Kenpoku Art 2016! is one of the latest projects to appear in an area for which art has been a relatively niche concern. Despite the fact that Okakura Tenshin, one of the central figures of Japanese art history, set up shop in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1906, and Art Tower Mito consistently provides top-class exhibitions, Ibaraki mostly has a reputation for being a no-nonsense, conservative farming heartland. Parts of the prefecture continue to thrive on agriculture, but many small towns are struggling with problems of aging populations and infrastructure.