About ETAT

In response to “New Niigata Riso Plan”: a policy to revitalise regional area proposed by the governor of Niigata in 1994, “Echigo-Tsumari Art Necklace Master Plan” was launched as 10-year plan to increase exchange population by highlighting charms of the region via art.

Fram Kitagawa, art director was appointed as an advisor for the project. Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale was launched as a core project of the regional revitalisation plan in 2000.

Fram Kitagawa／PROFILE
Art Director
Born in Niigata Prefecture in 1946. Following his graduation from Tokyo University of the Arts, Fram Kitagawa organized various exhibitions that introduced to Japan works of art that at the time were not well known. He has been responsible for a wide range of art projects such as the Antoni Gaudi exhibition that traveled to 11 Japanese cities in 1978-1979 and the Apartheid Non! International Art Festival that was shown at 194 venues throughout Japan in 1988-1990.
Kitagawa has received high praise for his involvement in activities related to community development, such as his lead role in the planning of the Faret Tachikawa Art Project and the cultural activities he oversees at the Daikanyama Hillside Terrace.
He has served as the general director of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale since 2000, and has made a major contribution to the development of the region through art. He has also served as the general director of the Setouchi Triennale since 2010, the Japan Alps Art Festival as well as the Oku-Noto Triennale since 2017.
He is the recipient of many awards, including the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Republic, the Order of Culture from the Republic of Poland, the 2006 Japanese Education Minister’s Award for Art (in the field of art promotion), and the Order of Australia: Honorary Member (AO) in the General Division (2012). He was awarded the Japanese Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon in 2016, the Asahi Prize in 2017, Person of Cultural Merit in 2018, Architectural Institute of Japan Prize in 2019, and Ihatov Award in 2019.

・Duration: 20 July to 10 September 2000
・Venue: Echigo-Tsumari Region 760㎢ (Tokamachi City and Tsunan Town, Niigata Prefecture)
・Organizer: Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale Executive Committee
・Chairman: Kinjiro Honda (Mayor of Tokamachi City)
・General Director: Fram Kitagawa
・Art Advisors: Jean de Loisy, Okwui Enwezor, Yusuke Nakahara, Apinan Poshyananda, Ulrich Schneider, Nancy Specor
・Director: F no kai (Ikebana), Yoshitoki Irisawa (pottery), Yuka Irisawa (artworks), Fumio Tanaka (abandoned house projects)
・# of participating artists: 138 groups and individuals from 32 countries and regions
・# of artworks: 153
・# of hosting villages: 28
・# of visitors: 162,000
・# of registered Kohebi supporters: 800

・Duration: 20 July to 7 September 2003
・Venue: Echigo-Tsumari Region 760㎢ (Tokamachi City and Tsunan Town, Niigata Prefecture)
・Organizer: Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale Executive Committee
・Chairman: Shinichi Takizawa (Mayor of Tokamachi City)
・General Director: Fram Kitagawa
・Art Advisors: Hou Hanru, Tom Finkelpearl, Yusuke Nakahara
・Director: F no kai (Ikebana), Yoshitoki Roza Martinez, Irisawa (pottery), Yuka Irisawa (artworks), Fumio Tanaka (abandoned house projects)
・# of participating artists: 157 groups and individuals from 23 countries and regions
・# of artworks: 220 (including 67 permanent artworks)
・# of hosting villages: 38
・# of visitors: 205,100
・# of registered Kohebi supporters: 711

・Duration: 23 July to 10 September 2006
・Venue: Echigo-Tsumari Region 760㎢ (Tokamachi City and Tsunan Town, Niigata Prefecture)
・Organizer: Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale Executive Committee
・Honorary Chairman: Hirohiko Izuida (Governor of Niigata Prefecture)
・Chairman: Naoto Taguchi (Mayor of Tokamachi City)
・General Director: Fram Kitagawa
・Art Advisors: Tom Finkelpearl, Hou Hanru, Young-Chul Lee, Yusuke Nakahara, Olu Oguibe, James Putnam, Ulrich Shneider,
・Director: Group F (Ikebana), Yoshitoki Irisawa (pottery), Yuka Irisawa (artworks), Fumio Tanaka (abandoned house projects)
・# of participating artists: 225 groups and individuals from 40 countries and regions
・# of artworks: 334 (including 131 permanent artworks)
・# of hosting villages: 67
・# of visitors: 348,997
・# of registered Kohebi supporters: 930

