Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale

The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial (ETAT) is an international contemporary art festival held once every three years in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The festival was created by the Tokyo commercial gallery Art Front Gallery (AFG) and is directed by gallery director Fram Kitagawa. It was first held in 2000, and has since become one of Japan's largest art festivals, recurring every three years with the exception of 2021 when it was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It takes place across six regions of the prefecture, an area known for its heavy snowfall. These six regions—which include Tokamachi, Kawanishi, Nakasato, Matsushiro, Matsunoyama, and Tsunan—together comprise the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field. Since its inception, ETAT has been designed around the close-knit relationship between humankind and nature, and its art installations are chosen and curated to effectively contribute…

The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale is the world's largest art festival in terms of physical scale, spanning approximately 760 square kilometers of mountainous terrain in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Launched in 2000 under the direction of Fram Kitagawa, the festival has pioneered a unique model for integrating contemporary art into rural landscapes and traditional communities facing challenges of depopulation, aging, and economic decline.