WHAT MAKES traditional Indonesian batik so precious and unique is charmingly revealed in an exhibition continuing at the Jim Thompson Art Centre in Bangkok through February 28.

“Pola – Patterns of Meaning”, organised in conjunction with the Danar Hadi Museum in Surakarta, Indonesia, makes a clear distinction between classic batik and the more common mass-produced product – right down to the absence or lingering presence of the scent of wax.

In its final exhibition before closing for two years while a new building is erected, the Thompson turns over the reins to Yogyakarta-based Dutch artist Mella Jaarsma, who serves as curator.

She has paired samples from the Danar Hadi collection with newly commissioned pieces by Indonesian contemporary artists.

Visitors get a good grounding in the significant role that batik has played in that country’s history and culture and see how batik’s meaning has changed over the years.

The topics covered include “Batik as Identity”, “Environmental and Foreign Influences”, “Gender”, “Political Developments” and “Batik as a Commodity”.

Jaarsma points out that batik is a many-layered art form.

“Young people have their own multiple interpretations of its meanings and relevance and about how they can use it in their lives,” she says. “It’s affected by the market, culture, urban life and religion. Batik has been declining in value, but Indonesians still see it as part of their national identity.

“This exhibition digs into the social issues related to batik and also how it can be adapted to developing different kinds of art and how important the traditional rules of batik creation are in today’s society.”

Jaarsma says the evolution of batik in Indonesia reflects cultural changes, while at the same time contributing to evolving political and economic policies.

“If you go to the market to buy batik today, you find piles of silk-screened cotton with batik motifs, which fulfils consumer demand through cheap mass production. So, when we talk about batik, are we talking about the technical aspects – the wax and dyeing techniques on hand-woven fabric – or about just batik motifs on factory-made cloth? There are various definitions and interpretations to sort through as we try to understand the meaning of batik in its cultural context.”

Asti Suryo Astuti, assistant manager of the Danar Hadi, affirms that preserving batik tradition is crucial because it is part of the national identity and there are specific meanings to different types of batik. A certain kind is used in infant boys’ circumcision ceremonies, another for girls when they experience menstruation for the first time.

“In this way, the tradition teaches them to grow up to be a good person,” she says. “Young people need to learn about these meanings as well as the production methods used. Times change, though. In the past, dark brown, blue and yellow were novel shades worn only within the palace, but nowadays there are no longer such strict rules or taboos on certain patterns.”

Participating contemporary artists who are members of the Ace House Collective have mounted a sculpture installation called “Fervent Base”, which combines a chocolate fountain and video with batik waxing and ironing techniques.

Unesco recognises batik as world cultural heritage, defining it as resulting from a hot-wax-resistant dyeing technique in the application of colour to produce specific patterns with specific meanings.

The qualifications are notable, says the collective’s Adi Kusumo, particularly in light of the burgeoning batik industry that mass-produces batik goods. The process can even be digital these days, involving no manual labour at all.

“Our installation examines the batik manufacturing process that’s being slowly lost, which involves applying the wax by hand and removing the wax. We envisioned a chocolate fondue in which viewers can actually smell the wax, which is a sign that the batik is genuine.”

The artist group Cahaya Negeri shows an installation called “Significant Scenarios”, comprised of batik on cotton that features ornaments and underscores the significant difference in motifs.

“As we understand it, ornaments are batik designs that do not refer to any narrative,” says the group’s Nindityo Adipurnomo. “There are batik designs that are ‘empty of meaning’ and used generally for decoration, but there are also designs that contain cultural and historical context, with meaning embodied in the designs dictating social history, context and protocol.”

Visitors can also walk inside a batik labyrinth, a demonstration of the fact that batik can be more than wearable. Here, you’re surrounded by sensory cues ranging from ornamentation, aromas and plays of light to optical tricks that change with the viewer’s gestures and postures.

In artist Restu Ratnaningtyas’ “Re-growing: Hierarchy, Cotton, Indigo, Synthetic Colour and Tapioca”, women’s roles in the batik industry are shown to extend beyond basic labour. They are in fact the “locomotive” pulling a batik home industry.

She talks about a village called Laweyan in Surakarta where the women running the batik operation hold the title MboKMaseh.

“Laweyan is more than just an important batik centre in Indonesia – it’s also a vital cultural environment with deep historical roots. MboKMaseh is the title of a number of women there who’ve been successful in running their businesses and who represent a continuing part of this local history.

