Setouchi Triennale 2019

The Setouchi Triennale (also known as the Setouchi International Art Festival) is a contemporary art festival held every three years on a dozen islands in the Seto Inland Sea (Setonaikai), the sea which separates Honshu and Shikoku, two of Japan’s main islands. It was first held in 2010.

Contemporary art has gained a prominent position in the region in recent decades thanks to various art projects by the Benesse Corporation on the islands of Naoshima, Inujima and Teshima, all of which also serve as festival venues. The Setouchi Triennale is intended to further strengthen the region’s position as a leading site for contemporary art and to spread the art to additional islands.

Like many rural parts of Japan, the islands in the Seto Inland Sea have been suffering from massive depopulation in recent decades, while their remaining residents have been aging at a rapid pace, causing a wide range of problems. One of the festival’s main goals is to counteract these trends and revitalize the region in a sustainable and creative way by bringing contemporary art and tourism onto the islands.

Visitors to the region will be charmed not only by the intriguing art but also by the laid back, slow paced rural atmosphere of the islands’ villages and the beauty of the island scenery. In many ways the festival resembles the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, a similar art festival, which is held every three years in a rural mountainous area of Niigata Prefecture.

During the festival, many new artworks by artists from Japan and overseas are exhibited on the twelve islands and around the ports of Takamatsu and Uno in addition to a considerable number of museums and artworks already in existence, including many permanent art installations from the previous festivals. Much of the artwork will remain standing after the end of the festival, justifying a visit to the area at any time of the year.

The artworks are found across the islands. Some of them stand outdoors in the fields, along the coast or in villages. Others make use of the numerous old homes which have been left abandoned due to the depopulation. The buildings are employed as exhibition spaces or have been converted into artworks themselves. In addition, there are the established museums and art sites on Naoshima, Inujima and Teshima islands.