The works are a continuation of his earlier show “Teleport” in New York that drew on his direct experience of racism and social inequality while living in the Big Apple.

“As suggested by the name ‘Teleport’, a black hole is a metaphor in my works for freedom. Back in Thailand, I have observed many social conflicts and have incorporated them in my work,” says Kantaporn, who has created an image of US President Donald Trump kissing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

His works are also featured on limited-edition lifestyle products including T-shirts, bags, mobile phones cases, plates, pins and stickers, which will be available only during the exhibition period.

Find out more at Facebook.com/objectsofdesirestore

The Palais de Tokyo, a contemporary art museum in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, offered the guided tour before opening to the general public on Saturday.

“What a day to remember. A new chapter in naturism is opening,” the Paris Naturists’ Association said on Twitter after the visit, which the museum called the first of its kind in France.

The participants, who snapped up the tickets in just two days after the event was announced last March, were able to take it all off for the show “Discordia, Daughter of the Night”.

They were then treated to a private cocktail party on the museum’s roof.

“An incredible moment, what a success! Mindsets are changing and naturism is becoming commonplace,” the nudists’ association said.

The French capital has become increasingly attentive to fans of baring their all, with the city last year setting aside a designated patch for nudists in the Bois de Vincennes park to the east of the city.

They can also enjoy a meal at their own restaurant, named O’Naturel.

THE WATERFALL appears to run down the wall of a room and across the floor, but the flow is an illusion – a digital exhibit at a new interactive museum in Tokyo.

The flower-filled waterfall is the work of Japanese collective teamLab, known internationally for their innovative “digital art” that combines projections, sound and carefully designed spaces to create other-worldly, immersive experiences.

A digital installation waterfall room, filled with flowers appearing to flow over a hill, is at Mori Building Digital Art Museum in Tokyo. /AFP

After exhibitions around the world, they are opening this summer a museum dedicated entirely to their unique brand of artwork.

The space is being billed as a first, a digital museum with artwork that envelops and interacts with visitors.

One space features a bucolic rice field, another is filled with seemingly endless hanging lamps that illuminate as the visitor nears, the light moving from one lamp to another around the room.

Elsewhere, a waterfall filled with flowers appears to flow over a hill or waves crash along the walls, throwing spray towards the ceiling.

A digital installation flower-filled room at Mori Building Digital Art Museum in Tokyo /AFP

The exhibits are designed to flow into one another and interact with each other and the viewer. Some follow visitors or react in different ways when they are touched.

“We have created a borderless world made up of pieces of artwork that move by themselves, communicate with each other and mix perfectly with others,” teamLab co-founder Toshiyuki Inoko, 41, explains.

“I would like this space to become a place where we can remember that borders do not exist in our world.”

A digital installation of bucolic rice field

Some exhibits also encourage visitor participation – in one, viewers are “propelled into space” by bouncing on a trampoline in the midst of an intergalactic projection, in another they can dance in unison with performers who appear as translucent silhouettes.

Inoko, who has a background in physics, founded teamLab in 2001 with four fellow Tokyo University students, but the collective didn’t make its artistic debut until 2011, with a show at a gallery in Taipei.

Three years later, New York’s Pace Gallery began promoting their work, and in 2015, they organised their first exhibition in Japan, drawing nearly 500,000 visitors over 130 days.

Since then, they have shown across the world, with exhibitions in London, Silicon Valley, China and elsewhere and the collective has grown to some 500 members.

A digital installation room houses hanging lamps, that illuminate as the visitor nears and the light moves from one lamp to another around the room.

They describe themselves as “ultratechnologists”, who combine expertise in speciality fields, including engineering, robotics and architecture, with hands-on manual labour to produce art.

While teamLab works are now in several permanent collections, the new museum will be the first permanent space completely devoted to the collective’s pieces.

The cost of the project has not been disclosed, but a team member indicated that each piece of artwork can cost around $1 million to $2 million (Bt31.6 million to Bt63.2 million).