“I’m aiming with this piece to translate these concepts and perhaps encourage viewers to question models of gender relations in other cultural practices that tend to place women in subordinate roles.”

Eldwin Pradipta’s “Shadow Stamp / Tjap Bayang” entails three videos being projected through copper stamps used in batik creation. It addresses, through batik, concerns about the culture and history of the colonial city of Bandung being regarded as mere commodities.

Bandung batik is itself both a commodity and an element of local identity, but recent developments have undermined traditional values. Pradipta celebrates contemporary batik motifs that leave behind traditional philosophy and collective social values.

PATTERNS OF HISTORY

– The exhibition “Pola – Patterns of Meaning” continues through February 28 at the Jim Thompson Art Centre on Soi Kasemsan 2 in Bangkok.

– The centre is open daily from 9am to 8pm. There is no admission charge.

– Learn more at (02) 612 6741, artcenter@jimthompsonhouse.com and http://www.JimThompsonartCenter.org.

“Laboureur dans un champ,” painted by the tortured Dutch genius from the window of a French asylum where he had committed himself sold to a buyer on the telephone after a frenzied four-minute bidding war having been valued at $50 million.

Van Gogh began the painting of a ploughman tilling the soil in late August 1889 and completed it on September 2, the first time he picked up his brushes for a month and a half after an epileptic fit. He died the following year.

Christie’s said it sold for $81.3 million, including the buyer’s premium, well over its pre-sale estimate of $50 million.

It was just a hair’s breath from the auction record for a Van Gogh, set in 1990 at $82.5 million in New York for “Portrait of Dr Gachet,” although that price would be much higher if adjusted for today’s inflation.

The other chief highlight was “Contraste de formes,” a 1913 Fernand Leger abstract that scored $70 million, setting a new world auction record for the artist, the auction house said.

Rene Magritte’s “L’empire des lumieres” — a nocturnal bourgeois street scene — sold for $20.56 million, which Christie’s said set a world auction record for the Belgian surrealist.

Painted in 1949, it was the first of 17 versions of the picture that Magritte produced in oil paint over the next 15 years.

Christie’s said its flagship evening sale of impressionist and modern art netted a total of $479 million.

Pablo Picasso holds the world record for the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction. “The Women of Algiers (Version O)” got $179.4 million at Christie’s in New York in 2015.

The star lot in New York’s November art auctions is “Salvator Mundi,” a painting of Jesus Christ by the Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci circa 1500. It goes under the hammer Wednesday evening.

Running from Thursday (November 16) to March 11, the exhibition unites, for the first time, an array of their masterpieces loaned from private and public collections around the world that traces their artistic journey from Southeast Asia to Europe and back again. It also tells of their struggle to reconcile their love of homeland with their ambitions in Europe, where they established their careers.

During the height of colonial rule in Southeast Asia in the 19th century, the two young men from Indonesia and the Philippines sailed across the ocean to Europe, to train under great painters of their time. They steadily earned their place within European art worlds, and their successes there made them national heroes in their respective homelands.

Despite hailing from different countries and being active at different times of the 19th century, the artists shared a similar journey as Southeast Asian artists who received opportunities to hone their craft in Europe.

Conferred the title of “King’s Painter” by King Willem III of the Netherlands, Raden Saleh (1811-1880) was the first Indonesian artist to receive training in Europe, from landscape, genre and portrait artists from the Netherlands. He went on to receive acclaim in Germany and Paris for his signature Orientalist animal hunts and fights. A leading example is “Boschbrand” (Forest Fire) (1849), on display at the Gallery’s UOB Southeast Asia Gallery. This immense painting measuring 3 x 4 metres depicts a dramatic scene of animals chased by flames over the edge of a precipice.

Taken under the wing of Spanish painter Alejo Vera, the Filipino artist Juan Luna (1857-1899) studied in Madrid and Rome. His painting “Spoliarium” earned him fame in Spain and won him the First Class Medal in Spain’s annual art exhibition in Madrid in 1884. Luna then moved to Paris, participating in the salons there while exhibiting and accepting commissions in Spain.

The exhibition is a culmination of four years of effort by the Gallery’s curators – Russell Storer, Clarissa Chikiamco and Syed Muhammad Hafiz – to bring together more than 100 paintings, drawings and archival materials from Southeast Asian, European and American museums and private collections, for the very first time.

