In 2017, after submitting a group application for a residency at Australia House in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, I decided to take a solo, self-funded tour of the Echigo-Tsumari region. While staying with host families in Matsudai, I wanted to understand the connection between people, places, and contemporary art in restoring vitality to regional farming communities. ​

 

I discovered a deep creativity and connection to food and crafts and community. Intermingled with this place-based connection was the overwhelming presence of major contemporary art installations by some of the most celebrated artists of the last few decades. 

 

Moving art out of the centres of Tokyo to the regions had afforded the areas a chance to attract a new form of tourism. It was place-based tourism whereby the artists worked with the communities to realise their works and, simultaneously, validated the skills, crafts, and art of the locals—enabling growth in local creative communities.