Thai Art Exhibition

The Tropics – Views from the Middle of the Globe
An exhibition of pre-modern and contemporary art from the tropics
Curated by Alfons Hug, Peter Junge, Viola König

Organized by The Jim Thompson Art Center in collaboration with the  The Ethnological Museum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and the Goethe-Institut.

Venue : Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok
From 13th March – 12th June, 2010
Open everyday from 9 – 5 pm. Free admission



     The Jim Thompson Art Center  in collaboration with the  The Ethnological Museum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and the Goethe-Institut  proudly present an exhibition “The Tropics – Views from the Middle of the Globe“, curated by  Alfons Hug, a German curator based in Rio De Janeiro, Peter Junge, curator of the African Collection of The Ethnological Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Viola König, the Director of the The Ethnological Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

     According to the curators, this exhibition was a response to the pioneer show “Les Magiciens de la Terre” (Paris, 1989), which exhibited at the Center George Pompidu, France. The exhibition “The Tropics – Views from the Middle of the Globe” attempts anew to detect currents of energy and subtle disturbances between the hemispheres in times of tension,  and to search for cooperative as well as counteractive cultural forces. The exhibition has  already been presented in Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town and Berlin.

     Ranking among the most important in the world, exhibits from the collections of the Ethnological Museum in Berlin from Africa, Asia, Oceania and tropical America enter into dialogue with works by contemporary artists from South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Old and new art converge in one place. As the show is conceived as an art exhibition, the selection of the older works was primarily made according to aesthetic criteria. In general, the exhibition attempts a re-aesthetisation of the tropics, in order to place more emphasis on cultural aspects of tropical regions, as opposed to the otherwise prevailing negative political and economic discourses.

     This re- aesthetisation considers the tropics as a European construct, while attempting at the same time to clarify this construct and to consider it as a topic of discourse about the tropics. This inherent ambivalence becomes apparent in the different approaches of the three curators: Alfons Hug not only presents works by contemporary artists from the tropics, but also includes works by artists who do not originate from there, yet use the tropics as their subject. Viola König, arranges objects within the topic “Colours and Sounds of the Tropics”, thus making it possible to trace specific common aspects of the art from the tropics. By contrast, Peter Junge’s approach is more sceptical:  The works of art in the three subject areas (nature, human image, and political power) curated by him are examples of different forms of art, whose only common characteristic is their assignment to cultures found in the geographically defined realm of the tropics.

     The exhibition is structured in several sections, each of which refers to a chapter heading in Claude Lévi-Strauss’ work “Mythologica”. It all begins with “After the Deluge”, the chapter that deals with nature and landscapes. Pre-modern artworks in the exhibition touch or approach two aspects of nature: firstly, metaphorically conceived images, secondly, representations of creatures who act in nature, the environment of human civilisation, either by threatening or assisting mankind.

     The exhibition  features old works from Mexico, Ivory Coast,  Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bolivia, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, India, Indonesia from the collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum  in Berlin which are juxtaposed with new works by contemporary artists such as Thomas Struth, Vong Phaophanit, Sherman Ong, Marcos Chaves, Marcel Odenbach, Dinh Q. Lê, Theo Eshetu and Pilar Albarracin.

Educational Programs 

Curator Walk
Date: 12 March 2010
Time: 4:00-5:00 pm.
Venue: Exhibition Room, Jim Thompson Art Center
Activity fee: Free

     Dr. Viola König, the director and Dr. Peter Junge, the curator of the African Collection of The Ethnological Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin will conduct a curator walk through the exhibition space to discuss the concept behind the exhibit. 


Artist’s Talk
Date: 26 March 2010
Time: 6:00-8:00 pm.
Venue: William Warren Library
Activity fee: Free

     Vietnamese artist, Dinh Q. Lê will give a talk about his video art “The farmers and the helicopters” which is on show in The Tropic exhibition.  This work relates to Vietnamese thinking after World War II. The artist will also talk about his recent works including those which are inspired by society and culture in Southeast Asia.


