Some of Cartier’s most dazzling tiaras and other jewelled items made for monarchs around the globe, among them King Rama V, are on show alongside striking timepieces and Chinese treasures in a new exhibition at Beijing’s Palace Museum.

The show, “Beyond Boundaries: Cartier and The Palace Museum Craftsmanship and Restoration”, further cements the bonds between the two institutions that was forged some 30 years and is being held at the newly renovated Mandarin Gate Gallery. Cartier held its “Cartier Treasures: Jeweller to Kings, King of Jewellers” exhibition in the same venue in 2009.

This latest show curates a journey through time and space, arriving at a shared appreciation for cultural connections and treasures of the East and the West.

More than 800 pieces dating from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the French jewellery house’s archives along with items from the collections of several of the world’s leading museums are displayed in the three large halls spread over nearly 2,780 square metres.

Some of them are on loan from leading art institutions including New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Australia’s National Gallery in Canberra, the Qatar Museum and the Musee International d’Horlogerie, La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, as well as from members of royal families.

“On the cultural level, I think the exhibition shows quite clearly the impact that China has had not only on Cartier, but also on the whole world,” says Pascale Lepeu, curator of the Cartier Collection, which was started in 1983 and now has about 1,600 pieces.

Inspired by the calligrapher’s brush stroke, French scenographer Nathalie Criniere uses multimedia and animation to give the historical halls a contemporary look.

Criniere is known for her exhibition “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams” at London’s V&A Museum and she also designed the last Cartier exhibition in Australia.

“Beyond Boundaries” features three distinctive themes: Chinese Inspirations, Symbols of Power and Time Memories.

“This exhibition shows there are no boundaries in terms of geography, culture and value,” says Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s Image and Heritage director.

Visitors entering the dimly lit hall of the “Chinese Inspirations” zone are greeted by a moving image on a silkscreen before their eyes settle on Cartier’s diamond bird brooch set against the backdrop of a neatly embroidered phoenix on the empress’s champagne-coloured robe with flower and phoenix motifs that dates back to the Qing Dinasty.

China’s influence on Cartier creations comes boldly into the spotlight in this section. The motifs of dragon, phoenix and carp in lacquer, coral, and jade show how Cartier’s designers created dreamlike shapes inspired by Chinese symbols.

The carp clock from 1925 was made of a piece of carved jade depicting two fish swimming in the waves. In China, the carp is appreciated for its courage and tenacity, allowing it to swim upstream and change into a dragon.

Louis Cartier’s interest in China stemmed from his own personal passion for all things Oriental.

A knowledgeable man fascinated by far-off cultures, he put together a collection of Persian miniatures and antiquities, as well as a library of benchmark works on arts throughout the world that he made available to the Maison’s designers. An ancient screen decorated with birds can also be found amongst Louis Cartier’s Chinese collection,

The “Symbols of Power” exhibit is a sparkling feast for the eyes with plenty of tiaras, bracelets, necklaces and other items of jewellery owned by royals and celebrities from all over Europe, Asia and North America.

Highlights include some 30 tiaras Cartier created for royalty in England, Belgium, Russia and India including a 1902 garland-style scroll tiara made for Adele Capell, Countess of Essex, and the 1947 diamond bib necklace, accented with amethysts and turquoise, produced for Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor.

Among the highlights in the Symbols of Power segment of the “Beyond Boundaries” exhibition is a diamond necklace and bowknot brooches bought by King Rama V from Maison Cartier in Paris between 1906 and 1910, which are now part of Cartier collection. Photo courtesy of Cartier

Visitors can also sigh over a diamond necklace and bow-knot brooches that King Rama V brought from Maison Cartier in Paris between 1906 and 1910. The King brought them for his consort, Queen Savang Vadhana.

“Although Cartier is known for producing jewellery for kings, Chinese emperors had no Cartier jewellery. So this exhibition also dwells on the sense of ‘beyond boundary’,” says Wang Yuegong, the Palace Museum’s Palace Department director.

The exhibition displays another symbol of power, a court robe of the Qing dynasty from the Palace Museum’s collections. This robe includes a certain number of the distinctive signs found on Manchurian folk costumes and evokes the arts of cavalry and archery, which dominated during the first part of the Manchu period. There’s also an imperial seal and its richly decorated case, specifically destined for transmission and to ensure the continuity of the Emperor’s task.

