kusama’s immersive environments. The journey of the piece takes us from disconnection to communion. It begins in existential yearning: a feeling of isolation and insignificance — “I’m just a tiny part of an unending universe”. Through repetition, humor, absurdity, and shared moments, this same feeling transforms, becoming ever more expansive and euphoric — We’re ALL just a tiny part of everything, and isn’t that amazing? At its heart, The Untitled KUSAMA Project is about recognition: like dots in a vast pattern, do we know we belong to something larger than ourselves? The piece aims to leave audiences with the sensation of having briefly touched that larger whole — not as an abstract concept, but as a lived, collective experience. By the end, the room becomes a community: breathing, singing, sharing, and celebrating the relief, joy, and beauty of being small — together.