The collective will have some 50 exhibits in the 10,000-square-metre space in the bayside Odaiba area of Tokyo.

They have partnered with property management company Mori Building, and secured support from Japanese companies ranging from Panasonic to Epson.

TeamLab co-founder Toshiyuki Inoko /AFP

Dubbed the “Mori Building Digital Art Museum: teamLab Borderless”, the facility will open its doors on June 21, charging 3,200 yen admission (Bt930).

Maintaining the artwork requires a bank of 520 computers and 470 projectors, but the real key is the set of sophisticated algorithms that generates images in real time.

The artworks are “neither pre-recorded animations nor images on loop,” says teamLab.

The collective say they want to use digital technology to “expand the beautiful”.

“Unlike a physical painting on a canvas, the non-material digital technology can liberate art,” they say in an explanation of their work.

“Because of its ability to transform itself freely, it can transcend boundaries. The fact that the universe transforms with the presence of the other is very important for us,” Inoko notes.

“I am as much a part of the artwork as the other visitors.”

WHEN THE Fine Arts Department started its programme of renovations to the National Museum Bangkok back in 2014, the hope was that visitor numbers would increase, thus generating income for an institute that has been haemorrhaging cash money for decades.

The gamble has paid off, with museum director Nitaya Kanokmongkol reporting that the numbers have more than doubled and revenue from admission fees has increased fivefold, from Bt20,000 a day to more than Bt100,000.

The first fully renovated hall in the complex, Siwamokkhaphiman, re-opened two years ago with an entirely revamped interior, greatly improved lighting, and shorn of its walls and other obstacles to exploration.

The National Museum Bangkok recently opened four newly refurbished halls with a new display design and improved lighting that makes the facility more inviting.

Four halls in Moo Phra Wiman – a former residential complex of the viceroys – followed, opening this year just in time for the unprecedented interest in Thai history and traditional costumes generated by the royal-initiated, yesteryear-themed festival “Oon Ai Rak Klay Kwam Nao” and the hit period TV series “Buppesannivas” (“Love Destiny”).

“Today the museum attracts more than 300 Thai visitors and 500 foreigners a day, which is so much better than our previous record of 300, all nationalities combined,” Nitaya enthuses.

The museum was formerly Wang Na (the Front Palace) and constructed in 1782, about the same time the Grand Palace was built. It served as the residence for five viceroys during the reigns of Kings Rama I to V.

Work is continuing on Moo Phra Wiman’s other 12 halls and the aim is to complete the project within the next two years.

The Patchima Bhimuk Hall is home to exquisite metal works arranged according to technique employed.

“We previously put a lot of artefacts on show, but now we have reclassified and highlighted significant pieces that best represent each topic. The layout plan has also been reviewed and now allows space for a 360-degree view of each piece. Multimedia techniques have been added for some exhibits and this provides more visual understanding than boards filled with text,” adds the director.

Another noticeable improvement is the installation of new and more suitable lighting and specially designed secure glass cabinets fitted with controls to maintain correct levels of humidity and temperature. These days, visitors are even permitted to take photographs though, as elsewhere, flash and selfie sticks are banned.

The Uttra Bhimuk Hall displays exquisite clothes and costumes from the Siamese court.

Among the recently renovated four halls at Moo Phra Wiman, the most popular with Thai visitors is the Uttra Bhimuk Hall, which is home to a display of the clothes and costumes of the Siamese court. The “Oon Ai Rak Klay Kwam Nao” and the TV series “Buppesannivas” might have already ended but some visitors still turn up to the museum in Thai traditional costume and spend hours marvelling at the truly magnificent display of rare, intricately embellished costumes once worn by members of the royal family and noblemen.

The exhibition is enhanced by a video presentation on the dressing style and the making of textiles in the Siamese court as well as the traditional ways in which the costumes were laundered.

Prince Asdang Dejavudh’s khrui krong thong (translucent gown) made from mesh fabric embroidered with silver and gold threads, and somrot krong thong – gold lace netting worn as a sash.

