Fram KITAGAWA, general director of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, has been involved in a wide range of activities for a long time, not only in contemporary art but also in music, publishing, and more. Compared to other art festival directors, the breadth of his background characterizes this festival, and one of those differences is the child's perspective. His work on picture books and his activity connecting children with art are benefiting this art festival now.
"Satoyama Art Zoo" (the name varies depending on the year) was exhibited once at Matsudai NOHBUTAI during the 2012 event for the first time and has been held regularly at Nakago Green Park in Kawanishi since the 2018 event. When I saw the title, I hesitated about visiting because it seemed cliched. However, it's fun to visit. Artists create animal art in their own way, from cute to creepy. Their arts are diverse yet easy to understand and suitable for children to experience art with fun for the first time. That must be the start of their imagination.
Hachi & Seizo TAJIMA's "Museum of Picture Book Art" is an artwork that took me a while to reset my brain when I visited for the first time. If you imagine TASHIMA's picture books, the museum has neither original drawings nor three-dimensional versions of the original drawings but installations of story scenes, most of which were made from driftwood, fill the abandoned school gymnasium and the classrooms. Compared to so-called contemporary art, it is rustic, so I was confused as to whether it was pure or rough, amazing or iffy. Besides, why was driftwood used though the site was not close to the sea? In such a case, we should observe the reactions of others. Children enjoyed themselves without attaching any logic. The works resonated directly with children as picture books. The curse of adults' half-baked knowledge of contemporary art prevented me from enjoying it.
Directors who focus on only contemporary art tend to bring cutting-edge artworks. Exhibitions of such artworks are interesting in their own right but tend to be a place for privileged art lovers. The child's perspective breaks the brainwashing of snobs who have been addicted to such adult thinking. The strength of Fram KITAGWA is that he can bring in such a perspective without hesitation.
"Art Map Word" distributed in the streets of downtown Tokamachi in 2018 was a local free paper. 10 residents introduced their recommended arts in the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. What surprised me was that the number one best work for a second-grade student in elementary school was "The Last Classroom" by Christian BOLTANSKI and Jean KALMAN. I didn't expect that a young student liked an artwork depicting dark and heavy absences the most. Among children who grow up amid arts from birth, art lovers with discerning eyes, who can shift between child and adult, will likely appear.
2018 ”Satoyama Art Zoo 2018”（No longer in existence)
These artworks were on display in an artist-created zoo held at Nakago Green Park in Kawanishi in 2018.
English Website
2022 ”Satoyama Art Zoo: Social Distancing of Animals 2022”（No longer in existence)
These artworks were on display in an artist-created zoo held at Nakago Green Park in Kawanishi in 2022.
English Website
2024 ”Nakago WonderLand–Breath and Rebirth of Animals 2024” (Opening during the 2024 event)
These artworks were on display in an artist-created zoo held at Nakago Green Park in Kawanishi in 2024.
English Website
2009 Hachi & Seizo TASHIMA ”Museum of Picture Book Art” (Now opening except winter)
The museum was created by TASHIMA and the people of Hachi community in a closed elementary school. The story of the last students and the ghosts living in the school unfolds throughout the entire school building, creating the space of a large, three-dimensional picture book. The renovation design of the facility was done by Aya YAMAGISHI and Machika KUBOTA.
English Website
https://maps.app.goo.gl/uY92MQj4fjQoJYTt6
2018 ART MAP WORD
"Art Map Word" was distributed in downtown Tokamachi in 2018. It was a locally made free paper in which about 10 residents introduced the arts that they highly recommended in the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. The number one best work recommended by a second-grade student in elementary school was "The Last Classroom" by Christian BOLTANSKI and Jean KALMAN.
2018 Seizo TASHIMA ”Inside Me” (No longer in existence)
This is a work created outdoors at the Museum of Picture Book Art. It is an outdoor spatial picture book on the theme of "Japanese viper that TASHIMA created together with the poet Arthur Binard.
English Website
2015 Jimmy LIAO ”Kiss & Goodbye (Doichi station)” (Now opening except winter)
Exhibition spaces based on the kamaboko-shaped carriage sheds commonly seen in Tsumari have been set up at Doichi Station and Echigo Mizusawa Station on the Iiyama Line of Japan Railways. Inside, pictures, objects of characters and film from Liao's picture book "Kiss & Goodbye" set on the Iiyama Line, are on display
English Website
https://maps.app.goo.gl/fFLS8Brd4rNT7HyX6
2015 Jimmy LIAO ”Kiss & Goodbye (Echigo Mizusawa station)” (Now opening except winter)
Exhibition spaces based on the kamaboko-shaped carriage sheds commonly seen in Tsumari have been set up at Doichi Station and Echigo Mizusawa Station on the Iiyama Line of Japan Railways. Inside, pictures, objects of characters and film from Liao's picture book "Kiss & Goodbye" set on the Iiyama Line, are on display.
English Website
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Yn5vprFa6MvxUa6Y8
2021 Rintaro HARA + Yu HARA ”Tsumari Sugoroku” (Now opening except winter)
This work was installed in an ex-elementary school renovated into a lodging facility. The scenery of this area is made into a sugoroku game (Japanese game of dice), and the basketball goal or piano that were originally in the gymnasium are incorporated into the game. You are given instructions on how to play by these things as you move forward with the game. My friends' tour members were mature but excited and enjoyed the game.
English Website
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Yn5vprFa6MvxUa6Y8
2024 Rintaro HARA + Yu HARA + Others ”87-Day Square Adventure with Captain MonET” (Opening during the 2024 event)
This group exhibition takes place in the corridors of KINARE, one of the main venues of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2024. Curated by Rintaro HARA and Yu HARA, 11 groups of artists participate. There are many artworks that involved visitor participation, which children and families enjoyed. Perhaps because there were many works that children could join, the number of people visiting KINARE seemed significantly higher than usual. According to Rintaro HARA's Facebook, the number of visitors to the Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art (MonET), located in KINARE, was three times higher than last time.
English Website
Click here for your impressions
reference
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"大地の芸術祭 越後妻有アートトリエンナーレ2022 公式ガイドブック"(現代企画室,2024)
大地の芸術祭ウェブサイト
Echigo Tsumari Art Field Website
Wikipedia
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