Exploring Japan's Two Major Art Festivals

Japan's Niigata Earth Art Festival and Setouchi Triennale are two major outdoor art festivals curated by the same person, Fram Kitagawa. The term 'Earth Art Festival' has become a proprietary term. Both festivals share the concept of 'problem-solving art festivals,' focusing on local life and drawing out local resources through artistic creation. In October 2022, I traveled from Tokyo to the southern part of Japan, Setouchi, taking a flight of over an hour and spent about four days exploring the artworks of the Setouchi Triennale. Many famous artists' works have become popular spots, such as Yayoi Kusama's pumpkins. There are two pumpkins, a red one placed at Naoshima Port and a yellow one on the Naoshima seawall, titled 'Pumpkin at the End of the World.' We stayed in Takamatsu and took a ferry every morning to Naoshima, Teshima, Ogijima, and Megijima to check out the artworks. The festival is well-situated, creating large visual effects, even making buses and ferries artistic. Architecture enthusiasts would know that Setouchi has several works by Tadao Ando, such as the Chichu Art Museum, Lee Ufan Museum, and the Naoshima Ferry Terminal by Kazuyo Sejima. In short, visiting once and staying for a few days is not enough to see all the festival's exhibits. After finishing the exhibitions, I chose a bold return journey by purchasing a JR train ticket and planned to ride back to Tokyo. Every time the train stopped, sometimes for half an hour or an hour, I would get off and explore the surrounding areas, discovering different cities in Japan. It was tiring but full of surprises. We should always maintain a mindset of continuously exploring new things. In Osaka, I saw the logo 'Cell' for the 2025 Expo.