This is the first solo show outside of Japan for Snipe1, who has been delighting art enthusiasts at home since the ’90s, though he did collaborate with critically acclaimed artist Takashi Murakami at Beyond the Street in New York City early this year.

With “METABUGS”, he breaks all the rules of traditional art by using graffiti techniques inspired by street styles and sprays on canvases.

Chin’s Gallery at Arden’s Rama III is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 11am to 7pm. The show continues until November 17.

The exhibition continues through October 20 at The Market Bangkok on Rajdamri Road.

It aims to encourage more tourists to visit and sample the shopping and the delectable and inexpensive local food treats amid singing contests and “little angel” competitions.

Deputy Governor Amphon Angkhaphonkun said Nonthaburi wants to conserve its cultural heritage by promoting tourism, in keeping with government policies to support the Thai identity and entrepreneurship and recognise the value of traditional ways of life.

The way of life in Nonthaburi is always connected to the Chao Phraya River and its many canals on which floating markets are found, said Natthira Phaengkhun of the local Tourism Office.

Sai Noi Floating Market on the Phra Phimol Racha Canal near Wat Sai Yai in Sai Noi district is open Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

The district’s residents are mostly farmers and sell their produce at this market, including organic vegetables and fruit, snacks and beverages.

Pracharat Floating Market at Wat Tanot in Muang Nonthaburi rests against the Omnont Canal and is another great place to buy produce fresh from the farm. The shops and food are terrific every Saturday and Sunday.

Wat Yai Sawang Arom Wat Water Market in Pak Kret district, also known as the Riverside Market, is famous for the tens of thousands of fish waiting to be fed at Wang Matcha and cruises around nearby Koh Kred. It too is open Saturdays and Sundays.

Wat Takhian Floating Market in Bang Kruai district, open daily, offers various products sold canal-side and from boats, such as seasonal fruit, duck stew, boat noodles and herbal drinks. Visitors often pause to pay respect to a statue of Luang Pu Yam.

Pracharath Floating Market at Suan Bua on Soi 1 in Bang Yai district is compact but has plenty of dining options every Saturday and Sunday. Shops surround a wide pool with seats for eating and relaxing.

Bua Khwan Floating Market, also in Muang Nonthaburi, at Wat Bua Kwan, boasts many high-quality yet affordable products. Pay respects to the monks and then sample the wares on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

The Chief of Phra That Choeng Chum community, Nuuna Upapong, said the waxwork makers are almost finished the wax castle after two months and 20 days of work.

Folklore tells of a great white female raven that observes Buddhist precepts and stops killing meat to eat. After her five eggs were laid on a fig tree – this tree was mentioned often in many Buddhist folklore tales as Buddha reached enlightenment under it – and she flew from the nest in search of food, a storm blew all of the eggs into the water, where they floated. When the raven came back and saw no eggs, she was filled with regret and died weeping.

All the eggs floated away to other islands and were later adopted by the great birds and legendary creatures. When the eggs hatched, there are were five male humans, four of which became buddhas – Kakusanta Buddha, Konakom Buddha, Kassapa Buddha and Kotama Buddha.

When the top of the castle is completed, the wax temple will be ready to open for the public and will be rated by judges in a provincial waxwork contest celebrating the end of the Buddhist Lent festival. Their rating focuses on how successfully the wax maker combines Buddhist lore with local history, along with the techniques used in the final work.

Locals in Sakon Nakohn have continued the traditional waxwork contest between communities, which is seen as a highlight of the major festival as it preserves part of the traditional way of life.

Tourists who wish to see the wax temple and its carved story of the great white raven, can view it this evening (October 11) in the garden of Phra That Choeng Chum temple.

Organised by the International Exchange Program Executive Committee for Disabled People’s Culture and Arts (IEPEC) in collaboration with the Japan Foundation Asia Center, BACC and the Japanese government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, the forum sets out to create dialogue and discussion about disabled people’s art activities in Asia among professionals from related fields including arts, performing arts, social welfare, medical experts, and practitioners from various Asian countries.

The forum aims to cross the boundary between countries and cultures and learn more about the use of social welfare approaches in arts and culture while also promoting understanding and action on the issues faced by communities across Asia. The results will be recorded and the information gathered from the exchanges distributed within Japan in order to create a better environment for arts and cultural activities of disabled people.

