Echigo-Tsumari Art Field

The Echigo-Tsumari Art Field spreads across 760 square kilometers of rice-farming villages in Niigata, placing 200 or more permanent art installations inside fields, alleyways, vacant houses, and along roadsides. Started in 2000 with the first Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, the project was designed to revitalize a region that had been losing population since the 1950s as residents moved to cities. Some works are functional, shaped as benches, storage sheds, or scarecrows. Others highlight local agriculture and nature. The triennale brings the total number of works to around 400 in festival years.