“The works are reclassified according to category such as pha sompak – a kind of lower garment worn by noblemen to distinguish their rank, pha lai yang – printed cotton fabric worn as a lower garment, and pha krong thong – gold lace netting used as a translucent shawl by noble ladies. We also display pha yia rabap, an Indian silk fabric with gold stripes and brocade and pha sapak – a noble lady’s shawl made of silk and woven gold cloth embroidered with green beetle wings and crystal beads,” says Nitaya.

The richly embroidered piece at the centre is the costume of King Mongkut embroidered with oak leaves and fruit in flat metallic gold thread.

The highlight is the richly embroidered costume of King Mongkut embroidered with oak leaves and fruit in flat metallic gold thread. It dates back to 1859 and is believed to have been tailored and embroidered in Europe.

The pattern of the crown on the collar as well as the oak leaf design on the facing and back are similar to several textiles given to the King by the French government as a gesture of friendship. The embroidery technique is complicated and tight and the metallic gold thread is oxidised, so it turns black with time. The inner translucent cloth, however, is embroidered with a pikul flower (bullet wood) pattern thought to be the work of Thai artisans.

The royal garments were pricey and elaborate, as they were made of imported textiles from China, India, Cambodia and Persia and required skilled royal artisans to weave the already elaborate cloth with gold-thread or with a printed design that used the gold line technique known as pha khien thong.

Long-sleeved collar shirt made from yia rabap silk fabric brocaded with gold threads.

The embroidered clothes on display were widely favoured by members of the Siamese court, particularly the high-ranking ladies of honour. Silk and high-quality cotton were the most popular fabrics and often woven with coloured silk stripes or other materials such as gold or silver-wrapped thread, pearls, glass beads, crystal and jewelled beetles. Embroidery usually took the form of flowers and branches as well as classical Thai patterns.

The complete set of musical instruments played in a wong piphat khrueng yai (Thai classical orchestra)

Thai musical instruments and art pieces related to the royal performing arts are presented in the Thaksina Bhimuk Hall. Here visitors can see the complete sets of mother-of-pearl inlaid instruments of the 22-piece wong mahori khrueng yai (Thai grand orchestra) and the 12-piece wong piphat khrueng yai (Thai classical orchestra) arranged according to the positions of musicians. A video clip of the grand orchestra performing is also presented.

“The wong piphat khrueng yai of the Fine Arts Department performed during the Royal Cremation Ceremony of His Majesty the late King Bhumibol late last year and this has drawn interest in learning more about the set of woodwind and percussion instruments of the traditional orchestra,” Nitaya says.

A rare collection of intricate, small hun lek or hun wang na (the royal puppet of the Front Palace) can be seen at the Thaksina Bhimuk Hall.

Another highlight is the hun lek or hun wang na (the royal puppet of the Front Palace), which were introduced by Krom Phra Ratchawang Bowon Wichaichan (the viceroy in the reign of King Rama V). The puppets in intricate costumes were similar to the hun yai or hun luang (royal puppet) figures, with full arms and legs, a wooden tube and control rods but smaller in size – about 30-centimetres high each compared to the 85-110 cm of their larger cousins.

Hun yai or hun luang (royal puppet) figures

Also on display is a collection of khon masks and sian khru (teachers’ heads) of Hindu deities such as Brahma, Indra, Isavara, and Ganesh as well as elaborate and intricate accessories specially made in Europe on the order of King Rama VI and used in the royal khon. Here too, understanding is helped by the screening of a khon performance.

A rare collection of weaponry dating back to the Ayutthaya and early Rattanakosin periods is on view at the Burapha Bhimuk Hall.

Armaments find their home in the Burapha Bhimuk Hall. Among the collections is the weaponry crafted for monarchs and noblemen including the Vishnu spear with bamboo shaft and decorated with gold damascene, and a caplock firearm with metal wrapped buttstock and gold damascene trigger set engraved with the name of Prince Vishnunat Nipathon – a son of King Rama IV.

