One of the largest art events in the world spread out over a sea and islands: Setouchi Triennale

Viewing works of art while traveling is a particularly memorable experience, and this is all the more true if it is done while surrounded by the beauty of nature. If you like art, Setouchi Triennale is for you - an event held on 12 islands and in two ports of the Seto Inland Sea, a scenic site of green islands in a calm blue ocean, also called the Japanese Mediterranean.
At Setouchi Triennale, visitors can view works by the world’s top artists, such as James Turrell, while taking a tour of unique islands and ports by ferry, including Teshima, with its green terraced rice fields and forests, Megijima, which is famous for beautiful beaches, and Ogijima, known as a habitat of fireflies. During the last exhibition held in 2010, nearly one million people visited. This time, about 210 groups of artists from all over the world will create presentations, and the exhibition will be divided among the spring, summer and autumn seasons.
 

ANDO MUSEUM (Photo:Yoshihiro Asada) In Naoshima, a modern art mecca in which Benesse House, the Chichu Art Museum, Lee Ufan Museum and other facilities are located, you can view many works of art simply by strolling around the island. It also features must-see locations including the “Art House Project” in which space itself is turned into a work of art by remodeling houses and the ANDO MUSEUM designed by Tadao Ando, a leading architect in Japan, preserving the exterior of a classic folk house, which opened in March of this year.
 

Inujima “Art House Project”　S-Art House Haruka Kojin "contact lens" (photo: Takashi Homma)

“ANGER from the Bottom” Beat Takeshi x Kenji Yanobe (photo by: Nobutada Omote)

Each island has unique must-see spots; in the Inujima “Art House Project” in Inujima, the works of five artists are exhibited in a space designed by the architect Kazuyo Sejima under the art direction of the curator Yuko Hasegawa, including “S-Art House/ Contact lens” created by Haruka Kojin. In Teshima, the Teshima Yokoo House, in which artworks of the artist Tadanori Yokoo are on exhibition, will open in July. In Shodoshima, a collaborative work by Kenji Yanobe, a leading Japanese contemporary artist, and Beat Takeshi (Takeshi Kitano), a film director, titled “Anger from the Bottom”, is being displayed.
 

“The Light of Shodoshima” by Wen-Chih Wang At this event, you can observe the heart of Japanese culture, with its aim of harmony with nature, through various works of art that incorporate the richness of nature into themselves, such as the “the Light of Shodoshima” by Wen-Chih Wang, which allows you to appreciate various forms of beauty in a space away from the bustle of everyday life.