・Duration: 26 July to 13 September 2009
・Venue: Echigo-Tsumari Region 760㎢ (Tokamachi City and Tsunan Town, Niigata Prefecture)
・Organizer: Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale Executive Committee
・Honorary Chairman: Hirohiko Izumida (Governor of Niigata Prefecture)
・Chairman: Yoshifumi Sekiguchi (Mayor of Tokamachi City)
・Vice Chairman: Mikio Kobayashi (Mayor of Tsunan Town)
・General Producer: Soichiro Fukutake
・General Director: Fram Kitagawa
・Art Advisors: Tony Bond, Tom Finkelpearl, Ulrich Shneider, Yoshitoki Irisawa, Yuka Irisawa, Yusuke Nakahara
・# of participating artists: 350 groups and individuals from 40 countries and regions (including 220 new participants from 27 countries and regions)
・# of artworks: 365 (including 149 permanent artworks)
・# of hosting villages: 92
・# of visitors: 375,311
・# of registered Kohebi supporters: 350

・Duration: 29 July to 17 September 2012
・Venue: Echigo-Tsumari Region 760㎢ (Tokamachi City and Tsunan Town, Niigata Prefecture)
・Organizer: Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale Executive Committee
・Honorary Chairman: Hirohiko Izumida (Governor of Niigata Prefecture)
・Chairman: Yoshifumi Sekiguchi (Mayor of Tokamachi City)
・Vice Chairman:Kenji Kamimura (Mayor of Tsunan Town)
・General Producer: Soichiro Fukutake
・General Director: Fram Kitagawa
・Art Advisors: Hans Ulrich Obrist, Director, Serpentine Gallery, London / Huang Du, independent curator
・Creative Director: Taku Satoh
・# of participating artists: 310 groups and individuals from 44 countries and regions
・# of artworks: 367 (including 189 permanent artworks)
・# of hosting villages: 102
・# of visitors: 488,848
・# of registered Kohebi supporters: 1,246

・Duration: ：26 July to 13 September 2015
・Venue: Echigo-Tsumari Region 760㎢ (Tokamachi City and Tsunan Town, Niigata Prefecture)
・Organizer:Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale Executive Committee
・Honorary Chairman:Hirohiko Izumida (Governor of Niigata Prefecture)
・Chairman: Yoshifumi Sekiguchi (Mayor of Tokamachi City)
・Vice Chairman:Kenji Kamimura (Mayor of Tsunan Town)
・General Producer: Soichiro Fukutake
・General Director: Fram Kitagawa
・Creative Director:Taku Satoh
・Network adviser：Kohey Takashima
・Official Supporter：Yutaka Arai／Mifuyu Ando／Kunihiro Ototake／Daigo Sato／Dai Tamesue／Daisuke Tsuda／Koichiro Yoshida／Tetsuro Yoshimatsu
・# of Participating artists ：363 groups and individuals from 35 countries and regions
・# of artworks: 378 (including 182 permanent artworks)
・# of hosting villages: 110
・# of visitors: 510,690
・# of registered Kohebi supporters: 2,270
・## of local supporters: 152

・Duration: ：29 July to 17 September 2018
・Venue: Echigo-Tsumari Region 760㎢ (Tokamachi City and Tsunan Town, Niigata Prefecture)
・Organizer:Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale Executive Committee
・Honorary Chairman:Hideyo Hanazumi (Governor of Niigata Prefecture)
・Chairman: Yoshifumi Sekiguchi (Mayor of Tokamachi City)
・Vice Chairman:Haruka Kuwabara (Mayor of Tsunan Town)
・General Producer: Soichiro Fukutake
・General Director: Fram Kitagawa
・Creative Director:Taku Satoh
・Official Supporter Leader：Kohey Takashima
・# of participating artists ：363 groups and individuals from 44 countries and regions
・# of artworks: 379 (including 210 permanent artworks)
・# of hosting villages: 102
・# of visitors: 548,380
・# of registered Kohebi supporters: 2,742
・## of local supporters: 301