Tamra pichai songkram (the military treatise on war strategy) is displayed, with a touch screen illustrating each page of the treatise.

The tamra pichai songkram (the military treatise on war strategy), the 82-page royal edition written in 1815 during the reign of King Rama II, is securely displayed in a glass cabinet but can be brought to life thanks to a touch screen, which shows each page of the treatise. This reflects the beliefs and rituals of warfare, different troop formations for mobilisation and for battle and campground plans.

The next glass cabinet further illustrates the orders in the treatise through tiny soldier figures marching in khrutphayuha benchasena (garuda formation with five types of soldiers).

The display of the battle formation in garuda form with five types of soldiers as illustrated in the military treatise.

The last stop for the visitor is the Patchima Bhimuk Hall, home to exquisite metal works arranged according to technique employed and including Buddha images in hum plaeng (gold-pleat wrapping), krum household items such as scissors and hand-held betel nut grinders etched in cross-furrows and inlaid with gold and silver, and a collection of water kettles and caskets made using the thom pad (painted enamel on copper) technique popular with Chinese artisans.

Hand-held betel nut grinders and scissors inlaid with gold and silver – a technique influenced by Persian artisans

Another six halls are slated to open in October and will display rare collections of ceramics, mother-of-pearl inlay, Buddhist monk utensils and royal transportation.

Among the project in the works is a virtual museum tour, audio guides in different languages and QR codes for smartphones to access further information, along 3D visualisations for some significant pieces.

Copper kettles in thom pad technique (painted enamel on copper) influenced by Chinese artisans

“The museum has to adapt and become a living museum, not a boring place, for people of all ages and to meet the rapid changes in people’s lifestyles,” Nitaya says.

THE PAST BROUGHT TO LIFE

The National Museum Bangkok is on Na Phrathat Road next to Thammasat University.

Admission is Bt30 for Thais and Bt200 for foreigners. It’s open Wednesday through Sunday from 9am to 4pm.

Guided tours for groups can be booked in advance and are conducted by trained volunteer guides in English, French, German and Japanese on Wednesday and Thursday at 9.30am, and on Sunday at 10am and 1.30pm.

Find out more at (02) 224 1333 and the “National Museum Bangkok” page on Facebook

THAI ART buffs got a preview of Natee Utarit’s new painting series “The Altarpieces” last Thursday at the launch of the English-language book “Natee Utarit: Optimism is Ridiculous” by Italian curator and art critic Demetrio Paparoni.

Through Singapore gallery Richard Koh Fine Art, which represents him internationally, Natee was able to show at the venue, Lhong 1919, three of the paintings from the series.

These came from private collections, but the rest of the reunited series is currently on display at the National Gallery of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur and will be coming to Thailand for the Bangkok Biennale beginning in July.

Tanachira Retail Corp, an importer of lifestyle and fashion brands, arranged for a stock of the 255-page book to be brought to Thailand for sale. It’s published in Italy by Skira Editore.

All proceeds from sales through July (or until the supply runs out) will go to the Project Love Asia Foundation to help underprivileged children around Asia.

“The Altarpieces” – 12 paintings in all, completed between 2012 and 2017 – follow the tradition of classical religious works, with multiple panels forming diptychs, triptychs and polyptychs in elaborate frames.

Natee is continuing another venerable tradition – the memento mori, meaning an artwork or object intended to remind people of their mortality. He interprets Western-led modernism in an examination of death, injustice and human suffering, as filtered through his Buddhist beliefs.

“The series takes its inspiration from paintings that adorned the altars of Christian churches from the 15th to the 19th century,” Natee explained. “In Thailand, this type of religious art gained repute during the reign of King Rama IV. Khrua In Khong, who painted the spectacular murals in the chapel at Wat Bowornniwet, was the leading practitioner of the form, which showed Western influences.”

