Japan’s Echigo-Tsumari outdoor art festival

Restructure by Harumi Yukutake

The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial (ETAT) is an art festival held once every three years in the landscape of Echigo-Tsumari, a region distressed with the problems of depopulation and aging. ETAT began ten years ago by uncovering the many aspects of value inherent in the region through the medium of art in an attempt to lay down a path for the revitalization of the region through raising its attractiveness and ability to transmit to the world. The ETAT exhibits the results of a long-term project called “Echigo-Tsumari Art Necklace Project,” whose goal was to draw out the value that can be found in the region, raise that value, show it to the world, and by doing so contribute to regional revitalization through the medium of art.

Now Echigo-Tsumari, nestled in rich natural surroundings, is at a turning point in its cultural history. The art festival’s theme, “human beings are part of nature,” gives participants an opportunity to think about the global environment and revise the modern paradigm. The Echigo-Tsumari region is developing, with the aim to become a model community that can demonstrate the possibilities for relations between people and nature.

In 2009, artists from 38 countries exhibited over 350 artworks included:
・Ubusuna House
・Antony Gormley “Another Singularity”
・Seizo Tashima “Hachi & Seizo Tashima Museum of Picture Art Book”
・Harumi Yukutake “Restructure”
・Claude Leveque “In silence or in noises”
・Junichi Kurakake + Nihon University College of Art Sculpture Course “Shedding House” & “Croquette House”
・Chiharu Shiota “House Memory”
・Christian Boltanski + Jean Kalman “Last Class”
・Marina Abramovic “Dream House”

Article: Guardian.co.uk