THE EXHIBITION
Partecipants | Somsak Chowtadapong, Panya Vijinthanasarn and Krit Ngamsom
Commissioner | Vimolluck Chuchat
Organization | Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture, Thailand
in collaboration with Concilio Europeo dell’Arte
Curator | Tawatchai Somkong
Pre-opening | 8 th – 10th May 2019 at 10.00 a.m. – 18.00 p.m.
Opening Reception | Friday 10 th May 2019 at 16:00 p.m.
Official Opening | 11th May – 24th Nov 2019 (opening hours 10.00 a.m. – 18.00 p.m. – closed on Mondays, except May 13th, Sep 2nd and Nov 18th 2019)
Venue | InParadiso Art Gallery, Giardini della Biennale, Castello 1260
THE REVOLVING WORLD
Stories, truth and history are inventions related to reality.
They are inseparable and interconnected. This art exhibition presents stories, truth and history related to the Kingdom of Thailand, on the interpretation of the three aforementioned creations. At its base are the social and cultural contexts, national discourse and dynamics of the relationship between Thailand and other countries.
Panya Vijinthanasarn installs a small room in the exhibition area. On the walls are Thai traditional paintings, duplicated from the murals of the Scripture Hall in Wat Bang Khae Yai, Samut Songkhram. The murals depict stories from the life of Buddha. It is the space of meditation, created from Buddhist stories and the social and political context of the contemporary.
Somsak Chowtadapong presents stories passed on through generations in Thai society. ‘Mae Nak Phra Khanong’ is a tragedy widely believed to be true, and happened in the reign of King Rama III. The story is reinterpreted and presented in an abstract painting placed in a light box. Chowtadapong reinterprets stories and history with an artistic perspective; and through tragedies that occurred at different time, and to different group of people who suffer the loss. However, they are connected by the truth of life.
Krit Ngamsom presents everything written in the history since the reign of King Rama V, along with materials symbolising the western world, in the ‘cabinet of history’. The piece represents cultural diffusion during the time. Based on the concept of binary opposition, the artwork presents two similar yet different perspectives that prompt the viewers to think of the same matter.
Stories, truth and history vary according to the social context at the time. Time is the composer that weaves everything together, and the present will become the past of the upcoming future.
As long as the world keeps turning around, one could only witness the changes in silence.