July 23, 2006 - September 10, 2006
Echigo-Tsumari is located in a rural area of Japan, three hours north of Tokyo by car. It is located in Niigata prefecture, a well-known rice-producing district. Because of the mountainous land, farmers build rice terraces along every mountain slope. These terraces create an incredibly picturesque landscape. Good quality rice grows in weather where large shifts in temperature occur. The heat and humidity of the summer there make people dizzy; snow will begin burying the area soon after the summer ends. This is where Echigo-Tsumari Triennale takes place.
Ilya & Emilia Kabakov's work Five Sculptures on the Mountain, Where the Rice is Grown seems to refer to the characteristics of Echigo-Tsumari and its Triennale. The work has been installed since the first Triennale in 2000 and is composed of two parts. One part is located in the middle of the rice terraces. Huge fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) sculptures in primary colors portray silhouettes of rice farmers at different stages of rice production, and are situated in the field to illustrate the entire process. When approached, visitors can find that these FRP sculptures suffer cracks due to the extreme temperature shift between the summer and winter. Another part of the work, large sculpted texts, is hung in a remote point from which the rice terraces and sculptures can be observed.
The texts are rather poetic than illustrative. For example, a part reads "April, the shining sun. Snow disappears and wet mist fills the air. A short and dumpy horse works hard to pull a heavy fork. Before the spring ends, prepare the rice paddy. For sowing and growing the seeds." Reading these texts against the sculptures in the background, the work looks like a giant picture book. The words of the owner of these rice terraces are charming as well: "Now I feel too old to work in the rice field, but I decided to do so again this year since there is the art festival. ...the sculpture is in the way of farming, but they are lovable."
Like this farmer, one quarter of the population in Echigo-Tsumari is over 65 years old. Rice production is hard work, the winter there is long and harsh, and there are not many options for young people of the region. As the young leave for bigger cities, Echigo-Tsumari is facing severe issues of depopulation and aging. With the mission to activate these villages, the Echigo-Tsumari Triennale was inaugurated in 2000 by the director, Mr. Furamu Kitagawa with the partnership of Echigo-Tsumari. To carry out this mission, the Triennale definitely needed to involve the local communities. Certainly, it took a long time to get their understanding and support. They requested road improvements rather than a contemporary art festival, that did not mean anything to them. It was the proposal for site-specific works that coexist with nature, culture and everyday life in Echigo-Tsumari that persuaded the locals that the festival was worthwhile. I was impressed by the local's friendly greetings and was often asked if I was visiting to see the art.
This year's Triennale has grown to cover an area equaling metropolitan Tokyo (621 square kilometers) with a total of 330 works, including works left from the last two Triennales. Of course, it was impossible to see all of the works in a 3 day trip, so we drove the winding mountain roads to see the works that we particularly wanted to see, including Christian Boltanski + Jean Kalman, Cai Guo-Qiang, Leandro Erlich, Katsuhiko Hibino, Kuratani Hironao, Moataz Nasr, James Turrell, Nari Ward, Moataz Nasl, Tadashi Kawamata and more. These were usually located in spots only reachable by walking trails. The now-popular concept of "barrier free" does not mean anything in Echigo-Tsumari. We had to wear lots of bug spray, and I wished I had one of the umbrella-shaped straw hats that the local farmers wore.
Echigo-Tsumari Triennale 2006 closed on September 10th. It is uncertain if the Triennale will be held next year because of financial difficulties. Ironically, just when the art project begins to capture the local people's interest, money runs out. I really hope that Mr. Kitagawa won't just abandon Echigo-Tsumari. The Triennale has just started to roll, and there are many works semi-permanently installed, that can exist only there, and should be looked after.
Published in ... might be good (Issue 77, October 6, 2006)
Echigo-Tsumari is located in a rural area of Japan, three hours north of Tokyo by car. It is located in Niigata prefecture, a well-known rice-producing district. Because of the mountainous land, farmers build rice terraces along every mountain slope. These terraces create an incredibly picturesque landscape. Good quality rice grows in weather where large shifts in temperature occur. The heat and humidity of the summer there make people dizzy; snow will begin burying the area soon after the summer ends. This is where Echigo-Tsumari Triennale takes place.
Ilya & Emilia Kabakov's work Five Sculptures on the Mountain, Where the Rice is Grown seems to refer to the characteristics of Echigo-Tsumari and its Triennale. The work has been installed since the first Triennale in 2000 and is composed of two parts. One part is located in the middle of the rice terraces. Huge fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) sculptures in primary colors portray silhouettes of rice farmers at different stages of rice production, and are situated in the field to illustrate the entire process. When approached, visitors can find that these FRP sculptures suffer cracks due to the extreme temperature shift between the summer and winter. Another part of the work, large sculpted texts, is hung in a remote point from which the rice terraces and sculptures can be observed.
The texts are rather poetic than illustrative. For example, a part reads "April, the shining sun. Snow disappears and wet mist fills the air. A short and dumpy horse works hard to pull a heavy fork. Before the spring ends, prepare the rice paddy. For sowing and growing the seeds." Reading these texts against the sculptures in the background, the work looks like a giant picture book. The words of the owner of these rice terraces are charming as well: "Now I feel too old to work in the rice field, but I decided to do so again this year since there is the art festival. ...the sculpture is in the way of farming, but they are lovable."
Like this farmer, one quarter of the population in Echigo-Tsumari is over 65 years old. Rice production is hard work, the winter there is long and harsh, and there are not many options for young people of the region. As the young leave for bigger cities, Echigo-Tsumari is facing severe issues of depopulation and aging. With the mission to activate these villages, the Echigo-Tsumari Triennale was inaugurated in 2000 by the director, Mr. Furamu Kitagawa with the partnership of Echigo-Tsumari. To carry out this mission, the Triennale definitely needed to involve the local communities. Certainly, it took a long time to get their understanding and support. They requested road improvements rather than a contemporary art festival, that did not mean anything to them. It was the proposal for site-specific works that coexist with nature, culture and everyday life in Echigo-Tsumari that persuaded the locals that the festival was worthwhile. I was impressed by the local's friendly greetings and was often asked if I was visiting to see the art.
This year's Triennale has grown to cover an area equaling metropolitan Tokyo (621 square kilometers) with a total of 330 works, including works left from the last two Triennales. Of course, it was impossible to see all of the works in a 3 day trip, so we drove the winding mountain roads to see the works that we particularly wanted to see, including Christian Boltanski + Jean Kalman, Cai Guo-Qiang, Leandro Erlich, Katsuhiko Hibino, Kuratani Hironao, Moataz Nasr, James Turrell, Nari Ward, Moataz Nasl, Tadashi Kawamata and more. These were usually located in spots only reachable by walking trails. The now-popular concept of "barrier free" does not mean anything in Echigo-Tsumari. We had to wear lots of bug spray, and I wished I had one of the umbrella-shaped straw hats that the local farmers wore.
Echigo-Tsumari Triennale 2006 closed on September 10th. It is uncertain if the Triennale will be held next year because of financial difficulties. Ironically, just when the art project begins to capture the local people's interest, money runs out. I really hope that Mr. Kitagawa won't just abandon Echigo-Tsumari. The Triennale has just started to roll, and there are many works semi-permanently installed, that can exist only there, and should be looked after.
Published in ... might be good (Issue 77, October 6, 2006)