The “Time Memories” section is, as the name implies, devoted to timepieces and boasts an animation of clocks moving around from the dim-lit room. The show highlights a recent collaboration: From 2014 to 2017, the museum and Cartier’s watch factory in La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland, restored six 18th- and 19th-century watch and clock movements from the Forbidden City’s collection. 

A 1910 gravity clock from Cartier: The clocks measure time via a cylinder that rolls down an inclined base over eight days.

On display are Cartier watches, clocks and some of the museum’s masterpieces including 19th century-gravity clocks that measure time via a cylinder that rolls down an inclined base over eight days.

Among the highlights is the series of Cartier’s signature “mystery clocks” in which the hands appear to float on transparent dials without any apparent connection to the movement. Elements of Chinese inspiration were also used in the decoration of these timepieces.

The mystery clock is among Cartier’s signature timepieces. Photo courtesy of Cartier

And for those who want to learn more about the movement of time, watch experts from Cartier and the Palace Museum’s Conservation Department are on hand to demonstrate how they conserved the timepieces at the exhibition.

Also of interest is a video that explains the history and legacy of the French house and Sino-French relationship.

SPARKLE FOR THE EYES

– “Beyond Boundaries: Cartier and the Palace Museum Craftsmanship and Restoration” runs through July 31 at the Palace Museum’s Mandarin Gate Gallery. Admission to the show is free, but visitors are required to buy tickets to enter the museum.

– Tickets are priced at 60 RMB (Bt270) with those over the age of 60 paying half. There’s free admission for children under 1.2 metres in height.

– Tickets can be booked in advance at https://Gugong.228.com.cn/

IN THIS DAY and age when we, willingly or not, get to read and watch many intriguing stories on our smartphones, we automatically wonder what kind of stories can be told on stage and in film. We probably also ask how such productions should be told in a way that will surprise and maybe even teach us a few life lessons to the extent that we feel it’s worth coughing up the ticket price and making the effort to get to the venue.

Courtesy of Next Company

At the end of “Workshop: A New Musical”, whose world premiere production ended its run last Sunday at Thailand Cultural Centre’s small hall, I suddenly thought of the award-winning Chinese film “An Elephant Sitting Still”. As the title promised, the realistic drama set in rural China had me glued to my seat despite its running time –six minutes short of four hours – without even a toilet break. The new play “Displaced Persons’ Welcome Dinner”, which I had watched six days earlier, also came to mind. In that, a Singaporean playwright shed light upon the lives, and troubles, of international workers, rather than the refugees we’ve become more acquainted with.

With the subtitle “a dress rehearsal for life”, “Workshop”, in English with Thai surtitles, introduced the audience to 11 characters who, one by one, were seeking help from a life coach at a personal development workshop for a particular problem. All too familiar to us, their problems ranged from a eating disorder, sexual abuse, racism, shyness and so on. A quick glance at the song list in the programme book had already revealed that each and every one of them, the coach included, would have his/her own song in which an individual woe would be heard and, of course, solved – a musical structure that’s too predictable in the 21st century. With a running time of about two hours, this meant that each case could only be touched upon and never deeply explored.

Courtesy of Next Company

The mastermind behind the musical was American pioneer in human development and motivation Cherie “Mother of Coaching” Carter-Scott, also an author of many best-selling books, some of which were available at the front of house. Carter-Scott co-wrote the book of this musical based on the vast resources gained through her experiences in more than 30 countries. She also composed its songs. And therein lay a setback.

Dramatic art is a composite and collaborative art and oftentimes the more partners-in-crime the merrier. Had a professional playwright been involved in the creation process, some problems might have been less ordinary and a few characters might have been combined into a more complex one – each of us usually has more than one problem. Had a professional composer been there, the audience might have heard less familiar tunes.

The all-Thai cast members, most of whom have some musical training, formed a strong ensemble and credit goes here to seasoned director Napisi Reyes. English-language acting coach Jeremy Stutes helped them to be as comfortable with their dialogues as their musical numbers, all of which combined to make this a life-affirming experience.