Lecture: Tropical Perspective – Domestic and Anthropological Perspectives
Date: 3 April 2010
Time: 2:00-4:00
Leader: Dr. Yukti Mukdawijit from the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University
Venue: William Warren Library
Activity fee: Free

     Dr. Yukti Mukdawijit will take an anthropological approach to the idea of ‘the other’s point of view’ concerning tropical countries, focusing on the perspectives of both European and tropical people. He will discuss the Southeast Asia artworks in The Tropics exhibition and consider how these can be related to the way of life and cultural in the tropical countries.


Workshop: Children’s Mask Making
Date: 24  April 2010
Time: 1:00-4:00
Leader: Soawanee Wongjinda, Creative Program Organizer of Makampom Foundation
Venue: William Warren Library
Materials fee: 300 Bt./person include with tea break (limited 20 people)

     We cordially invite children age 8-12 to join a mask workshop. This workshop will provide a good opportunity for children to learn about masks that were used for worship and ritual ceremony in performances. The participants will create their own mask by using recycled and natural materials. 

   
Needlework Workshop:   The Differences  between the Tropics and Europe
Date: 8/15  May 2010
Time: 1:00-5:00
Leader: Gorapin P. Likitkijsomboon
Venue: William Warren Library
Activity Fee: 1000  bht /1 person/ 2 days include with tea break (limited 20 people)

     The program will focus on the art of embroidery, its history and development including the use of colors and design. Participants will be shown slides of traditional embroidery work and colorful fabrics from both eastern and western cultures. The participants will also have a change to try embroidery techniques and other needlework skills to create their own works in tropical and European colors.


Reading Film and Discussion:   “Tropical Perspectives - Outside In / Inside Out”
Date: 20 May 2010
Time: 6:00-8:00
Moderator: Gridthiya Gaweewong
Venue: William Warren Library
Activity Fee: Free

     The Jim Thompson Art Center will show selected short films which center around the encounter between eastern and western culture. Historical and anthropological films by filmmakers from 1930s to the present such as “I am from Siam”, Phi Ta Kon and more.  This is a screening session and will include a discussion about re-reading and re-examing the subtext of history and ethnography. Tropical culture as represented in films will also be discusses.

 
Lecture:  Hunting Authenticity - Pseudo-Tourism
Date: 12June 2010
Time: 2:00-4:00
Leader: Pravit Rojanaphruk, Pasakorn Intoo-Marn
Moderator: Worathep Akkabootara 
Venue: William Warren Library

     This lecture is inspired by traditional works from the collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin which have been exhibited in The Tropics. These ceremonial works represent an important aspect of cultures from tropical regions.  However, today they are treated as ‘objects’ in the context of western museums. Thus their ritual identity has been transformed and modified in order to attract tourism. The lecture will focus on Thailand’s case, where ceremony instruments were turned into commodities and their ritual function lost as they become souvenirs and OTOP products.   


     This exhibition is made possible by the James H.W. Thompson Foundation, The Thai Silk Company, The Goethe Institute, Bangkok,  Column Bangkok, Samsung,  Disaphol Chansiri, The Ethnological Museum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin  and Kulturstiftung des Bundes.



For further information please contact Penwadee for an exhibition, and Somsuda for an educational program at 02 2192911 or email artcenter@jimthompsonhouse.com

www.jimithompsonhouse.com

Sparkle by Krit Ngamsom
on 3 April – 16 May 2010
at 3D @ Thavibu

Open:     Monday – Saturday: 11:00 – 19:00, Sunday: 12:00 – 18:00

     Thavibu Gallery is pleased to present the art exhibition Sparkle with new three-dimensional works by emergent artist Krit Ngamsom. Marking his second solo exhibition, the whimsical installation features a specially produced series of illuminated fibreglass sculptures displayed within Perspex gift boxes and thematic containers.




