舟物語（Stories of a boat), 2022, Julio Goya

小豆島は昔、島の花崗岩を本土へ運ぶ海運が盛んでした。過疎高齢化が進んだ今、舟は島のあちこちに放置されています。島の人には日常の風景ですが、アルゼンチンの海から遠い町で育ったフリオ ゴヤの目に舟は特別な存在で、作品の材料として着目しました。

人づてに古舟の持ち主を探す。設置場所を探す。陸路で舟を運び、起立させる。そのすべてに地域の人の手助けが必要で、アーティストと人々との間に協働が生まれます。そしてこの協働が、瀬戸内国際芸術祭（瀬戸芸）が目指す、過疎の地域おこしの鍵となっています。古舟の提供者は、再利用のお礼にと、船用塗料の調達を申し出てくれ、また別の元船乗りは、自宅に保存していた昔の船道具を、作品の装飾用にと提供してくれました。人生を共に歩んだ「宝物だ」という品々。ゴヤは「世界中探しても手に入らないですよ。こうして大事にとってあるんですね、素晴らしいです」と称賛します。地域にあるものを活かし、地域の人との協働を経て完成した作品は、芸術祭が終わってアーティストが去っても地域の誇りとして残り、島の魅力を世界へ発信し続ける。地域型芸術祭の意義はそこにあります。「瀬戸芸において我々アーティストは、主役ではなく小道具なんですよ」。

作品に触れてもいいの？とためらう人には、「どうぞあがって楽しんでください」とゴヤ。「座ってお弁当でも食べてもらえたら最高ですね」。

誇り高き海の男たちと過ごした日々の記憶を胸に、羽ばたく鳥に姿を変えた舟の物語。瀬戸内国際芸術祭2022でお楽しみください。

In the old days, Shodoshima Island had a thriving shipping industry that transported the island's granite to the mainland. In today's depopulated and aging society, boats lie abandoned here and there on the island. Although an everyday scene for islanders, boats have had a special presence in the eyes of Julio Goya, who grew up in a town far from the sea in Argentina, and he focused on them as materials for his artwork.

Finding the owners of abandoned boats through people. Finding a place to install artwork. Transporting a boat by land and setting it up. All of this requires the help of locals, and collaboration between the artist and locals is born. This is the key to the Setouchi Triennale's goal of revitalizing depopulated areas. The donor of the old boat offered to procure boat paint in return for the reuse, and another former sailor offered old boating equipment that he had saved in his home for Goya to decorate his artwork. They are his "treasures" that the former sailor shared his life with, and Goya praised “I would not find them anywhere else in the world. It is wonderful that you have preserved them in this way.”

The work completed through collaboration with locals utilizing what is available in the region will remain as a source of pride for the locals even after the festival is over and the artists have left, and will continue to transmit the charm of the island to the world. That is the significance of the regional art festival. “In Setouchi Triennale, we artists are not the main actors but props", says Goya.

To those who hesitate to touch the artwork, Goya encourages "please go up and enjoy”.  “It would be great to see people sit down and have lunch here”, says Goya.

Enjoy Goya’s artwork "Stories of a Boat", of a boat that has transformed into a flapping bird with memories of days spent with proud sea men, in Setouchi Triennale 2022.