Courtesy of Next Company

Commendable characterisation work could be found in veteran actress Janya “Yah” Thanasawarngkul, whom I couldn’t recognise when her character Karen first appeared as well as in Pol “Pete” Nopvechai, whose Venda was always truthful and his acting prowess proved that he’s much more than just “The Star” second runner-up. Two voice professors Chorlada Suriyayothin and Pitchaya Kemasingki formed an endearing couple of Rose and Ernie, whose story, no matter how brief, touched many hearts. As the life coach Randi, Bussayapat Aunchittikul could carry the whole show and while her costume and make-up might have reminded some audience members of the hostess on TV show “The Weakest Link”, her inner care and optimism shone through.

Set designer Nuttakom Chamyen cleverly used thrust stage configuration, which brought the drama closer to the audience and allowed them to also see the six-piece band upstage right. And while Napisi’s staging was well in accordance with the configuration, audience members filled less than half of the seats on the main stand that Friday evening. A more communal spirit could have been created had they been asked to move to the side rows. Lighting designers Supatra Kruekrongsuk and Yuth Autayarnin made this small venue look very different than our previous times there.

BANGKOK’S International Festival of Dance & Music returns on September 11 for its 21st edition and as always will be bringing the best in opera, ballet, music and more to Bangkok audiences.

The festival opens with two classical operas – “Turandot” and “Rusalka” – by Ekaterinburg Opera Theatre from Russia. The opera theatre is Russia’s oldest and has been recognised with 15 Golden Mask Awards.

 Rusalka 

Ekaterinburg Theatre’s first offering is Giacomo Puccini’s two-act opera “Turandot” on September 11, sung in Italian. The story, which is set in China, has Prince Calaf falling in love with a cold-hearted Princess. To marry her, a suitor must solve three riddles – wrong answers result in death. Calaf passes the test, but Turandot still refuses to marry him. He offers her a way out: if she is able to learn his name before dawn the next day, then at daybreak he will die.

This remarkable version of “Turandot” features leading Italian tenor Paolo Lardinzzone playing Prince Calaf. Lardinzzone has performed in leading opera theatres including La Scala of Milan and has been recognised with several awards. Calaf demands a lot from the tenor. Not only does he sing more than anyone else but the main duet “Nessun dorma” for which this opera is known comes much later in the story. And Paolo pulls it off with aplomb. Singing Turandot is accomplished soprano: Zoya Tsererina from St Petersburg. No easy task, as Turandot too is a very demanding role.

Introdans

Interestingly Puccini left this opera unfinished and it fell to Franco Alfano to complete it based on sketches Puccini left behind. It is a work full of show-stopping arias and an extremely dramatic score. And Ekateringburg Theatre turns it into the spectacle it was meant to be.

On September 13, the company stages Antonin Dvorak’s “Rusalka”, an opera in three acts, sung in Czech. Of Dvorak’s 10 operas, Rusalka has found a permanent place in the international repertoire of all major opera theatres. If the story of the Little Mermaid intrigues, “Rusalka” will positively enchant. The story is simple: an immortal water nymph falls in love with a prince and yearns to become human. Dvorak’s score keeps the human and mythical worlds apart while it explores the disturbing universe of this Slavic fairy tale.

On September 16 and 17 attention turns to ballet as satire, as espoused by the storied Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, from New York. This company of professional male dancers performing classical ballet and modern dance has enjoyed decades of success thanks to its satirical take on the dance form.

Switzerland’s Compagnia Finzi Pasca brings to the Bangkok stage “La Verita” (September 21 and 22). Inspired by surrealism, the performance is a combination of acrobatics, theatre, dance and music with multi- talented singers/dancers/acrobats. It’s back to fairytale world with two performances by The Imperial Ice Stars from the United Kingdom. The Imperial Ice Stars have an unrivalled reputation for pushing the boundaries of ice dance with their skill and athleticism, and their creative and powerful story-telling. They are the only ice skating company to have won a theatrical award.

On September 26 and 27, they will take to their massive frozen stage at the Thailand Cultural Centre for “Swan Lake on Ice”, while on September 28 and 29 it is the turn of “Cinderella on Ice”. Tchaikovsky’s glorious music highlights the exhilarating new choreography of “Swan Lake”. This innovative portrayal of the classic love story features more a cast of than 35 including 20 World, European and National Championship skaters. These talented artistes take contemporary dance to a new level with their daring but graceful feats – some of which are so complex they haven’t yet been named.