Significant artworks in the exhibition include two landscape paintings of Java by Raden Saleh from the collection of the Smithsonian, on public display for the first time; as well as the spectacular Arab Horseman Attacked by a Lion (1842).

Highlights of the Juan Luna works on display include “Cleopatra” (1881) – a dramatic depiction of Cleopatra’s death which won him his first major prize in Europe; and “Les Ignores” (The Unknown Ones) (1890-91), one of his major surviving works in Realism that marked a shift in his focus from historical paintings to paintings that reflect contemporary social realities.

The exhibition is part of “Century of Light”, a special presentation of two exhibitions focusing on art of the 19th century. The complementary exhibition, “Colours of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musee d’Orsay” traces the history of Impressionism through the theme of colour, and features important works by masters such as Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir and Paul Cezanne. Both exhibitions will be held over the same period.

Entry to the exhibition costs $15 (Bt365) for Singaporeans and permanent residents, and $25 (Bt610) for non-Singaporeans.

For more information about the exhibition, visit http://www.NationalGallery.sg/centuryoflight.

This is the first time that a Thai artist has won the award since the regional competition was launched in 2013.

The judges praised the intricate attention to detail in his winning painting, titled “One Life”, where the fleeting nature of life is portrayed in the different stages of a decaying Bodhi tree. Sukit also earned praise for his painstaking technique in using a small round brush to apply tempera, a form of powdered pigment and acrylic paint.

“Each of the four winning works had its own strengths but Sukit’s painting ‘One Life’ stood out with its particular resonance. It is a very striking image, yet everything about the painting is subtle and delicate. Most exceptional is the painting’s use of symbolism, the painstaking and meditative process of its making, and the way it speaks about life and its transience,” commented Beverly Yong, director and co-founder of RogueArt gallery in Malaysia.

“My artwork seeks to encourage people to reflect upon themselves and see beyond the immediate form of their lives. Change, both positive and negative, is inevitable. We need to remain open-minded and to embrace all forms of changes in our lives to learn and to achieve wisdom,” says the artist.

Tan Choon Hin, president and chief executive officer of UOB (Thai), said that the Painting of the Year competition is part of the Bank’s efforts to give back to the community and to help strengthen the fabric of society.

“The bank believes that through the medium of art we can help draw people across the region closer together as one community. UOB would then be bound not just by our geographical and economic ties, but by a deeper understanding and appreciation of our common roots and linkages. And by nurturing and promoting young talent in the region, we are also helping to open the hearts and minds of future generations.”

The regional panel of judges comprised representatives from each of the four participating countries. They were Dr Agung Hujatnika, an independent curator and lecturer at the Faculty of Art and Design at the Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia; Rogue Art’s Yong, Bridget Tracy Tan, director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Arts and Art Galleries, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore; and Amrit Chusuwan, artist, consultant and curator of Art Mill, Songkhla Art Centre.

The winning and participating paintings from the 2017 Painting of the Year competition will be exhibited at the UOB Art Gallery, UOB Plaza 1 at 80 Raffles Place, Singapore. The exhibition will run from November 16 to the end of February.

THIS APRIL, the Thailand centre of the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC) honoured the exemplary stage works from 2016, and now IATC’s only national section in Southeast Asia is ready to do the same for those from 2017.

But, wait, this year is not yet over. In fact, they’re only considering stage works by Thai artists, premiered from January 1 to October 31 for the IATC Thailand Dance and Theatre Awards 2017.

In other words, the list of works considered for 2017 awards is shorter than that of previous years. However, from next year onwards this will go back to the 12-month season and works premiered from November 1 this year to October 31, will be considered for 2018 awards. The exceptions are works that are part of the ongoing Bangkok Theatre Festival (BTF), all of which are up for “BTF Awards by IATC-Thailand”, and 10 awards will be handed out on the same evening. With this convergence scheme, BTF itself will become the year-end showcase of contemporary Thai stage, and the beginning of the new stage season.

Full Fat Theatre’s “Co/Exist” is up for awards in seven categories. /PHOTO: SIRIMA CHAIPREECHAWIT

Leading all nominees is FullFat Theatre’s “Co/Exist”, which is up for an unprecedented seven awards – best play, original script, direction, art direction, as well as performances by an ensemble, male and female artists, respectively Peter Knight and Punika Rangchaya. It’s noteworthy that seasoned playwright and director Nophand Boonyai had been nominated many times before and had been completely shut out. And in case you missed it last time at Warehouse 30, it’s being restaged this Wednesday to Friday at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), as part of the inaugural Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (BIPAM).

