Thai Art Exhibition

Survival Techniques: narratives of resistance
A video art exhibition curated by Davide Quadrio

At The Art Center, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University
February 26 – March 26, 2011
Opening Reception: 26 February, 2011 at 4-7pm

Is it about happiness or about failure (Zhang Peili), Is it the pride of being pure blood or the shame of be born bastards (Shen Shaomin), will you be offended or will you have a good laugh (Rainer Ganahl), is it about the obvious or the unexpected truth (Yang Zhenzhong), can you keep up with tolerance or will you be easily attracted by intolerance (Artur Zmijewski)?

Curator’s Statement
In this show, artists explore the realm of the doubts, the borders and the passages. It is not about the obvious, it is not about a simple reaction. It is the art of dissimulation, yet it is incredibly true.

In this video-based exhibition, we invite the audience to take time and deepen into the realm of the uncertainty. The artworks presented are videos in various forms: documentaries, performances, conceptual works, and interviews.

It takes time to go through all of it. We are no longer used to spending time and concentrating for long: we live in the realm of the quickly digested images and information, but there is a revolutionary need for rediscovering attention and dedication. It is not about consuming another exhibition as a social event. Instead, it is a very intimate experience – the one proposed here. It is a time of pause, almost a praying time, I would say.

When I have been asked to put together this show, I thought of my last years in Thailand and Bangkok and I wanted to express through this curatorial adventure my own connection with the Thailand I discovered. When I think back of the last two years in Bangkok, with all the unrest and social and political uncertainty, the works chosen for this show seem to me very significant and universal. It is quite a testimony to the uneasiness that I feel – and I am sure many other people do – when thinking about nationalism, ethnicity and power mirrored by a personal/private space, poetry and the death as beauty, or as Bohumil Hrabal explains in “I served the King of England”:

“The essence of life was questioning about death, how will I behave when my hour comes, and that basically death, or rather that questioning oneself, is a dialogue from an infinite and eternal visual angle. (And that) the resolution of the problem of death is already the beginning of thinking in terms of beauty and the beginning of thinking about beauty because it is savoring the absurdity of one’s path that anyway will end with a premature exit, that pleasure of experiencing one’s own demise, that fills man with bitterness and therefore with beauty.”

Artists:
Zhang Peili, Happiness, 2006
Rainer Ganahl, I hate Marx, 2010
Yang Zhenzhong, I will die, 2000-2007
Shen Shaomin, I am Chinese 2006-2008
Artur Zmijewski, Them, 2007, courtesy of Vanabbe Museum

Brief Artists Profile
Zhang Peili is a video artist considered by some to be the "Father of Chinese video art.” Born in 1957, Zhang lives and works in Hangzhou.

Rainer Ganahl lives and works in NYC since 1990.

Yang Zhenzhong, 1968 Born in Hangzhou, China. Lives and works in Shanghai.

Shen Shaomin, born
 1956, Heilongjiang province, China
. Lives and works in Sydney, Australia and Beijing, China

Artur Zmijewski, born 1966 in Warsaw, Poland. Lives and works in Warsaw

About Davide Quadrio aka Dadou
Davide Quadrio is a sinologist, curator and art historian. He founded BizArt, Shanghai's first non-profit art centre, in 1998. Stemming from this experience and a decade working in cross cultural matters (Davide was awarded 2004 the title of young leader for culture in Asia by IIAS and ASEF in Den Hague, The Netherlands) in 2007, Quadrio together with Defne Ayas started Arthub Asia, a cultural and artistic constellation of independent thinkers devoted to contemporary art creation in China and across Asia. (www.arthubasia.org). Since 2009, Davide has been founding director of FarEastFarWest, an art production company that supports new and challenging cultural projects based in Asia. FarEastFarWest collection will be available to researchers, practitioners and general public from May 2011 at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. Davide is currently residing in Thailand conducting research with the support of the National Research Council of Thailand on cultural and artistic development. From September 2010 he is lecturing at Fudan University, Institute of Visual Arts, Shanghai.

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
www.car.chula.ac.th/art
Facebook: The Art Center - Chula
Monday-Friday 9am-7pm, Saturday 9am-4pm
Closed on Sunday & Public Holidays

FACE TO FACE: PORTRAITURE IN A DIGITAL AGE

An exhibition of Australian new media art

At The Art Center, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University

September 10 – October 16, 2010

Opening Reception: Friday September 10, 2010, 6.15pm

A talk will be given by Tara Morelos and Carolyn McKay from d/Lux/MediaArts before the opening, 5-6pm (in English with Thai translation)

How have new media and digital technologies changed the way we think about portraiture, identity and faces?

What new forms of audience engagement and interaction are made possible by these new technologies?

FACE TO FACE explores new expressions of portraiture in a digital age. The exhibition features works by fourteen Australian artists who use a range of media including digital photography, video and interactive installation all of which provide a unique perspective on how digital technologies can reshape our understanding and experience of contemporary identity.



Curated by Kathy Cleland of Sydney University and presented by Asialink of the University of Melbourne & d/Lux/MediaArts, Face to Face features works by Michele Barker & Anna Munster, Denis Beaubois, Daniel Crooks, Anna Davis & Jason Gee, Emil Goh, Angelica Mesiti, Adam Nash & Mami Yamanaka, David Rosetzky, Rachel Scott, Stelarc and John Tonkin.

