Elmgreen & Dragset, Powerless Structures, Fig 429, 2012. Courtesy Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [KINARE] Photo by M-KOS
For the summer season, M-KOS has taken temporary residence in Tokyo, Japan. During our stay, we will report on the local art scene whenever possible, not only for events going on in the capital but in different parts of the country as well. For starters, we have recently visited the Echigo-Tsumari region’s Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [KINARE] in the city of Tokamachi, about two hours north-west of Tokyo by bullet train.
Originally built as a cultural exchange centre in 2003, KINARE was recently refurbished as a museum, inaugurated in 2012 to mark the 5th edition of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, the most ambitious event by Echigo-Tsumari Art Field, a local cultural development project themed around the symbiosis of nature, humans and artistic practice. Most of the participating local, national and international artists have over the years created art works that are now dotted throughout the region, for the permanent display in both indoor and outdoor settings, such as unused houses and schools, rice fields and woodlands. A wide range of work already populate these sites such as Jenny Holzer’s Nature Walk (2012), Ilya & Emilia Kabakov’s The Rice Field (2000), James Turrell’s The House of Light (2000), Yayoi Kusama’s Tsumari In Bloom (2003), Tadashi Kawamata’s Matsunoyama Project (2003) and many more.
Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger, Ghost Satellites, 2012. Courtesy Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [KINARE] Photo by M-KOS
The Satoyama Museum also houses permanent works by Leandro Erlich, Gerda Steiner & Jorg Lenzlinger, Carlos Garaicoa, Koji Yamamoto, Carsten Nicolai, Elmgreen & Dragset, Carsten Holler, Ryota Kuwakubo Massimo Bartolini feat. Lorenzo Bini and Koichi Kurita. As brilliantly addressed in the work of Elmgreen & Gragset entitled “Powerless Structureâ€, this museum inauguration has challenged Echigo-Tsumari Art Field’s long running mandate to stay independent of such institutions. But this museum has now become a point of attraction for many other cultural organisations, community centres and creative activities, spreading across an area of 760 km2. Until the next triennial set in 2015 the Art Filed will continue to organise smaller scale projects, such as “Embracing the Earth – Reconsideration from Textileâ€, the exhibition currently on view at KINARE through 20 October 2013.
Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [KINARE]
6 Hon-cho, Tokamachi-shi,
Niigata, 948-0003,
Japan
smcak.jp
Opening Hours
10h00- 17h00 (During the exhibition is 9h00-19h00)
Closed: Wednesday (Open everyday during the exhibition)
Admission: Adult JPY800
Carsten Höller, Rolling Cylinder, 2012. Courtesy Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [KINARE] Photo by M-KOS
Koichi Kurita, Soil Library/Niigata. Courtesy Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [KINARE] Photo by M-KOS
Leandro Erlich, Tunnel, 2012. Courtesy Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [KINARE]. Photo by M-KOS
Leandro Erlich, Tunnel, 2012. inside detail. Courtesy Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [KINARE]
Carsten Nicolai, Wellenwanne LFO, 2012. Courtesy Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [KINARE]. Photo by M-KOS
Koji Yamamoto, Phlogiston, 2012. Courtesy Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [KINARE]. Photo by M-KOS
Carlos Garaicoa, Fuyu, 2012. Courtesy Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [KINARE]. Photo by M-KOS
Carlos Garaicoa, Fuyu, 2012. Courtesy Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [KINARE]. Photo by M-KOS
Artist Takehiko Sanada installing for the exhibition “Embracing the Earth – Reconsideration from Textile” at KINARE’s centre court. Photo by M-KOS
Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [KINARE]. Photo by M-KOS