Thai Art Exhibition

Through Our Eyes: Windows into the Lives of Affected People
from the Deep South’ Photo Exhibition

At the Hall in front of The Art Center, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University
11-26 June 2010
Opening reception: Friday 11 June, 2010 at 5.30pm



In the last four years at least 3000 people have died, several thousands were injured and many more people have been socially and mentally affected by the violence in the Deep South. In newspapers and audio-visual media hardly any time and space is allocated to give these people visibility. Many victims have been reduced to mere numbers in reports. Most of the Thai population outside the three border provinces is not aware of the human or tragic dimension this conflict has caused in many lives so far. Some media reports might even contribute to misunderstanding or even incite hatred towards people living in the predominantly Muslim region.

This photo exhibition would like to tell a different story. It wants to show the human side of the conflict, it wants to share the hopes and life stories of the people that have been reduced to statistics in a bloody and seemingly endless conflict, and it wants to put faces where there is otherwise a nameless mass.

The conflict is centred in Thailand’s three Southern border provinces, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. This is a region where over 80% of the population adhere to the Islamic faith and speak the local Malay dialect known as Yawi. Independent sources report 10,609 violent incidents taking place between January 2004 and January 2010 resulting in at least 4100 deaths, 60% of which have been Muslims.

This collection of photos wants to take the audience on a journey to a place where there are no sides and where there is no real sentiment of “us versus them”. The photos have been taken by twenty five local women, children, and young people with the aim of inviting the eyes of the outside world into the daily lives of those who are affected by this conflict. While FES and its local partner organisation Friends of the Victimized Families Group provided the participants with digital cameras as well as a brief workshop on basic photography skills, the actual strength of this exhibition stems from the powerful personal messages the photographers conveyed in their photos.

This is their story, through their eyes.

Organized by
- MA in International Development Studies (MAIDS), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University
- Friends of the Victimized Families Group
- Friends of Women Foundation
- Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
- The Art Center, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University


For more information, please contact:
Siriwat Pokrajen (PR Officer)
Tel: 081-629-0457, email: siriwatpokrajen@yahoo.com, info.artcenterchula@gmail.com

The Art Center
7th Fl, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University
Phyathai Rd, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel: 0-2218-2965, Fax: 0-2218-2907
Email: info.artcenterchula@gmail.com

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