[ flowers ]

The children are walking on the path in the rice fields. As the canola flower petals start to fall, cherry blossoms reach full bloom. I wonder if the children are heading for hanami (flower viewing)?

People have always loved and had emotions of saudade for beautiful, seasonal blooming flowers on this land.
Since long ago, flowers are presented in various art forms capturing the hearts of people and, at times, life itself can be seen in flower beds and gardens reflecting the hopes in people.
Flowers have the ability to speak from the heart in all occasions - new birth, twists and turn in life, and death.
Flowers may look ordinary at a glance yet their warmness accommodates all kinds of art expression in different ways and circumstances.

Sow seeds, sprouts germinate.
Plant seedlings, flowers bloom.
Flower petals fall, seeds remain.

The life cycle of a flowering plant brings us new life.
Flowers are not only patterns but themes.
Flowers are not objects nor equipment with a life span.
If you shift your focus on the relationship between yourself and the existence of flowers, a scenery of flowers will appear on your own consciousness.
Weather if it is the small flowers you see on the roadsides, the bouquet you would give to somebody, or the cherry blossoms the children are heading, they are the flower sceneries in the lives of people.

Flowers travel across the sea by wind and birds.
Through butterflies and bees, flowers bloom at new homeland over the fields and mountains creating a new scenic view.
Flower scenic views are borne with the help of all pollinators.
Artists from within the country and overseas travel across rivers, over mountains, and across the seas to come to the city of Saitama for the Saitama Triennale.
They are the wind, birds, butterflies, and bees – pollinators who create the flower scenic views.
Saitama City shall become a new scenery as artists unfold the various expressions of flowers.

Director TOYAMA Shoji (Film director)

It could be described as a proof of the daily life that has been created and nurtured here over many years.
Over the course of my frequent visits to this place, I came up with a question rather than an answer.
That question is: “What does the living city ‘Saitama’ bring to art?”
People living in a certain region, to no small extent, enjoy something or another that its land has to offer.
The same is true for artists visiting Saitama City, and I myself am one of them.
Art Sightama emerges as works and projects are developed through the living city of “Saitama.”
As international exhibitions and art festivals such as Biennales and Triennales are launched throughout the country, I believe that the significance of Saitama Triennale is not to raise the question, “What does art bring to the region?” but rather the opposite, instead bringing our focus to thinking about “What does the region bring to art?” Confronting this question at the same time leads to fostering the civic pride of the living city “Saitama” itself, and this very pride is that which can serve as the starting point for the second installment of the art festival and its further continuation.
To present an art festival where people can enjoy the fruits of the land, and return those feelings to everyday life.
The moment when the city where you live is no longer a “simple living sphere.”

We are now, in this very moment, engaging in attempts to create a landscape together with curators, coordinators and artists.
While forming relationships with citizens by inviting the participation of diverse human resources and ideas, we hope to create experiences that are born through imagination and feelings that are not limited to the context for a mere transient event.

What we aim for is always far away.
At the same time, it is a landscape and a sense of hope that comes to be visible in the future.

Saitama Triennale 2020－since 2020

The spread of the new coronavirus disease has completely changed the lifestyles of the people who live there. Engulfing the whole world, this art festival has squarely faced the present situation.

Since it has become difficult to realize a concept that emphasizes the involvement of many people and primarily the citizens of Saitama, we made the decision to establish two different formats, “online” and “on-site,” in order to exploit successive trials carried out thus far and create a new form of art festival and viewing opportunities.

New perspectives on things familiar; a priceless existence that sustains our lives; a means of survival-the power of art is surely engraved in our memory. Experiencing art leads to a sense of joy, and this real feeling continues to feed back into people’s lives. In order to share this sight with everyone, we will launch a sustainable art festival that continues into the future.

The future is there for us to discover. And things can be discovered from the future. To do that, continuation is vital. A sustainable art festival is also a challenge to change in the long-term. I believe that the theme of this art festival, “flower,” will serve as a guide toward the future precisely because of the difficult situation we face.

Regrettably, we took the decision to cancel projects by Allan KAPROW, FAIFAI, Mark TEH, TAKEDA Riki, and SUGAWARA Naoki/OiBokkeShi that had originally been planned for the festival after considering safety measures to avoid the Three Cs.

Last but not least, I would like to express my deep gratitude to all the participating artists and all those who have worked hard to realize this festival.