B-Floor’s experiential performance “Blissfully Blind” is nominated for four awards./PHOTO: TEERAPHAN NGOWJEENANAN

Another strong contender is B-Floor Theatre’s “Blissfully Blind”, which is being nominated for best movement-based performance, direction, art direction and performance by an ensemble awards. That means it will compete neck-to-neck with “Co/Exist” in three categories. The fact that both these two critically acclaimed works were staged in non-conventional theatre spaces – a warehouse and an art gallery – reflects an important trend in Thailand’s stage works this year.

Inspired by a cult Japanese film, Splashing Theatre’s “Thou Shalt Sing” is vying for three awards. /PHOTO: PATHAVEE THEPKRAIWAN

Splashing Theatre, the year’s most prolific company is also recognised, with two of their works up for six awards. Their “Thou Shalt Sing: A Secondary Killer’s Guide to Pull the Trigger”, seen at Crescent Moon Space, has nods for best play, adapted script and performance by a male artist, Thongchai Pimapunsri, who won this same award two years ago. Thongchai, whose new work “What I Talk When I Talk About Grinding” opened yesterday in the BTF, is also getting two more nominations for co-directing and co-writing with Thanaphon Accawatanyu “Teenage Wasteland: Summer, Star and the (Lost) Chrysanthemum”. In addition, this young troupe’s largest scale and most ambitious work is also up for best play– and that’s competing with their own “Thou Shalt Sing”.

In a year that has seen the number of musicals drop significantly, three musicals by two companies are up for best musical and book of a musical—Fascinating Four’s “21 3/4” and Maya: The Art and Cultural Institute for Development’s “Let’s Move the Mountains” and “Aesop’s Fables Cabaret”, now onstage at its studio theatre near Chatuchak weekend market.

IATC-Thailand Centre will honour Chulalongkorn University’s dance professor Naraphong Charassri with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Finnish dance critic and scholar Jukka O Miettinen wrote about “Khru Tam”, as we know him here, “What makes Naraphong exceptional is that he masters modern dance as well as classical Thai dance and western ballet, and he feels at home even in the commercial entertainment industry.”

MANY AWARDS TO BE HANDED OUT

“IATC Thailand Dance and Theatre Review 2017” and “BTF 2017 Awards” take place at the fifth floor auditorium of BACC (BTS: National Stadium) this Sunday at 7pm.

All dance and theatre artists and audiences are welcome: light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

For more details and complete list of nominees, visit Facebook.com/IATC.Thailand.

NEARLY 150 YEARS after the Franco-Prussian War prompted artists to flee Paris, the works of Claude Monet and other Impressionists in London are on display in the British capital.

Finding freedom in London after 1870, artists including Camille Pissarro, James Tissot and Jules Dalou created a unique portrait of the city and British |society.

More than 100 of the Impressionists’ paintings and sculptures during the period until 1904 form a new exhibition at Tate Britain.

“There was a long tradition in London of welcoming political refugees, but the main draw of London, for these artists, was the importance of the art market,” says curator Caroline Corbeau-Parsons.

A woman poses by a painting titled “Westminster” by French based Italian artist Giuseppe de Nittis./AFP

Although prompted by the dire circumstances in their home city, which are touched upon in the exhibition, the French artists brought a fresh perspective to London.

“We feel that there was really this outside look at British culture,” Corbeau-Parsons says. “A fascination for London parks, for example, which incidentally French people continue to have.”

Corbeau-Parsons points to Monet’s “Hyde Park” as one notable example.

“What fascinated them was that we can walk on the lawn, which obviously is not the case in Paris. There was a sense of freedom, particularly at a moment when war was devastating Paris.”

From views of the River Thames to scenes of daily life, with cricket matches and more rural scenes in the London suburbs, the Impressionists drew attention to contemporary subjects deemed too mundane across the Channel.

“I really think that the originality of Monet and Pissarro is their trying to depict London as they saw it,” says Corbeau-Parsons – a different approach to that of other Victorian painters.

“From 1870, Monet was really interested in the representation of the fog, even though it’s something which is very difficult to produce in art,” she adds.

The artist’s efforts can be seen in six canvases from his Houses of Parliament series, painted between 1903 and 1904 and brought together from different museums for the Tate Britain show.