The 48-year-old Bangkok-based artist said altarpieces traditionally depicted Christian legends and myths and served as “foregrounds for the sanctity of Christian rituals”.

“They’re filled with meaning and have always played an important role in giving tangible form to the key tenets of the Christian faith.”

One of his oil paintings from 2015, occupying a 250x450cm canvas, is entitled “L’enfer, c’est les autres” (“Hell is other people”) and features symbolic representations of Hell, Heaven and other subjects. The title is borrowed from the French existentialist playwright Jean Paul Sartre, a quote from his stage play “No Exit”.

“Hell is ‘others’ because it’s the parameter against which each individual assesses himself or herself,” Natee said.

“In the past, people believed Heaven was up there and Hell was below and they were in the middle. But all these places actually blend together. Happiness and suffering are dependent on each person. There are some similar perceptions about life and death in this complex world.

“In Western classical visual art there were genres like ‘Dance of Death’, which reflected the idea of the memento mori,” he said, referring to the allegorical Danse Macabre paintings of the Middle Ages. “But paintings with complex symbolism can communicate the same messages in the contemporary world just as well.”

The other two paintings on view last week are in private collection and had never before been exhibited in public. “Fallen Devil”, an oil on linen, measures 90x80cm, and “Death Contemplation/Red Velvet”, an oil on canvas, is 69.5 x 132cm.

Natee is quoted in Paparoni’s book talking about the former, saying he frequently used anatomical models in his work – models normally used for medical studies – and they gave him “a strange feeling that was hard to explain”.

“I felt nervous in the silence and sensed horror in the beauty. I totally enjoyed creating my works under the ‘ambiguous conflict’ concept. The state of nervousness or doubt was a conceptual one. I therefore searched for something that could represent those abstract concepts. Anatomical models were perfect for me to create those conceptual artworks.”

Art students will derive great benefit from Paparoni’s profile of the artist. He explains the works with references to well-known pieces by many Western artists of classical times, leading to greater understanding of what Natee is striving to accomplish.

He points out, for example, that “Death Contemplation/Suffering” from 2016 could be likened to German artist Hans Holbein the Younger’s “The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb”, painted in 1521.

“One can only imagine,” Paparoni writes, “the crises experienced by an artist capable of painting a work like the one conserved in Basel, who never stopped inspiring subsequent generations of artists, as demonstrated by Utarit’s ‘Contemplation of Death’ cycle.”

On the book’s cover is a detail from Natee’s 2014 212x510cm oil on canvas “Passage to the Song of Truth and Absolute Equality”, a polyptych in five panels. It owes a debt to “Danse Macabre” from circa 1464, by the Baltic genius Bernt Notke.

Paparoni praises Natee’s revival of the recurrent motifs seen in European art of the late Middle Ages.

“Art of this kind originally spread a message of equality among men by illustrating their shared relationship with death,” said Natee.

“This notion [the inevitability of death for all creatures] is found through the ages in every culture, including in both Christian and Buddhist culture.

“Europeans can easily perceive the message because of the universal meanings in the symbols, such as water or a river, which is the passageway to death.”

Natee looks to his future as a step-by-step process, in harmony with the different phases of life. He’s pleased with the book, which he called a mainstream international publication suitable for academic study. It completes a cycle that began when he first picked up a brush in his studio and continued at the gallery and on to the collectors.

Natee plans to next do a series of landscapes, the fruit of a year spent in a French forest.

He completed his studies at the College of Fine Art in 1987 and earned a degree in graphic arts from Silpakorn University in 1991.

His work features in the collections of Bangkok University, the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art in Australia, the Singapore Art Museum and private patrons in Europe and Asia.

The appeal is in his exploration of the medium of painting itself, and the way he draws connections with photography and classical Western art with a gifted use of light and perspective.

FOR YOUR ART LIBRARY

– “Natee Utarit: Optimism is Ridiculous” can be purchased at Facebook.com/tanachiracard for Bt2,000 or call (02) 264 5080.