Since the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, a lot of art here has dealt with disaster. Not all the pieces in the second installment of the Aichi Triennale are on this theme — but the best ones are.

The event launched in 2010 with three aims: to display cutting-edge visual art with an international perspective; to celebrate the charm of host city Nagoya; and to incorporate non-visual media — opera, dance and music — into the format. In addition to venues in Nagoya, the event will also be held at locations in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, for the first time.

The role that art should play in the wake of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters in March 2011 has been an ongoing topic of discussion in the art community. Artistic director Taro Igarashi has thus gone with the theme: "Awakening — Where are we Standing? — Earth, Memory and Resurrection." Given that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in part brought about the "postwar" designation for everything from economic revival to art history, it's not far off to assert that the "Made in Japan" nuclear crisis has also signaled an end to a period of history — postwar until March 11, 2011.