 A woman and her son stand next to a sculpture titled “HushaBaby” or “The Rocking Chair” by French artist Jules Dalou./AFP

The exhibition also highlights the welcoming creative network which the exiled artists relied on in London.

“From an artistic point of view, we try to show that there really were very strong links,” Corbeau-Parsons says.

The curator drew on Alphonse Legros, who had already established himself in London and became a key contact and support of new arrivals such as sculptor Jules Dalou.

Monet, who crossed the Channel in 1870 to avoid conscription, benefitted greatly from meeting fellow exiled artist Charles-Francois Daubigny, who introduced him to French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel.

The encounter would play an important role in the career |of Monet, whose first stay in London was marked by significant financial difficulty.

“He didn’t have enough money to buy painting materials. In the space of seven or eight months, he only made six paintings, which is very little for him,” Corbeau-Parsons says.

The small collection includes “Meditation, Mrs Monet Sitting on a Sofa”, a portrait of Monet’s wife Camille, which Corbeau-Parsons said expresses a sense of depression experienced at the time by the artist.

But like many of the artists who fled France, Monet’s fortunes turned around.

By the turn of the century, he was staying at London’s upmarket Savoy Hotel and working on his Thames series.

“Impressionists in London: French Artists in Exile 1870-1904” runs until May 7, 2018, before transferring to the Petit Palais in Paris.

SHOULD GRAFFITI be protected by federal law? That is the question a New York jury is deciding after an extraordinary three-week trial. And if so, should a property owner pay damages?

The case pits 21 artists against a wealthy developer. Its focus is 5Pointz, once one of the city’s most arresting sights – a huge building plastered in brilliantly coloured, skilfully executed graffiti that has won international acclaim.

For 20 years developer Jerry Wolkoff invited taggers to showcase their art on the industrial complex he owned, turning it – in the words of the artists’ lawyer into the “world’s largest outdoor open aerosol museum.”

But in 2014 Wolkoff demolished the site, after whitewashing the art, making way for a multi-million-dollar luxury residential towers.

The artists are now suing him for damages, arguing that they should have been given more opportunity to salvage their work before the wrecking ball came in.

They are asking jurors to consider a little known federal law, the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 that says any artwork should be protected, provided it is of recognised stature.

A picture shows the historic graffiti mecca 5 Pointz after being painted over by developers in the Long Island City neighbourhood of the Queens borough of New York City. / AFP 

“It’s not an easy task, but I’m counting on you,” Judge Frederic Block told jurors on Monday before dismissing them to begin their deliberations.

They must reach a unanimous decision on whether 49 works of graffiti were each of recognised stature, whether the whitewashing constitutes mutilation and if so, whether that prejudiced the artist’s reputation and honour.

If they determine that, then jurors can subscribe damages that can run from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars, although the judge will have the final word on any amount awarded to the plaintiffs.

It’s far cry from the 1970s, when taggers would spray subway cars or warehouse walls in the dead of night, dodging police then slipping into the shadows to avoid arrest.

Until its demolition, 5Pointz attracted families, teachers, tourists and artists, and brought down crime in the area, argued Eric Baum, lawyer for the artists.

“Art should be protected, it should be cherished, not destroyed,” said Baum, calling 5Pointz a “cultural institution.”

“You are the first jury to determine a case of this kind.” The artists say that Wolkoff was obligated to give them 90 days written notice of his intention to remove and destroy the art, and that because he did not he damaged their honour and reputations.

The plaintiffs have sought to present street artists as the heirs and descendants of Europe’s Old Masters.

New York University lecturer and contemporary art expert Renee Vara called 5Pointz “not much different to the Metropolitan or to MoMA” in reference to New York’s two most fabled art museums.

“It’s not different to Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, it’s just a different medium,” she testified of one of the murals.

But David Ebert, the lawyer for Wolkoff, says the artists always knew the building was going to come down and that there is no evidence their reputation was harmed.

“The white washing, of course it was devastating,” Ebert said. “We’re not fighting that, but that doesn’t translate to you have to give me money.”

He said there was no evidence that the artists lost jobs, money or opportunities, on the contrary that 5Pointz boosted their careers.

“How did Jerry become the bad guy and the artists became angels?” he asked.

PART OF THE showcase in the inaugural Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (BIPAM), MOVE Theatre’s “Kuang Qi” will be at Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts from Wednesday to Friday.

