The Echigo-Tsumari Triennial has come to be regarded as the major event in the Japanese contemporary art calendar. It takes it name from a region in Niigata Prefecture located in the heart of the Japanese countryside, three hours northeast of Tokyo by car. One of the most ambitious open-air art projects yet, the Triennial runs from July to September and in 2003 presented more than 150 works by international artists, as well architects’ projects, distributed over 760 square kilometres of countryside. Unlike most other multi-site art projects that take place in major capitals of the world, the geographical focus of this triennial is largely rural. The triennial’s overall message is that human beings are part of nature and that culture can be used as a mediator between man and his environment.