Admission is free and Japanese, Thai and English interpretation will be available via headphones.

For reservation, send full name and contact details to education@bacc.or.th including as the subject “International Research Forum Art Activities of Disabled People in Asia.

Over the past 30 years, Pinaree’s practice has expanded from painting and collage to other media, spanning sculpture, installation, print and participatory projects. Undergirding this diverse practice is her consistent engagement with the human body as a key thematic subject and iconography. Distilled into primal and minimal forms, the body is always present corporeally, viscerally occupying space.

In some works, it is represented as a corpus — two curving lines alluding to a torso without beginning or end. Mostly, the body is fragmented into exposed and disjoined parts, with the female breast a recurring motif. The sensuality of her works, the term speaking both to the erotic and the sensorial, is derived from this delineation of the body as unconcealed and uncontainable.

In “Bodily Space: Confessed and Concealed”, the artist returns to her original medium of painting and collage, continuing her experimentation with painting using organic materials and collaging with fabrics.

The expressive force of the works is found in their complex interplay of form, line, colour, and texture. Incorporating material elements from her previous works, alongside paper and textiles that the artist has collected, these paintings function as mementoes and repositories of memory. Together, they reflect Sanpitak’s present state of mind, revealing a wider, more tender and more profound treatment of the body as subject and form.

Accompanying the exhibition is an illustrated catalogue with an essay by Vipash Purichanont, an independent curator and lecturer at the department of Art History at Silpakorn University, Bangkok.

Aside from solo and group exhibitions in galleries worldwide, Pinaree’s works have been shown in numerous museums and biennales. Her recent site-specific installations include The Roof, commissioned by Arts Brookfield, at the Brookfield Place Winter Garden in Battery Park City in New York, USA in 2017; and Breast Stupa Topiary at Jim Thompson Farm, Thailand in 2018.

The opening reception for “Bodily Space: Confessed and Concealed” is this Saturday (October 12) from 4 to 7pm at the gallery. The exhibition continues through November 17.

The Nelson Hays Bangkok Literature Festival aims to connect curious minds with inspiring literary voices to ignite imaginations, foster connections, and invite critical investigations of Asia’s place in the world. It will feature more than 30 renowned Thai and international writers from around the world, including Adam Johnson, winner of the two most prestigious literary awards in the US, Melissa Lucashenko, one of Australia’s top writers of contemporary fiction, and Mike Curato, the author-illustrator of the award-winning “Little Elliot” series of picture books.

The public can participate in insightful talks, panel discussions, and poetry readings.

Entry is free for most event, with tickets available for day passes (for guaranteed seating), movie nights, and a closing event at the Chakrabongse Villas, including an intimate dinner and conversation with Pitchaya Sudbanthad, author of “Bangkok Wakes to Rain”.

For more information on the November 16-17 festival, including schedules and speaker topics, visit https://web.neilsonhayslibrary.com/literature-festival/

Kazama, who once escaped a murder attempt himself, has captured intimate photographs of juvenile offenders on death row, their crime scenes, images of victims’ relatives and execution chambers. Over the past two decades, he has been presenting his compelling photographs and stories that inspired him to lawmakers across the world. He has also lent his voice to many anti-death penalty campaigns worldwide and served as a de facto ambassador of the “End Crime, Not Life” initiative in Southeast Asia.

While the reported number of executions fell to 690 in 2018 – the lowest in a decade – almost 100 of them were carried out in Southeast Asia. Though some countries, including the US and China, still consider the death penalty necessary, there is a growing understanding of it being ineffective as a hinderance of crime, and a gross violation of human rights and dignity.

During the presentation, Kazama will talk about his personal experiences and give the audience an insight into the minds of those condemned to death. He will be joined by EU Ambassador to Thailand Pirkka Tapiola, who will speak briefly about the European Union’s experience with capital punishment.

The organiser is keeping mum on exactly what these are, but rest assured that this will be the first time these works are shown in public.

This is a preview of her solo exhibition in Kuala Lumpur next year. Watch this space.

The AEM, South-East Asia’s longest running international art fair, returns this year from Oct 11-13 with a renewed focus on the region’s offerings.

It will be held at the Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre (MECC) in Kuala Lumpur.

The 13th edition of the art fair comes with a catchy tagline: “Contemporary, Cutting Edge and the Curated”, a three-pronged approach to attract art lovers and collectors alike.

