You may have heard of an art gallery, but have you ever heard of an “art field” before? Imagine art installations spread out throughout an entire town, featuring creative artwork conceived by artists from all over the world. I was captivated by this concept when I first heard about it, and when I learned that there was one such event in Niigata Prefecture (新潟県), I just had to look it up and go there to see it.
The Echigo-Tsumari Art Field is the venue of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale (ETAT), one of the largest art festivals in the world, and a leading regional art festival held in Japan. First established in 2000, the event features artworks by Japanese and international artists, and is held once every three years in various locations in the region of Echigo-Tsumari (越後妻有) in Niigata.
The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale is held across different areas across Niigata, and earlier this year, I was lucky enough to attend the one in Matsudai and Matsunoyama. Hence, for this article, I will share my personal experience at the art festival.
Departing from Matsudai Station
My foray into the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale began at Matsudai, a quiet former town that had merged with neighbouring towns to form the expanded city of Tōkamachi. I made my way there via Matsudai Station (まつだい駅) by taking a 10-minute ride on the Hokuhoku Line (ほくほく線) from Tōkamachi Station.
When I reached Matsudai Station, I was surprised to see so many visitors in town, most of whom were there just for the event. The art exhibits were installed at various locations in Matsudai that were inaccessible on foot, so visitors could either gain access there by personal vehicle or by the event’s bus that would bring them around for a half-day tour.
Let me share with you the locations I visited during my half-day tour around the town where the art exhibits were located, all of which offered a window into the artists’ creative visions and profound messages.
Location ①: Nunagawa Campus
The first stop for the tour was Nunagawa Campus (奴奈川キャンパス), which used to be Nunagawa Elementary School. The school closed in March 2014, and eventually reopened as an open campus for creative events and workshops, and a platform for artists of ETAT to display their exhibits inside and outside the campus building.
The campus also features a hall dedicated to FC Echigo-Tsumari, an agricultural female football team born out of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. It is a pioneering project that will lead to solutions for the severely ageing rural population. I have read how such initiatives would help to revive the towns by welcoming more visitors and perhaps even residents.
The campus building featured classrooms that were converted into halls showcasing art exhibits. One bold exhibit that particularly caught my attention was “The wind from sky” by Chinese artist Gao Yu. Produced in 2018, the exhibit was made up of white paper kites hung from the ceiling, and with calligraphy painted on them.
It is said that Ryokan was a priest from the late 20th century who deeply loved Niigata and mastered calligraphy. The artist’s concept for the exhibit was inspired by the story of how Ryokan’s calligraphy was remade into kites, and these kites were displayed in a classroom for all visitors to see.
Another captivating exhibit was “Antarctic Biennale – Fram2” by Alexander Ponomarev from the former Soviet Union, which featured a large, detailed diorama of the Antarctic Biennale in 2017. But what was more amazing about the exhibit was the Antarctic Biennale itself.
The first Antarctic Biennale was held in March 2017, and included 77 artists, researchers, architects and journalists, as well as 42 crew members from 13 different countries, who went on a 12-day journey to the region to learn more about sociocultural spaces. Fram2 is the name of a future ship that will also serve as a marine base and is envisioned as the venue for the next Antarctic Biennale.
One of the crew members of the real Antarctic expedition (in 1893–1912) hailed from Murono, a district where the Nunogawa Campus was located. The exhibit was part of a collaboration between the Antarctic Biennale and ETAT, and it was intriguing to see how the exhibit was part of something larger and more significant than I thought.
Location ②: Shedding House
The second part of the tour brought me to a seemingly derelict house that turned out to be the art exhibit itself. “Shedding House” (脱皮する家 Dappi suru ie) is a wooden private house located in the village of Tōge that was originally built approximately 150 years ago, and according to the Japanese artist Kurakake Junichi (鞍掛純一), a professor at the Nihon University College of Arts, he found the house in a “state of disappearing”.
Together with a group of students from the fine arts department at the Nihon University College of Arts, he spent 2.5 years carving the house extensively, from the floors and walls to the pillars and ceiling, and transforming it into an artwork. He explained how he admired the unchanging house in an everchanging time, and hence his work involved carving out a new time, and how “the carvers must change (shed) their skin”.
When I stepped inside the Shedding House, I felt like I had travelled back in time, in a house not commonly seen in the modern age. From the high ceiling to the floors, every part of the interiors was meticulously carved out of wood by hand, and I could feel like the house was given a new lease of life after the transformation.
