Arts Projects and Small Island Development:

Project Designs and Outcomes of "Setouchi International Art Festival"

Abstract

       Arts projects are attracting increasing social attention as a new means for rural development. In this paper, I examine the impact of art projects implemented on depopulated small islands through a case study of “Setouchi International Art Festival 2010”. Based on the findings, I argue that, firstly, while the art project was promoted by local governments and business circles with the aim of generating tourist flow and economic outcomes, the inhabitants’ evaluated the project largely from the standpoint of social interchange, especially continuous interchange between the artists and volunteer workers, rather than from its economic outcomes. Secondly, the arts project contributed to cultural revitalization of local communities on the small islands, but its economic effects were relatively limited. Thirdly, it is important to focus on policy trends like decentralization and fiscal austerity as the arts project was embedded within institutional contexts such as these. While arts projects should of course be evaluated as a new means for island development policy, it should also be kept in mind that such projects can make daily life on the island more severe by masking a retreat in state policy for island development.