Permanent Collection of artworks

We showcase artworks that deeply engage with the unique climate and culture of Echigo-Tsumari, as well as artworks that allow viewers to experience firsthand the transformations of space and time in the exhibition venues.

[Artists of Permanent Installations]
Asai Yusuke / Stephen Antonakos / Leandro Erlich / Antony Gormley / Kaihatsu Yoshiaki / Nikita Kadan / Ilya&Emilia Kabakov / Kuwakubo Ryota / Kurita Koichi / Go Akira / Nicolas Darrot / Marnix de Nijs / Drawing Architecture Studio (Ezo-sha) /Nakatani Michiko / Nawa Kohei / Carsten Nicolai / Tanya Badanina / Hara Hiroshi＋ATELIERΦ / Hara Hiroshi & Hara Lab. (Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo) / Hara Rintaro + Hara Yu / Massimo Bartolini feat. Lorenzo Bini / Hoshino Kenji / mé / Moriyama Daido /Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger

Current Special Exhibitions

Echigo-Tsumari MonET Special Exhibition Vol. 10: "Ryo Miyasaka: ART at 75"

Ryosaku Miyasaka was born in 1950 into a rice-farming family in Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture. He graduated from the California Institute of the Arts in 1974. Upon returning to Japan, he pursued a unique career path: while working as a farmer in his hometown, he also ran a real estate business and remained actively involved in the local community—serving as a member of the Agricultural Committee and helping to preserve traditional cultural practices such as the “Kiyari” folk song—all while continuing his artistic work.
While still a student, when his mentor, the world-renowned artist Allan Kaprow, asked him about the origin of his creative work, he replied, “Farmer.” Since then, he has continued to present artworks connected to the earth.
This exhibition features his early “Map Paintings,” including previously unseen works, and his recent “Plant Characters,” as well as new works created last year in Echigo-Tsumari during the rice-planting and rice-harvesting seasons.Guest curator Noe Sawaragi states, “Miyasaka’s artistic practice has consistently been rooted in ‘Techne’—a ‘Revolutionary’ fusion of the two ‘A’s: ‘Art’ and ‘Agriculture’—and in that sense, it brings about a new transformation in our values surrounding ‘ART.’” This statement connects directly to the exhibition’s title, “ART.”
This marks Ryo Miyasaka’s first large-scale solo exhibition outside of Nagano Prefecture at the age of 75. Please do not miss this rare opportunity.

Photo by Osamu Nakamura

Special Exhibitions (Recent Years)

• Summer/Fall 2021:
  “To Nirvana and Back—The Echigo-Tsumari Version of ‘King Lear’s Truth’” (Artist: Moriyama Daido)
• Winter 2022:
  “Hokuetsu Snow Chronicle Adventure” (Artists: Takahashi Kyota, Hara Rintaro + Hara Yu, Fukasawa Takafumi, KOSUGE1-16)
• Echigo-Tsumari Art Filed 2022:
  “Tribute Memorial Series: Echigo-Tsumari Artists Living Today”
  “Women in Black / Women Wearing Black to Protest War” (Artist: Ekaterina Muromtseva)
• Winter 2023:
  “Echigo-Tsumari: Aspects of Snow I” (Artists: Yu Kato, Komatsu Kosei, Yoshiya Hongo, Atsuko Mochida)
• 2023 Special Exhibition:
  Vol. 1 “Material Shop Catharsis: Tokamachi Branch & ‘Dormant Data Grand Prix 2022–2023’ Documentary Exhibition”
  Vol. 2 “Print Report: The Road Moves” (Artist: Yu Matsumoto)
  Vol. 3 “Sequel to Parallel Small Boat Song: Vessels of Green” (Artists: Kazuyuki Takezaki + Yu Nishimura)
  Vol. 4 “Reverse String” (Artist: Ai Tanaka)
• Summer 2024:
  “Captain Monet and the 87-Day Square Adventure” (Artists: Hara Rintaro + Hara Yu, et al.)
• 2024 Special Exhibitions:
  Vol. 5 “Heavy Hips” (Artist: Kyoko Dezu)
  Vol. 6 “Danger Everywhere” (Artist: Koichi Mitsuoka)
  Vol. 7 “The Colorless Man” (Artist: Kan Miyake)
  Vol. 8 “Drinking with You All, Inside the Basket” (Artist: Ayako Ohno)
• Winter 2025:
  “Captain Monet and the Voyage Across the Great Snowfields” (Artists: Hara Rintaro + Hara Yu, et al.)
• Summer/Fall 2025:
  “The Answer Is Blown by the Wind” (Direction: BankART1929; Participating Artists: Aiko Yamamoto, Akinori Matsumoto, Ihara Koro, Ushijima Tatsuji)
• Winter 2026:
  “Honyaradoo—Snow Meeting” (Direction: BankART1929; Participating Artists: 6lines studio + Yoshiharu Tsukamoto, Aiko Yamamoto, Ihara Koro, Keisuke Takahashi)

MonET Museum Shop

The largest shop in Echigo-Tsumari specializing in Echigo-Tsumari Art Filed products. We carry a wide selection of local specialties, including official logo products, artist-designed products, rice from the Rice Fields, and original-design sake and sweets. We also display and sell small artworks such as paintings and sculptures by participating artists. Take home a variety of “art” as a souvenir of your trip. Products are also available for purchase through our online shop (excluding some items)
*A MonET admission fee is required to enter the shop.

Event and Community Space

The facility also features “Salon MonET,” which combines the functions of a café and a library. The theater screens films related to Echigo-Tsumari, including documentary footage and feature-length films. Additionally, a community space designed under the supervision of Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd. has opened in the corridor. It aims to serve as an open, creative space where local residents and visitors can interact and inspire one another.

History of the Museum

Completed in 2003, it opened as the “Echigo-Tsumari Exchange Center Kinare,” a hub for local products and tourism.Following renovations in 2012, it was reborn as the “Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [Kinare].” Then, in 2021, after undergoing another major interior renovation, it reopened as the “Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET.”