This year will see the sixth edition of Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale (ETAT), a contemporary art festival that spans across 760-square-kilometers in Japan’s Niigata prefecture. It will present nearly 380 artworks—of which approximately 180 pieces have been newly created for the event—when it opens later this month. Held in a tranquil, rural region of one of Asia’s most developed countries, the festival is an effort to bring back life and energy (as well as economy) to the aging Japanese prefecture. Since inaugurating in 2000, ETAT has invited both local and international contemporary artists to create ambitious site-specific projects that bridge people with nature. In June, ArtAsiaPacific visited Japan for the press preview of ETAT. Here are some photos from the trip.

The sixth Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale will open to the public on July 26, 2015, and will be on view until September 13, 2015.