About Asialink

Asialink is Australia’s leading centre for the promotion of public understanding of the countries of Asia and of Australia’s role in the region. Asialink is a key provider of information, training and professional networks.

Asialink is a non-academic centre of The University of Melbourne and an initiative of the Myer Foundation.

About d/Lux/MediaArts
d/Lux/MediaArts is one of Australia's key screen and media arts organisations, operating within a new convergent space between screen culture (film) and visual arts (media arts).

Through our program of touring exhibitions and other public events, d/Lux introduces Australian audiences and practitioners to innovation in digital media and screen arts.


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
www.car.chula.ac.th/art
Facebook: The Art Center - Chula
Monday-Friday 9am-7pm, Saturday 9am-4pm
Closed on Sunday & Public Holidays

From Me…To You
By Adiwit Ansathammarat

At The Art Center, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University
On display August 6 – September 4, 2010
Opening reception: Friday August 6, 2010, 5.30-8pm

Artists draw inspiration from what they see and experience. Most people might record their life stories in a diary so that they can read these tales by themselves later. But for Adiwit Ansathammarat, simple stories that he sees every day are often transformed into shapes and colors and shared with the audience as artworks.

Adiwit creates both two- and three-dimensional works, using diverse materials. But no matter what technique he employs, what all his works have in common is a sense of repetition, which is a result from the inspiration found in everyday living. His ‘stories’ might appear simple and insignificant, but they bear great value and meaning for Adiwit while also being identifiable for most people. These are the things ‘the artist’ has taken in to create his art and then send out to ‘the viewer’ to see, encouraging them to appreciate all the little, seemingly unimportant details in their lives again.

“From Me…To You” is Adiwit’s 5th solo show. It features 50 works in painting, sculpture and mixed media.

Artist’s Statement
The exhibition ‘From me…To you’ is like a story from many stories I have recorded and linked together. Different messages are translated into different artworks of different mediums. They all have their own meanings.

My art practice is like documentation. It tells my experience, from learning, meeting people, travelling to different places or even frequently using certain things in life. I’ve been inspired by simple shapes and colors. The shapes and colors in my works all come from what I see every day. They’re part of my everyday life.

This exhibition consists of paintings of different techniques and sizes: drawings, stickers, mixed media; as well as sculptures made of various materials.

About the Artist
Adiwit Ansathammarat is 30 years old. After earning his Bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Chulalongkorn University, he furthered his studies at the School of the Art Institute Chicago, USA, where he earned a post-baccalaureate degree and an MFA from the Department of Drawing and Painting. Today, in addition to making his art, he is also a special lecturer at Chulalongkorn and Dhurakij Pundit universities.

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

The Art Center
7th Fl, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University
Phyathai Rd, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330

Tel: 0-2218-2965
Email: info.artcenterchula@gmail.com

www.car.chula.ac.th/art
Facebook: The Art Center - Chula
Monday-Friday 9am-7pm, Saturday 9am-4pm
Closed on Sunday & Public Holidays

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

www.car.chula.ac.th/art

www.facebook.com/pages/The-Art-Center-Chula/#!/pages/Bangkok-Thailand/The-Art-Center-Chula/242158381691?ref=ts

Monday-Friday 9am-7pm, Saturday 9am-4pm
Closed on Sunday & Public Holidays

Between Spaces and Look – Overlook
At The Art Center, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University
April 9 – May 15, 2010
Opening reception: Friday April 23, 2010, 6-8pm
“Through the eyes of others, we see the world differently.”



In the face of globalisation where the world has become smaller and smaller, the void inside each human's heart has actually expanded. In our daily life, we all keep building up a wall to create a personal space and simply live within the small world we have created.

This time around, The Art Center would like to introduce two exhibitions by two young artists that challenge the viewers about their notion of space. These exhibitions are two small worlds, presented through different perspectives, yet originating from the same society the artists and curators live in. Their intention is to allow the viewers to get to know the worlds other than their own and start to see their own world differently. Maybe, we'll then realise that what we're looking for in our own world, all the answers we're trying to get, can actually be found in other people's worlds, if we care to look at them


Between Spaces
Artists: Jackkrit Anantakul and Chawnchom Boonmegurdsup

Curator: Narongsak Nilkhet

Everybody craves for a private space. But in today's living conditions, especially with all the modern technologies that give us convenience that we're so attached to, it's impossible to disconnect ourselves from a public space. The notion of the two spaces has become ambiguous and no one can really distinguish one from the other. Vising Between Spaces will be a challenge for people who try to define private and public spaces.

Look – Overlook
An art project to heighten awareness
Artist: Jedsada Tangstrakulwong
Curator: Pichaya Piyassapan

We live our daily life depending on our sight and the preconceived belief of the world. But sometimes, our mind can trick us to believe we have seen things that we might have never really looked at. So, wouldn't it be better to actually start noticing the world around us carefully, learning its details, and seeing it for what it truly is.

*At present, The Art Center is open Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm and closed on Saturdays. However, if you would like to visit us and check the dates and time of our gallery hours, please call 02-218-2965.

**Closed dates in April starting from April 9: The Art Center will be closed April 13-17 for the Songkran Festival. We will open again on April 19.


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
www.car.chula.ac.th/art
www.facebook.com/pages/The-Art-Center-Chula/#!/pages/Bangkok-Thailand/The-Art-Center-Chula/242158381691?ref=ts
Monday-Friday 9am-7pm, Saturday 9am-4pm
Closed on Sunday & Public Holidays

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