 Li Yugang 

The festival then turns to Beijing and China’s National Treasure Li Yugang on October 5 and 6, for two shows of “Lady Zhaojun”- a contemporary interpretation of a classic story of one of China’s legendary ancient beauties. Multi-award winning singer Li Yugang is a legendary figure in China with a following in China and across Asia. For Bangkok, Li Yugang along with 70 dancers, singers and actors presents a performance that premiered in Beijing this April, and is being staged outside China for the first time.

Taking a contemporary turn, the festival heads to the Netherlands with Introdans on October 11, the country’s most active ballet company. Holland’s leading dance company, Introdans is known for its talented dancers, creative choreography and riveting performances. Introdans believes that its language of dance is universal and can bring together and move entire generations. For Bangkok the company will perform two works of choreographer Hans van Manen (“Polish Pieces” and “Black Cake”), “Ella” by choreographer Robert Battle to the music of Ella Fitzgerald and “In Memoriam” by choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

 La Verita

Classical music comes to the festival though Hungary’s leading symphonic orchestra, Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra, on October 13. Under the baton of its conductor, the world-renowned violinist and pedagogue Andras Keller, the century-old orchestra will tackle Franz Liszt’s “Les Preludes”, Tchaikovsky’s “Symphonic Fantasy – Francesca da Rimini” and Bela Bartok’s “Concerto for Orchestra”.

The scene shifts to classical ballet with three performances by Kremlin Ballet: “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” or “Esmeralda” on October 15, “A Thousand and One Nights” on October 17 and “Swan Lake” on October 19. The first is based on Victor Hugo’s romantic tale of the hunchback of Notre Dame, the second on an Arabian folktale and the third is Tchaikovsky’s most famous ballet and the ultimate symbol of the Russian ballet.

The curtain falls on this year’s event with a Tour de Force: Jose Carreras performing his Farewell Concert. With a Grammy award to his credit and several nominations, Carreras is one the famous Three Tenors. In Bangkok, he will be accompanied by world-renowned soprano Celine Byrne and conductor David Gimenez whose extraordinary understanding of the voice has seen him perform with leading singers, as also orchestras. This will be an extraordinary opportunity and early reservations are highly recommended.

Supporting the festival are Bangkok Bank PCL, B. Grimm Group, BMW Thailand, Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park, Indorama Ventures, Ministry of Culture, Nation Group, PTT Public Company Limited, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited, Singha Corporation, Thai Union Group PCL, Thai Airways International and Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Coming Soon

Learn more at http://www.BangkokFestivals.com.

? All shows will be performed at the Thailand Cultural Centre Bangkok.

Tickets are available at http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com or by calling (02) 262 3191.

The exhibition is divided into three zones. The first zone features His Majesty the King’s royal portraits. The second displays the grandeur of the Royal Ceremony and Royal Procession, while the final zone features the heartfelt atmosphere as loyal Thais welcomed their new monarch and joyously participated in the historic event.

Captured by members of The Nation Photo Centre and FotoUnited Club, the shows features 88 great shots.

Among them are Rachot Wisarankul, who once captured the most memorable “Royal Portrait in Every Thai Household” of King Rama IX, Tanachai Pramarnpanich from The Nation, Wason Wanichchakorn, the Associated Press photographer known for his unique ways of photographic story telling, and Vatcharasith Wichyanrat, one of Thailand’s top fashion photographers.

The exhibition is curated by prolific poet Chiranan Pitpreecha, who is also the founder of FotoUnited Club.

The shows were organised by Siam Piwat Co Ltd and Siam Paragon Development Co Ltd, in cooperation with Nation Multimedia Group and FotoUnited Club.

The show at Siam Paragon’s Hall of Fame runs through June 16, while that at Icon Siam will wrap on July 30.