Presented by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand and Chulalongkorn University’s “World Performances @ Drama Chula” programme, “Kuang Qi” is “music theatre”, combining traditional opera, a traditional opera percussion ensemble, contemporary music, body movements and theatre.

The story revolves around two noted female characters of Chinese opera: Du Li-niang (“The Peony Pavilion”) and Zhu Ying-tai (“The Butterfly Lovers”). Script-wise, it wonders what would happen if Du saw and had a relationship in her dreams not with a handsome man, but a woman in a man’s disguise and asks whether her desires and repression remain the same. By using the female archetype in traditional opera to delve into female desire and its transformation and with language and body movements as the means of expression, “Kuang Qi” exhibits a high level of gender awareness that transcends time and space.

Queer Taiwan: Contemporary dance artist Kuo Chiumiao portrays Du Liniang (“Peony Pavilion”) and in her dream is actress Kuan Ching as Zhu Yingtai (“Butterfly Lovers”), in a man’s disguise!

Music-wise, the mastermind is MOVE Theatre’s resident composer and music director Lin Kuei-ju, who explains the title comes from two phonetics used in the oral notation of the Peking opera percussion (Luogu). “Kuang” represents the sound of the heavy stroke performed by the entire ensemble while ‘Qi’ is the heavy stroke of the cymbals. Together they become one of the most frequently performed rhythmic patterns of the Peking Opera percussion.”

“In this production, we explored the possibilities of creating a musical style that combined Peking opera percussion with Western percussion as well as a new interpretation of two noted female characters as an attempt to search for a continuous conversation with this traditional art form in modern times. So we took the homonyms of ‘Kuang Qi’ as our title, which, in Mandarin, suggested other meanings and hopefully would create new images for the audience. By so doing, we also hope to reflect the ideas and spirit behind this interdisciplinary collaboration,” Lin says.

“All collaborating artists [from different backgrounds and disciplines] were pretty much on the same page. The actor, dancer and musicians rehearsed separately in the very beginning in order to maintain efficiency. But we would visit each other. For instance, I would go to the theatre and dance rehearsals to get a sense of what the music might be. And then [director and playwright] Daniel Wang and [choreographer] Tung I-fen would receive recordings from our music rehearsals as a reference to work on the details of the acting and dance. We went back and forth for a while, with some materials being revised or given up along the way. So when everyone met together at the final stage of the rehearsal, all the developments and integration of materials were really collective efforts.

“I received the commission from Taiwan’s newly-established Xiqu Centre to create a new work,” Lin continues. “Their request was for something to do with the traditional performing arts but they kindly give me total control over what and how to do it. The backgrounds of the artists are not rooted in traditional art forms but we’ve all collaborated with traditional artists in different ways. I appreciate traditional arts very much and I believe that if they are to have an ongoing influence and impact in modern culture, they must have a continuous conversation with it. So we decided to accept this challenge.

“Traditional and modern theatres in Taiwan of course have very different, even conflicting in aesthetics and practice. But I think we face some very similar issues – for example, finding our own voices in our works and looking for new audiences. So there have been artists of both ends try to collaborate together as a way to deal with the issues mentioned above. Of course there are many different approaches. But Taiwan continues to have artists stepping out of their comfort zones, learning the perspectives of the others, and trying to work together.”

“Kuang Qi” had its world premiere at Taiwan Traditional Theatre Centre less than two months ago and this BIPAM outing is its international premiere.

Other BIPAM Showcase productions, all at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), are “Co/Exist” by FullFat Theatre (Thailand), “Little Red in the Ruins” by For What Theatre (Thailand), “Full Service” by Daniel Hellmann (Switzerland), “Fight! Palast #membersonly” by Peng! Palast (Switzerland) and “We Women II: Trigger Warning” by We…Women Team (India). Adding these evening programmes to the talks, discussions, workshops, masterclasses and networking opportunities during the daytime, BIPAM is indeed making the ongoing Bangkok Theatre Festival more international and more exciting than ever before.

PLENTY TO WATCH THIS WEEK

“Kuang Qi” is at Chulalongkorn University’s Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts Wednesday and Thursday at 730pm and Friday at 2pm and 8pm.

Tickets are Bt600 at (081) 559 7252.

ON THE NIGHT of October 13 last year, just minutes after the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, celebrated artist Preecha Thaothong headed into his studio and worked solidly until the next morning, pouring out his grief as well as his gratitude to the monarch on a two-metre-tall canvas.