     Hailing from Phichit province in Thailand’s north, Krit is one of several Thai artists to explore themes associated with rural to urban migration. Known for creating playful kinetic artworks that combine everyday objects, Krit explores the novelty and superficiality experienced by outsiders upon encountering the vapidity and excesses of urbanites in Bangkok. In Sparkle he focuses upon the empty ritualism of extravagant gift giving by wealthy Bangkokians during traditional holidays. 

     Having previously customised household electrical appliances such as fans, telephones, and lamps, for Sparkle Krit creates an ambient light and sculpture installation glowing with uncomplicated innocence. On a deeper level, his ironic artworks are an implication toward the economic, social, cultural, and growing political disparages between Thailand’s rural masses and the metropolitan elite.

     Krit graduated with a BA in Visual Arts from Bangkok University in 2005. Still only 27-years old, he has since been an assistant to several of Thailand’s most progressive artists, as well as participating in the group exhibitions Bangkok Bananas at Central World (2009), Bangkok 226 and Traces of Siamese Smile at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre (both 2008). 

     Sparkle is the second exhibition in the year-long project, 3D @ Thavibu, highlighting three-dimensional art in Suite 307 of Thavibu Gallery. Curated by Steven Pettifor, 3D @ Thavibu will present a series of exhibitions featuring established and emergent Thai and international artists. 

Thavibu Gallery
The Silom Galleria, 3rd Floor
Suite 308, 919/1 Silom Road
Bangkok 10500, Thailand
Tel.:  (662) 266-5454
Fax.: (662) 266-5455
Mob.: (6689) 812-8577
Email: heide@thavibu.com

"Another Side" international exhibition by 19 artists at La Lanta Fine Art
Saturday March 13, 2010 | 5.00 pm until 7.00 pm | The exhibition will be on display until April 30, 2010


Artists
Audrey Tulimiero-Welch
Be Takerng Pattanopas
Chaisiri Jiwarangsan
Flora Cruells Benzal
Henry Tan
Jonathan Gent
Justin Mills
Kriangkrai Kongkhanun
Laurence Causse-Parsley
Martin P. Collins
Michael Croft
Ohm Phanphiroj
Pim Sudhikam
Ralph Kiggell
Steven Pettifor
Sujin Wattanawongchai
Thunska Pansittivorakul
Top Changtrakul
Wasinburee Supanichvoraparch

     La Lanta Fine Art is very pleased to announce an international exhibition of contemporary art that explores visual artists' understanding of the unconscious as it can be expressed by dreams. Another Side is an exhibition of 19 artworks that have been produced by the individual artists in response to one of their dreams. All the artworks have been created especially for this exhibition.

     Another Side showcases painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography and video installation, offering a contemporary view of ideas that were radically explored by the 20 th century Western art movements of Dada and Surrealism, among other examples. Against these precedents, however, and in the face of critical issues of globalization, Another Side explores the continuing artistic importance of forms of resistance to canonical norms.

Please join us to meet the artist and view the work in person.
Please RSVP at info@lalanta.com





For more information, please contact:
La Lanta Fine Art | 245/14 Sukhumvit soi 31, Klongtan Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110 Thailand
Tel: 02-260-5381, 02-204-0583 Fax: 02-204-0582
Gallery hours : Tues. - Sat. 10.00 am - 7.00 pm
www. lalanta.com

Tang Contemporary Art  Bangkok presents

Another World Another Boundary

Curator: Zhang Yizhou

Artists: Huang Yishan, Li Jianfeng, Li Wei, Qin Qi, UNMASK, Yang Na, Zhang Shuang

Date: 10 March -  3 April 2010
Mon - Sat,  11am - 7pm
(Closed on Sunday and Public Holidays)

Exhibition @ Tang Contemporary Art
Unit B-28 (Basement), Silom Galleria
919/1 Silom Road (Soi 19), Bangkok 10500 Thailand

OPENING RECEPTION: Tang Contemporary Art cordially invites you to the opening reception on Wednesday, 10 March, 6 pm onwards at Tang Contemporary Art - Bangkok.

