“The Gift of Hope”. It was all very much about an exchange, collaboration and engaging with audiences. I was picking up on that, much more than previously, the work that was breaking down the division between the artist as producer and the audience as a consumer. I found that quite exciting. And I think partly that is why I want to do the exhibition of Shimabuku, a major exponent of that relational tendency. His work is not so exciting to the art market and certainly, he doesn’t make as much money as Murakami, but as a cultural phenomenon, he is equally interesting if not more interesting. KW: That is something I have noticed over the last five years. The interactive relationship amongst artists and the public, that social engagement seems to be becoming more important to the newer generation of the artists. JW: It sits outside of the market, and it’s difficult to sustain… KW: As part of the increasingly international global art scene, contemporary public art is being reinvented by the unprecedented contributions of curators and artists beyond the traditional international centre’s. Projects such as the Echigo-Tsumari Triennial, amongst others in Japan, appear more focused on utilising the capacity of arts activity to support community-led renewal. This particular festival seems reasonably successful in attracting tourism to the region, and, according to one of the initiators, plays a role in ‘revitalising elderly people who have lost their hope, identity and vision of the future.