MIND TRAIL

Okuyamato — Create a Museum in Your Heart

"MIND TRAIL Okuyamato – Create a Museum in Your Heart” is a one-of-a-kind art festival that takes place in three areas in the southern and eastern part of Nara Prefecture – Yoshino, Tenkawa, and Soni Village – collectively known as Okuyamato. Travel to the sites, walk for hours, and experience the beauty and wisdom of the region and artworks installed there surrounded by the magnificent natural beauty.

Artwork by Kiyoshi Nishioka; Photo by Kazuki Nakamori (from 2021)

Interview with Seiichi Saito — the Executive Producer of MIND TRAIL

KVG: How did the concept of “MIND TRAIL” emerge with Nara as its venue?

Saito: MIND TRAIL is an art festival whose idea was planned during the pandemic when people around the world were limited in the ways they could enjoy themselves, both mentally and physically, due to COVID-19. It was also a time when many of us took more time to walk around our home or the nearby areas which led to a feeling that we wanted to come closer to nature more often. This realization was our inspiration for MIND TRAIL.

KVG: What is the unique production and curation that we can find only in the MIND TRAIL?

Saito: We try to bring together artists with various viewpoints from the fields of design and creativity, as well as from the typical framework of art, such as painting and sculpture. As

a producer, my role is to oversee the entire process. Each event

area has its own curator, and artists whose image reflects

each curator’s viewpoints and ideas are selected. Therefore,

MIND TRAIL is characterized by a wider range of genres and more diverse expressions than other art exhibitions and festivals.

KVG: What is the particular highlight of MIND TRAIL? Are there any new projects this year?

Saito: MIND TRAIL is held in three areas in Nara Prefecture which are quite distant from one another. People from both Nara and elsewhere, visit these three areas with MIND TRAIL as their motivation. I was very happy to hear that people who had not taken the opportunity to visit these areas before went there to join MIND TRAIL and found something that they hadn’t seen or experienced before.

I believe that MIND TRAIL can help further development and communication in the local community in the future. This is its third year, and I feel that the event is gradually growing and becoming more well known. This year, we have established a co-creation committee to make MIND TRAIL more personally connected to the people in the local community. We have established an organizational structure with a budget, that allows for a more active exchange of ideas and cooperation with local residents.

In addition, the website has been redesigned to provide information that is not only one-way, but tries to be interactive. We are also planning to start pre-program experiences. For example, I talked to many of the local people and heard their stories and the recorded conversations will be released on our Podcast.

KVG: What do you personally like about Nara and what do you think is special about it?

Saito: In the Okuyamato region, I feel people live in a close relationship with nature and also protect it. For example, there are special people called “Yama-mori” who protect the mountains and “Sakura-mori,” a cherry blossom guardian. Many of these local customs originated from the mountain worship. Okuyamato is a place where such a profound philosophy existed which couldn’t be found in any other regions in Japan. Respecting such a fact is also a very important factor in planning MIND TRAIL.

The artists also have learned about this philosophy through their interactions with local people in the region and have been influenced by it in the creation of their works. Although their methods of expression are diverse, I believe that every artist also plays a role in cherishing and contributing to the nature of Okuyamato through their works.

In Nara, a lot of the wisdom and knowledge of old Japan still remains as it has been since ancient times. Today we often hear the word, “sustainability”, but Nara has been practicing this philosophy unchanged for 1,300 years. Okuyamato has so many attractions that one cannot see or experience just through reading articles and seeing photos. We hope a number of people visit Okuyamato and feel the nature directly and experience its grandeur for themselves.

MIND TRAIL Okuyamato – Create a Museum in your Heart

Sept. 17 - Nov. 13, 2022; In Yoshino, Tenkawa, Soni in Nara; https://mindtrail.okuyamato.jp