EXHIBITION BACKGROUND 
     This world is ordinary: everyone lives in silent; while another world is wonderful: all dreaming for it.



"Another World" or "Another Boundary" signifies the world or boundary beyond this world we live in or boundary upon where we live. In this exhibition, anotherworldanotherboundary is a parallel world which exists in imagination, it could be the "Other World" in Buddhism such as heaven or hell; or could be "Delightful Plain" in European mythology such as the realm of the dead or the home of the deities. It could be a surreal world as in fairy tales or legends; or in movies or books; or in computer games or internets, or an utopia-like kind of world, or just the world hidden in brains or minds.





     Broadly speaking, each person's world for other person is also an "other world". All kinds of seemingly ordinary things which people turn a blind eye to, but from another angle of view, might be very different, and might contain some existences which never been found and cognitive, or another metaphor which never been really understood.




All these another world another boundary, ridden by artists untrammeled imagination, expressed the seeking to the unknown and potential world. Or could be a kind of restoration to the world: a re-combination of some occasional and scattered information, and restore another possibility of another world.

Once entering "another world another boundary", the imaginary world which couldn?t be defined, the world which is intangible and hard to clarify, will unfold in front of your eyes, slowly.

For Public and Media Enquires, please contact the gallery @ +(662) - 630 1114

Tang Contemporary Art – Bangkok
Add：B-28, Silom Galleria Plaza, 919/1, Silom 19 Road, Bangkok, 10500, Thailand
Fax: +(662) - 630 3264 or email: bkk@tangcontemporary.com, www.tangcontemporary.com

searching for vegetables

At The Art Center, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University
On March 10 – April 3, 2010
Opening Reception: Wednesday March 10, 2010, 4:30-7pm

     The eagerly awaited Path of Perseverance: The Chin from Burma exhibition is set to open at the Art Center, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. The exhibition which will be officially opened, 4:30-7pm, will also feature a keynote address by Burmese activists.

     The exhibition will feature an exceptional portfolio of photographic images by the photographer, artist and writer Benny Manser. Benny’s travels and photographs have created a potent mixture of awe and message which in turn has identified with the horrendous issues of Burma and how the world has seemingly left the plight to fend for itself.




     The photographs portraying the story of the Chin ethnic group, spread out across 3 countries in Burma, India and Malaysia, are compelling, emotional and sublime. Manser’s exhibition is a journey of conscience as well as artistic resonance. It is even more enlightening that Manser, who is currently an International Development studies Student at Chulalongkorn University, has captured ‘real’ un-staged images, without manipulation or persuasion. The effect created by Manser is arresting, haunting, and has absolute authority.

Culture and Traditions

Rice pounding

Carrying water

The exhibition will be open to the public from March 10 to April 3, free admission, at the Art Center, 7th Floor, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University.

About the artist
     Benny Manser earned a BSc in Computer Animation and Special Effects from the University of Bradford, UK, where he achieved a first-class honours degree. Having a British father and a Karen-Mon mother, he is passionate about using the medium of photography as a way of communicating with people to gain a greater understanding of one another and help to bring complex problems to a more personal human level specifically relating to Burma.

Message of hope

Urban livelihoods

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

Photography Exhibition
     In this upcoming month, Bangkok University Gallery and 2902 Gallery, Singapore with support from The Royal Photographic Society of Thailand under The Royal Patronage of H.M. The King are proud to present “Unhiddenness” by Police Captain Surat Osathanugrah. Even though he is publicly known for his successful careers as a business professional, an educator, or a politician, Surat is lesser known as a highly dedicated photographer.