“The concept and content of the fair should flow seamlessly with the artists’ energy and soul. We aim to alight the senses of visitors, allowing them to be immersed in, and better appreciate and comprehend, the ‘vibrancies’ of South-East Asian and Global stories through a narrative experience at the fair. The artworks will be visually bold, thought-provoking and will break boundaries,” says Sim Pojinn, AEM co-founder and fair director.

At last year’s AEM, which attracted 27,000 visitors over its three-day run, the South-East Asian booths and the Japanese Pavilion in particular, proved to be crowd favourites.

“Based on last year’s success, this year’s fair will have a dedicated South-East Asian curatorial theme and an expanded Japanese Pavilion with participating galleries that have a rich history dating back to 1871,” says Sim.

Sixty galleries are participating this year. The South-East Asian triple header comprises: Art Lab, Art Now and The Artist’s Wall, which will deliver close-to-home programming, while the Japanese Pavilion, which welcomes 11 galleries compared to last year’s eight, is a blend of heritage and contemporary innovation.

AEM 2019 features 60 galleries, of which 20 are new. This year’s edition involves 15 countries. Photo: AEM

More than 1,500 artworks will be on display, priced between RM1,000 and more than RM1mil.

As far as attendance goes, the projection is between 25,000 to 30,000 visitors over the three days.

Despite operating in the commercial sphere, AEM is also aiming for more intimate experiences between the visitors and the galleries.

“We hope to encourage a deeper engagement between the art community and the public. Visitors who have been with us in previous editions of the fair can expect more life-size sculptures, more visually impactful artworks and more engaging content this year. It will also be the first time in AEM’s history to showcase and curate a private collector’s collection. We will be working together with Hady Ang, a Singapore-based collector,” says Sim.

On Oct 12, a series of public talks, involving gallerists, curators, writers, artists and collectors will be held at the venue.

At Art Town, another segment of the fair, a special treat for visitors would be French sculptor Quentin Garel’s Orang Utan, created specifically for the AEM. The artist is well-known for his animal sculptures.

Other foreign galleries include LSD (Japan), Able Fine Art NY Gallery (US), ATR Gallery (Spain), Galerie Bruno Massa (France), Estyle Art Gallery (Taiwan), Subhashok The Arts Centre (Thailand), Art Serpong Gallery (Indonesia) and J Studio (the Philippines).

There is no shortage of art variety at AEM 2019, with an expected 30,000 crowd – collectors to art lovers – assured of hours of quality time art fair browsing and buying. Photo: AEM

Homegrown exhibitors include the National Art Gallery, Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers, Taksu, The Art People Gallery, Tiny Rose Gallery, Art WeMe Contemporary Gallery, Gallery des Artistes, Aureo Gallery, City Art Gallery, and Li Chi Mao Art Museum.

“AEM has come a long way in the past 12 years. I am honoured to lead a team with strong bench strength to build many firsts in the industry and organising one of the most prestigious visual art fairs in the region,” says Sim.

The Tribute Pavilion To Living Legend Artists will be revived once again in this edition of the fair (it was introduced in 2007, and then in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2017), featuring Singapore’s abstract and collage pioneer Goh Beng Kwan.

Sim ponders on how an art piece is not just a visually attractive piece of work, but it harnesses the ability to trigger reflection, generate empathy, create dialogue and foster new ideas and relationships between humans.

“My dream is to be able to continue to bring the art industry in the region closer not just to art lovers, but to the general public. And of course, to create accessibility so that more people will be able to appreciate and explore art. Art appreciation is not a mere hobby, it is a way of life, so especially for first-time visitors to the fair, we hope that whilst you are enjoying the specially curated experiences, you will gain inspiration from our passion in the world of arts,” he concludes.

Art Expo Malaysia 2019 is on at Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre in KL from Oct 11-13, 11.30am to 9pm. Admission: RM15. More info: artexpomalaysia.com.

Read more at https://www.star2.com/culture/2019/10/07/south-east-asia-matrade-art-expo-malaysia-exhibition-art-fair/#rVFcXe5VdOWA7i3j.99

The fair, which is organized by the Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand (PUBAT), a non-profit organisation that encourages quality publishing and promotes writing and translation, will be officially opened by Culture Minister ‎Ittipol Khunpluem at 10am.

The fair runs through October 13 and is open daily from 10am to 9pm.