“No words could describe this great loss. I was totally shocked when I heard the news. All I could do was to take hold of my brushes and spontaneously express my grief. I painted and cried, cried and painted,” says Preecha.

His feelings that night are revealed in the painting “Explode from Inside” featuring the revered monarch in full regalia and a royal headdress in a sombre grey tone. Since then, he has worked in his studio every day and has so far completed 80 works.

“Explode from Inside”

These along with other works relating to the late monarch are now part of “Art Project 89/70/4447+ = 9 to 10” – his solo show featuring a collection of 112 paintings, sketches and sculptures spread across three floors of the Queen’s Gallery in Bangkok’s Ratchadamnoen Klang Avenue.

“Most of the artworks are from two distinct periods, the first set dating back to the year 1982 – the bicentennial celebration of Rattanakosin Era, to the day before His Majesty’s passing. The second set of 80 pieces was created after that mournful day. Since October 13, 2016, I have worked every day without planning to hold an exhibition. I just keep putting all my efforts into expressing how much His Majesty did for country throughout his reign through hard work, compassion and understanding,” adds the artist.

The show’s title refers to His Majesty’s age at death, 70 years of his reign and 70 years of searching and discovering ways to alleviate the sufferings of the Thai people, as manifested in his royal initiative projects, in all 4,447-plus. The “9 to 10” signifies the passage from the reign of King Rama IX to his son King Rama X.

“His Majesty also initiated 23 working principles such as the sufficiency economy concept, holistic approach, honesty, genuineness, and sincerity. All of these are my inspirations for this exhibition,” he says.

His first painting after the passing of King Bhumibol is also named after one of the monarch’s 23 working principles. “Explode from Inside” refers to the need to ensure clear agreement and understanding of any mission between those working together before solving external problems.

The bronze sculpture “Dharma Raja with Pure Perseverance”

The gallery’s first floor houses a large bronze sculpture of the late monarch sitting on the throne with his favourite pet dog Khun Tongdaeng at his feet as well as a sculpture of his book “Mahajanaka”. This is one of nine limited-edition works and the artist has said he will demolish his moulds once the series is complete. The sculpture will go to a charity auction to raise funds for Thai Red Cross while the remaining pieces will be donated to museums.

The portrait sculpture of His Majesty is divided into two parts – young and old. He is seen wearing traditional Thai jongkraben – a lower-body wrap – on the right side of his body while on the left he is wearing Western-style trousers.

“He was both the greatest monarch and a down-to-earth man. As his name Bhumibol means ‘Strength of the Land’, I coated the sculpture with slip – potter’s clay that is thinned and used for coating or decorating ceramics.

“I also sculpted the book ‘Mahajanaka’, which the late King penned about perseverance, to underline that for much of his 70 years on the throne, King Bhumibol travelled to the poorest and most remote corners of his Kingdom, sitting on the ground with farmers and villagers, listening to their problems and responding with more than 4,000 sustainable development projects to better their lives. The book sculpture can be opened and inside are the 110 A4-sized etchings of my paintings that decode the King’s 23 working principles,” Preecha explains.

His Majesty brought a modern twist to his literary work “The Story of Mahajanaka”, which is based on the story from the Tripitaka. It recounts the last incarnation of the Buddha as King Mahajanaka, who ruled the kingdom of Mithila, before being born again as Siddhartha. As King Mahajanaka, he valiantly faces challenges and troubles of every kind – from sinking ships to bloody succession feuds – and survives them all through his remarkable perseverance.

In 1996 – the year the Kingdom celebrated the 50th anniversary of His Majesty’s accession to the throne – Preecha was one of eight artists granted permission by King Bhumibol to create illustrations for his book “Mahajanaka”. The project gave him an all-too-rare chance to work with the King in person.

“I was in charge of illustrations for chapters 33 to 38. These were the final part of the story, which His Majesty had revised with symbolic twists and thought-provoking messages. Among the eight artists, I probably had a chance to meet the King more often because I had to correct the works 20 times based on his critiques and suggestions.

“He was a true Supreme Artist who had a deep understanding of both arts and Dharma teachings. He was also a genius on both sides of the brain – with an artistic and creative side as strong as his academic and logical side. He suggested that each artist express his own unique signature style by incorporating head, heart and hand to decode his hidden messages in the story,” he recalls.