     “Unhiddenness” sets to unveil Surat’s achievement as a contemporary photographer. Apart from the fact that the majority of the photos in this exhibition have not been selected and presented anywhere before, the selection process for this exhibition is none like other. Focusing on the theme of objects, “Unhiddenness” differentiates itself from the previous exhibitions that centered on the theme of people, pets, etc. To avoid the repetitiveness, the exhibition’s curator, Ark Fongsmut, has decidedly shifted the attention onto the objects in the photos. Because everyday’s objects and their impressions are considered socially irrelevant, they are often neglected and destined to be forgotten and disappeared over time. The curator presents the concept of the unnoticeable through unusual perspectives in the photos to depict a story that has no relation to a place and time.

“Unhiddeness” is on display from 13 March – 24 April 2010. The opening reception is on Saturday, 13 March 2010, 6.00 PM at BU International College and Bangkok University Gallery Building (Building 7), City Campus.

Bangkok University Gallery [BUG]
119 Rama 4 Rd.
Klong Toei, Bangkok
Thailand 10110
Tel: +66 2 350 3626
Fax:+66 2 350 3679
Email: bugallery@bu.ac.th
Office Hours: 9.30 am - 6 pm (Tue-Sat)

Jurairat khunpanich

“Art from the Hands of Mothers”
By 15 female artists
March 4th – May 30th, 2010
To be president by Dr. Khunyin Kalaya Sophonpanich,
Minister of Science and Technology
Opening reception March 4th 5.30 pm - 8.30 pm
At 2nd Floor Sombat Permpoon Gallery Bangkok, Thailand



“Art from the Hands of Mothers” features, paintings, sculptures, and music and literature arts from 15 outstanding women who stand in the front row of developing the arts in Thailand, and some who stand behind the successes of great creators. They are mothers of awarding writers, daughters of great talents and wives of the national’s favorite artists.

Curated by Hongjorn  Sa-Neh-Ngamjaroen

Artists;
Saovapa Vichienket , Sculptor                         Sriwan Janehuttakarnkit , Painter
Rattana Atthakorn, Painter                              Boonying Emjaroen , Painter
Lawan (Dao-Rai) Upa-In, painter                      Wanna Swasdisri, Painter
Chomsai Meesomsueb, Painter                         Sriwaree Pui-Ok, Painter
Dusadee Banomyong, Singer                           Jintana Piamsiri, Painter
Jiranant Pitpreecha, Poet/ Photographer            Sompon pungudom , Painter
Duangduen Boonyawong (S.E.A Write 2006)     Jurairat Kunpanich, Painter
Pinnuch Pinjinda, Painter

4th March, 2010 event schedule
5.30pm    -     Talk with the artists
        - Poetry reading by Jirannant Pitpreecha, S.E.A Write award Winner , 1989
        - Flute performance by Sripear Maykalai
        - Poetry reading by Duangduen Boonyawong, S.E.A Write award Winner, 2006
        - Singing by Dusadee Banomyong
        - Speech by Sulak Sivaraksa,  teacher, a scholar, a publisher, an activist, the founder of many  organisations, and the author of more than a hundred books and monographs in both Thai and English.

6.30pm.    - Opening the exhibition by Dr. Khunyin Kalaya Sophonpanich

      Sombat Permpoon Gallery and Sathirakoses-Nagapradjpa Foundation (SNF) are joining to celebrate the works by 15 outstanding female artists and to all mothers, daughters, sisters and wives who create love where it creates art.

jiranant pitpreecha

Chomsai Meesomsueb

Pinnuch Pinjinda

Boonying Emjaroen

Sriwan Janehuttakarnkit

Srivaree pui-ok

Saovapa Vichienket

Jintana Piamsiri

Exhibition Poster

For further information, images and media representation, please contact:
P: 0-2254-6040-6 f:  0-2254-6048
E:panada@sombatpermpoongallery.com  www.sombatpermpoongallery.com