It also surprised me to learn that visitors can rent out the house for lodging. Imagine spending the night at the Shedding House with your family or friends, and admiring the views of the village’s famous terraced rice fields of Hoshitoge (星峠の棚田 Hoshitōge no tanada) nearby. Wouldn’t that make for an unforgettable experience?
Location ③: The Last Class
The third location featured artworks that left the strongest impression on me for the entire tour: “The Last Class” (最後の教室 Saigo no kyōshitsu), which was conceived by French artist Christian Boltanski and French stage designer Jean Kalman. The artwork involved transforming the former Higashikawa Primary School into installations completed in 2006.
One of the main exhibits of “The Last Class” was a gymnasium that was converted into a huge artwork: the floor was covered with hay, the hall was illuminated only with light bulbs, and the place featured table fans that ventilated the entire place. It was an incredibly surreal experience stepping into the hall, and I couldn’t imagine how a school gym could be used as an art exhibit!
After the school hall, visitors could follow a trail to other parts of the school, and along the way, they would pass through a dark hallway that was illuminated by a blinking light. This gave the place a very spooky atmosphere, and I felt like I was in a haunted school and descending into something ominous.
There were other art exhibits at the school, spread over several floors and occupying a few classrooms. Another artwork by Christian Boltanski that stood out for me was named “Théâtre d’Ombre” (shadow play), which featured shadow puppets in the shape of skulls and bats. The exhibit’s motifs were “Toten Tanz” and “Memento mori”, and the themes centred around absence and death.
After seeing all the exhibits, I felt like I gained some insights into the artists’ visions and perhaps even their philosophies in life. Maybe that’s what art is essentially about, don’t you think?
Location ④: Echigo-Matsunoyama Museum of Natural Science “Kyororo”
After exploring “The Last Class”, the bus brought us next to something more down-to-earth yet just as remarkable: the Echigo-Matsunoyama Museum of Natural Science “Kyororo” (越後松之山「森の学校」キョロロ), located in the area of Matsunoyama (松之山エリア).
When I arrived at the museum, I was immediately awe-struck by the building that looked like a huge submarine. Snowfall in Matsunoyama is very heavy during winter, and the building is plated with weather-resistant steel and thick acrylic windows which can withstand the sheer pressure of thick snow—which can weigh up to 2,000 tons—the same way submarines are built to withstand pressure under the sea.
Furthermore, the building looks like it was rusting because it was rusting. Oddly enough, I learned that the rust acted as a deterrent from internal corrosion to the building’s structural integrity since it stuck to the exterior steel plating and formed a protective coating. One might say that, in a way, the rust was protecting the museum!
I don’t visit natural science museums often, so it was a novel experience for me to visit Kyororo. The name itself is derived from the chirping of the ruddy kingfisher (アカショウビン akashōbin), a type of bird that migrates from Southeast Asia to the beech forests around the museum in early summer to breed. In the museum, I learned more about the diverse wild flora and fauna of Matsunoyama.
Of all the exhibits in the museum, the one that stood out for me the most was the Shiga Usuke Butterfly Collection (志賀卯助チョウコレクション), where visitors can see a towering wall of butterfly specimens pinned on display cases. The specimens were collected by the late Shiga Usuke (志賀卯助), who was one of Japan’s foremost insect collectors and a native of Matsunoyama, and he donated up to 3,800 insects that he caught to the museum in 1997.
I mentioned earlier that Matsunoyama experiences heavy snowfall, but did you know that the town experiences an average of 2–3m of snow during severe winter months? Niigata is regarded as a “snow country” for its very heavy snowfall, and Matsunoyama is one of the towns in the prefecture that regularly gets a lot of snow during winter. In 1984, the town witnessed an unprecedented 559cm of snowfall… imagine a small town with snow towering over 5m in height!
Speaking of heights, if you want a panoramic view of Matsunoyama from an elevated height, visitors can climb up the museum’s tower and check it out from above. On days with clear weather, they can see the town’s vivid greenery with beautiful mountains in the distance. But be warned: the tower is 34m tall, and the staircase is the only way of getting to the top, so prepare yourself before climbing.
Do you know the best way to learn about nature? By going outdoors! There was a walking trail around the back of the museum that visitors could follow, and interestingly, there was a series of photos of insects along the way. The insects are native to Matsunoyama, and visitors can learn more about them while getting in touch with Mother Nature.
