Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale 2015

Raina's Japan Travel Journal
by Raina, staff writer of japan-guide.com

2015/08/04 - Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale 2015

For lots of lost windows

Today I headed to Niigata Prefecture to check out the Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale which started on July 26, 2015 and will run through to September 13, 2015. This art event is held once three years, and I was excited to be able to go this year. Most of the art installations are outdoors and those indoors can be viewed between 10:00 and 17:30.

This year, there are about 180 new art installations in addition to the 200 existing ones, and spread over 760 square kilometers in the Echigo-Tsumari region. As the works are spread across a wide area, it is best to get a guide book or a map and plan your route before setting off. The best way to access many of the artworks is by rental car, but even with a car, it is impossible to cover everything in a day. Bus tours and sightseeing shuttle buses are other options to access some of the art work. The passport for the festival covers entry to all the artworks and costs 3500 yen. It is valid for the entire duration of the art triennale, which is great because I'm definitely going back again to check out the rest of the art works that I didn't have a chance to see this trip.

I started my day at Kinare near Tokamachi Station as it opened at 9:00 and I wanted to max my day and see as many things as possibile. Being one of the information centers of the art triennale, it was well staffed with knowledgeable and helpful crew, providing more information about artworks, performance details and even sorting out route details.

There are signboards pointing towards the artworks and parking facilities around the region but those can be easily missed (which I did a couple of times and had to backtrack). Word of advice, in addition to planning your route before going, it would also prudent to check the weather forecast as many of the artworks are outdoors. Below are some of the pieces and some of the amazingly green countryside scenery I saw along the way.

Tunnel. By the same artist behind the swimming pool at the 21st Century Museum in Kanazawa

Rolling cylinder

Hanging installations along the corridor at Kinare

Rolling fields behind the Soil Museum

A collection of photographs inside a mud hut at the Soil Museum

Stark installations

Soil monoliths, ten thousand years of soil

The school that is now the soil museum

Dirt covered ground

A small shrine along the way

Little house on the (Japanese) prairie

Inside Outland, an estate built by hand over many years featuring a camp ground and accomodation

The womb room, a slightly claustrophobic room in Outland that simulates being in a womb

Smoking place for one person at a time

Lots of greenery surrounding lots of the artworks

Ubusuna house, where cool water is served and chilled cucumbers are offered for free

You could take part in the installation of using marbles to recreate the Kiyotsu River (limited to one marble per person)

Something about fields and power lines that I like

The reflecting house and reflecting garden

Tiny lights that looked like stars

You could write postcards and put them here

Rivers and grass, looking very idyllic

Take a deep breath and walk through this bamboo tunnel

One of my personal favourites, Potemkin - a site created with industrial materials

Landslide monument that can only be entered on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays

Another school repurposed for art

Shell of time

Read more about the Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale.

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