Photo/Illutration The main visual of the Yamagata Biennale 2020 features Daizaburo Sakamoto, a "yamabushi" mountain ascetic hermit, based in Mount Gassan in Yamagata Prefecture. (Provided by Tohoku University of Art and Design)

YAMAGATA--While many domestic cultural events have been canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Yamagata Biennale 2020 organizers didn't want to disappoint the public.

So, they decided to hold the art festival online from Sept. 5-27, the Tohoku University of Art and Design has announced.

"It is rare (for an art festival) to take place mainly online, and we will host the event as we explore appropriate ways for a new format for the festival," an official of the festival's secretariat said.

The event was initially scheduled to be held in the capital of Yamagata Prefecture.

The university said the online edition is aimed at seeking a new way for the festival and presenting afresh the values of culture and art.

Toshiro Inaba, 41, a doctor, serves as art director for the event, which will offer seven programs under the theme of "Shape of Mountains, Shape of Life."

He is preparing projects to find common ground between medicine, food and art to restore people's mental and physical health.

About 90 groups of artists, designers, organic farmers and others are set to participate in the festival.

Works of art and videos of performances will be posted on the official website for free viewing and streaming, while musical performances and discussions will also be live-streamed on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays during the run.

Artworks made by creators through their fieldwork on the legend of Mogamiumi, which has been passed down in the Murayama area of Yamagata Prefecture, will also be shown in an exhibition space for online participants to have a virtual experience of the displays.

An online shop will be set up for festival participants to buy potteries and other items as they talk to creators through a teleconferencing system. Artists will also be collaborating with operators of the shops along the Suzuran shopping street near JR Yamagata Station.

Hosted by the Tohoku University of Art and Design, Yamagata Biennale is a locally focused art festival that has been held biennially since 2014 in the city. The organizers have been trying to find out how art and design should interact with local communities in the Tohoku region since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

"We decided we must not cancel the festival but present it because all members of society are thinking about life and health even though we are in a situation where artists are restricted from traveling and having contact with the locals," Daisuke Nakayama, president of the university, said in a comment released on July 14.

"We'll be happy if participants can enjoy Yamagata and artistic experiences through wide-ranging web contents."

The festival will be held at:(https://biennale.tuad.ac.jp/).

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