Doing Art in the Country

Experiencing art from a field of rice: How farmers relate to rural revitalisation and art at Japan's Echigo‐Tsumari Art Festival

“…Since the early 2000s, arts‐led initiatives have taken a leading role in revitalising rural communities across the world via art festivals, biennials and triennials. Scholars have approached this phenomenon from different disciplinary vantage points: Social science research has ranged from studying the economic gains derived from these art initiatives (Gkartzios et al., 2019; Mahon et al., 2018; Woods, 2012) to recognising their social benefits (e.g., Anwar McHenry, 2009, 2011; Anwar‐McHenry et al., 2018; Balfour et al., 2018; Gibson & Gordon, 2018; Koizumi, 2016) and facilitation of sustainable community development (e.g., Black, 2016; Hjalager & Kwiatkowski, 2018; Qu & Cheers, 2021). Meanwhile, arts and cultural studies scholars have examined how art is mobilised for rural revitalisation and community building and what this means for arts’ social potential, autonomy or political‐corporate bridge‐building capacities (e.g., Borggreen & Platz, 2019; Klien, 2010a, 2010b).…”

“…For example, Mahon and Hyyryläinen (2019) applied the endogenous perspective to compare the effects of two rural art festivals in Ireland and Finland on local development. Other researchers have examined rural art practices that demonstrate endogenous quality, defining these as practices ‘that [emerge] within the rural social, cultural and political context’ (Gkartzios et al., 2019, p. 586); this includes local craft traditions (Fois et al., 2019) and small‐scale, community‐led art festivals (Qu & Cheers, 2021). Finally, some research grapples with whether and how art could support a neoendogenous approach to community development.…”

“…We take up the emerging approach of using art as a mode of inquiry (e.g., Crawshaw & Gkartzios, 2016; Gkartzios et al., 2019; Hawkins, 2010; Ingold, 2013; Thorsen, 2017). That is, by exploring how agro‐ecological farmers relate to artworks in agricultural landscapes, this article is not a study of art or farmers but rather a way of researching with art to grapple with the exchanges that unfold between art and farmers and how these exchanges might prompt the farmers to (re)consider their landscapes, farming practices and daily lives.…”

“…More recent works have called for an endogenous lens based on rural development theory,1 a popular analytical model among some European social scientists, to examine art in the specific social, political and cultural context of rural communities (see Gkartzios et al., 2019; Woods, 2012). For example, Mahon and Hyyryläinen (2019) applied the endogenous perspective to compare the effects of two rural art festivals in Ireland and Finland on local development.…”

“…However, most of this research focuses either on outcomes of art in solving rural problems (Gkartzios et al., 2019; Woods, 2012) in the form of resources or capital or on the benefits for or sociopolitical obligations of the ‘art world’. While an art practice being endogenous does not automatically guarantee artful experiences to local residents, there is little work that explores how art, through its aesthetic properties and quality, achieves affect or meaning in the everyday lives of rural residents, especially those who are relatively powerless to participate in the decision‐making process in rural art initiatives (but see, e.g., Crawshaw, 2019; Crawshaw & Gkartzios, 2016).…”