Location ⑤: Matsudai NOHBUTAI
After Kyororo, the bus made its way to the fifth and final art exhibit of the tour: Matsudai NOHBUTAI (まつだい「農舞台」), a museum where visitors could learn more about Echigo-Tsumari’s culture and history. Before ending its route at the museum, the bus made a brief stop at Matsudai Station, where passengers could end the tour or take a 3-minute walk to reach the museum.
While walking to Matsudai NOHBUTAI, I stumbled upon one of the museum’s exhibits that touched my heart. It was entitled “Museum of the Constellation Families of Matsudai” by Josep Maria Martin, where around 1,500 coloured wooden bars were lined along an aisle, all bearing the names of residents living in Matsudai. When I walked past the bars, audio records of the residents welcoming visitors in their local dialect were automatically played, showcasing their warm hospitality.
Matsudai NOHBUTAI had several art exhibits by international artists inside and outside the museum. One of the exhibits that caught my attention was “Relation—Blackboard Classroom” (関係 — 黒板の教室) by Japanese artist Kawaguchi Tatsuo (河口龍夫) where an entire classroom—from the desks and chairs to even the stationeries—was made out of blackboard.
The artist was inspired by how students in Echigo-Tsumari in the past could not go to schools far away during winter because of the thick snow, so they went to winter branch schools instead. The exhibit was a collaborative work between the artist and everyone who had used a blackboard during their school years.
Another exhibit that grabbed my attention involved a small room with wings attached to a chair. Entitled “How to Make Yourself Better”, the exhibit was conceived by artists Ilya & Emilia Kabakov from the former Soviet Union, and the overarching message was to address how one becomes a better and kinder person. Their answer? Follow a routine every day and do some self-reflection regularly. This one spoke to me personally, and it made me realise how I should work on becoming a better person myself.
Just when I was going to leave Matsudai NOHBUTAI, I came across one last exhibit right outside the museum. Named “The Rice Fields” (棚田), the exhibit was also conceived by Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, and it highlighted the heart and soul of Echigo-Tsumari: terraced rice fields.
The exhibit had colourful sculptures of farmers working on terraced fields in the distance, with the landscape of rice fields and poetry describing traditional agriculture. It was a heartwarming ode to the farmers of Echigo-Tsumari for their hard work and dedication in taking care of the region’s terraced rice fields. It brought attention to their tireless efforts, and their contributions were immortalised into a work of art that all visitors could see and appreciate.
More information on Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale
The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2022 was held from 29 April to 13 November 2022, in various locations in Tōkamachi (including Matsudai) and the town of Tsunan. Although the event has officially ended, approximately 200 permanent artworks are still on display at various locations from spring to autumn, and approximately 50 artworks are available to see even in winter, so visitors can still check them out.
Take note that the exhibits have different operating days and hours, so visitors are encouraged to check them before visiting. To gain access to the exhibits, they can either pay the entrance ticket at the individual venues, or purchase the Special ETAT Passport that will grant holders access up to almost all of the artworks. Take note that the art exhibits, opening hours, and entrance fees are subject to change.
The next Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale is scheduled to be held in 2024. For more information on the event, including the facilities’ operating days and hours, visitors can refer to the official website.
Closing
If I could sum up my time exploring the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field in one phrase, it would be “eye-opening”. Art is a realm that I had never been personally familiar with, but I was willing to learn more about art as a whole and the region of Echigo-Tsumari. After the tour, I left with a more intimate understanding of the region and the locals living there, and gained a new sense of appreciation for the arts.
If you are a big fan of the arts, or you would like to know more about Matsudai and the region of Echigo-Tsumari, give the event above a try and stay tuned for their next edition in the future. Exploring new things has its benefits, as I realised about the arts firsthand!
JR EAST PASS (Nagano, Niigata area)
If you want to explore Matsudai and other parts of Echigo-Tsumari, then you can consider the JR EAST PASS (Nagano, Niigata area), an affordable pass that offers unlimited rail travel on JR East lines in the valid area for 5 consecutive days. At only ¥27,000, it makes for a considerable option for travellers exploring Nagano and Niigata. You can also make seat reservations for bullet trains, some limited express trains and Joyful Trains online for free, up to 1 month in advance, on the JR-EAST Train Reservation.
The JR EAST PASS (Nagano, Niigata area) can be used for automatic ticket gates, and foreign passport holders living in Japan are also eligible to use this pass.
Header image credit: JR East / Nazrul Buang, Echigo-Tsumari Art Field Information Center (bottom-right)