The experience taught Preecha that the heart is equally as important as skill and progressive thinking in creating artwork because it reflects honesty and sincerity in the task being undertaken.

“His Majesty once noted that some of my works conformed to the theoretical approach while adhering to my signature style. His comment reminded me of one of his 23 working principles, which suggests that we should not rely on textbooks but should work in a style that is compliant with nature, environment and community psychology,” says Preecha.

Preecha poses next to his painting “Platinum Jubilee Reigning in Suvarnabhumi”

The second and third floors of gallery are occupied with paintings, drawings and sculptures – most of them portraits of King Bhumibol. Deftly rendered, a magnificent royal portrait set against a map of the country signifies that the setting is the King’s office, while several pieces feature his portraits in a golden palette that has been meticulously painted in delicate patterns to resemble a gilded and lacquered texture.

Others employ symbolic meanings. In one painting, a boat is set in the middle of a river to recall the virtues of perseverance and self-reliance as personified by King Mahajanaka, who after his ship flounders and sinks, swims across the ocean for seven days and seven nights even though the shore is not in sight.

The painting “24/7 Service”

For the work titled “24/7 Service”, Preecha presents a panel of four paintings depicting different periods of time from dawn, late morning, afternoon to night. Look closely and for long enough and the viewer will see the silhouette of the King from his childhood, through middle-age to old age, with the elderly King sitting in a wheelchair.

“It’s like he was looking from the balcony of Siriraj Hospital,” says Preecha. “As suggested by the title, His Majesty worked hard throughout his reign to resolve his people’s sufferings. Thousands of royal projects addressing community issues are testament to his devotion.”

This exhibition has been put together without sponsors, but using the thoroughly modern technique of crowdfunding.

“Ajarn Preecha didn’t intend to hold an exhibition, but after I had a chance to see his works and learn about his inspirations derived from our beloved King, I volunteered to help arrange the exhibition through crowdsourcing and crowdfunding platforms. This exhibition is not supported by any single organisation, but by all Thai people,” says Sirikul Laukaikul, the exhibition manager.

The goal is to reach Bt1.5 million and so far has raised nearly Bt600,000. To join this crowdfuding project, go to Facebook.com/eightynineseventy.

The exhibition photo book in Thai and English can also be reserved for Bt4,900 at the gallery’s shop. Proceeds after deduction of all expenses will be donated to Thai Red Cross and Siriraj hospital.

A LIFE  WELL LIVED

“Art Project 89/70/4447+ = 9 to 10” continues until December 19 at the Queen’s Gallery on Ratchadamnoen Klang Avenue.

The gallery opens daily (except Wednesday) from 10am to 7pm. |Call (02) 281 5360 or visit Facebook page “The Queen’s Gallery”.

Best known for his signature sculptures that play with the relationship between words, signs and the human body, Plensa uses materials such as bronze, copper, and iron, and his works can be found around the world including at the Ocean Financial Centre in Singapore, Lotte World Tower in South Korea and Yorkshire Sculpture Park in England.

Although based in Barcelona, his success as an artist sees him crisscross the globe. Most people who travel might find themselves inspired by the differences in the cultures they encounter, for Plensa it is the exact opposite. Underneath it all, he says, “People are the same everywhere you go.”

“The more I travel, the more I see and understand this, and the more it makes me happy,” says the artist. “You start a conversation, and you know other people everywhere are having the same conversation, and the deeper you go to your roots, the clearer it is – how similar we all are.”

His primary interest is in the “biological condition of language” – and his works see multiple letter forms take on a human shape. Bonded together into silhouettes of human bodies, seated or kneeling and contemplating the horizon, his spiritual figures represent a shared human soul.

Using different letters from a diversity of alphabets and combining them, as if they were pieces of a jigsaw puzzle or a mosaic, Plensa demonstrates the symbolic nature of language. The human form they make up represents hope, beauty and unity. As light enters the cavities between the letters, it’s possible to see the entire sculpture from every angle at once. With its face blank and with an entry-way through the crouching legs, it conveys openness in spite of the conventional barriers that frequently divide and separate humankind.

The nine-metre-tall, seated man sculpture Bangkok Soul also incorporates letters of the Thai alphabet, allowing visitors to see the high-rising Maha-Nakhon as the backdrop.

“Given the times we are living in, when much of the world seems to be trying to separate people, and destroy bridges, I want to share a positive message about community and encourage people to come together,” says Plensa.