His award-winning gouache and gold leaf on wasli pays homage to Qureshi’s contribution to the neo-art miniature movement by documenting him in his studio. This work also particularises the discourse of a workshop – the concept of Mughal atelier where apprentices worked under masters contrasted with an independent artist’s studio, in which he is free to pursue through his own artistic agenda. In the work, Javed plays with size and perspective to denote status and importance, much like traditional Mughal miniatures.

The winner was awarded a trophy and US$30,000 (Bt945,000) at the Sovereign Art Foundation’s annual gala dinner and auction in Hong Kong. The public’s favourite artwork was recognised when Munawar Ali Syed, also of Pakistan, clinched the popular vote and an award of US$1,000 with his artwork “My 3rd Story in English”. Chinese artist Fu Xiaotong, the highest scoring female artist in the competition, was awarded the newly launched Vogue Hong Kong Women’s Art Prize and US$5,000 for her work “163,680 Pinpricks”.

To reach the final shortlist of 30 artworks, over 70 independent art professionals from across Asia Pacific nominated 400 mid-career artists, hailing from 28 countries, for the prize. A total of 19 countries were represented amongst the 30 finalists, making it the geographically diverse shortlist in the history of the prize. The entries were shortlisted by an international panel of art specialists, including writer, curator and museum director David Elliott; Jan Dalley of the Financial Times; Mami Kataoka of Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Hong Kong architect, artist and educator William Lim; and internationally renowned artist Zhang Huan.

“Working on a large scale that quotes the neo-miniature style taught at his alma mater, the National College of Arts in Lahore, Javed comments on and transforms this traditional way of working. By concentrating on a moment of creation in Imran Qureshi’s studio where he was an assistant, not only does he stress the importance of his former teacher’s work but also reveals its powerful context. Qureshi is shown making the gestural, blood-red hand paintings that shattered the atmosphere, scale and hierarchical methods of the traditional Mughal miniature to depict horror and terror in the present. In this work, Javed records, frames, amplifies and pays homage to this moment,” commented chair judge David Elliott.

For the winner of the public vote prize, Munawar Ali Syed, his pen-and-ink drawing, one of a series, appropriates a minimal approach, using an agglomeration of straight black lines over a coloured horizontal grid, to express his psychological state.

Fu Xiaotong works both minimally and conceptually. Here, by applying pressure from behind, she has moulded a form of relief, with different depths, intensities and shapes, that rises out of the surface of a large sheet of hand-made rice paper.

Celebrated for his colourful pop-art juxtaposition of iconography from traditional Thai narratives and Western symbolism, Jirapat continues to explore the cultural interactions between East and West, and Modern and Traditional in a new set of artworks.

Born in 1971 in the Samut Prakran province, Jirapat uses the humour of pop art to examine the positive and negative sides of cultural exchange, confrontation, and interaction. These inter-cultural experiments have resulted in an extraordinary mix of characters and situations that evoke much dialogue in his audiences. Mythical figures from the Kingdom’s epic Ramakien feature alongside Western cultural icons such as John Wayne, Barak Obama and Marilyn Monroe to explore the issues of class and abuse of power. In other works, he has re-interpreted familiar paintings by celebrated masters Andy Warhol, Van Gogh and others as a commentary on Thai society.

Jirapat completed his bachelor’s degree at Chiang Mai University with a thesis painting titled “Foreign Intervention”, which was also awarded the Grand Prize for Contemporary Art in the 3rd Panasonic Contemporary Painting Exhibition in 1997. In 1999, he acquired a master’s degree at Silapakorn University with a thesis painting titled “Green Goblin vs Maiyarap”, which was also awarded the Grand Prize in the 4th Panasonic Contemporary Painting Exhibition in 2002. Other accolades followed including awards at the Toshiba Thailand’s Contemporary Art Competitions, and 2010 Sovereign Asian Art Prize.

He has also participated in numerous prestigious art shows in Thailand and internationally, including Asia Art Now at the Korean Cultural & Arts Foundation (2003), Tradition & Modernity in Southeast Asian Art, New York (2006), Visions of East Asia 2008 for the Olympic Games in China (2008), The Indian Art Summit (2009), Art Monaco (2010), and Arteclasica 10, Argentina (2010). In addition, his paintings were on display in ArtScience Museum in Singapore as a part of the “Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal” exhibition. He was the only Thai artist featured in a recent book published by Thames & Hudson titled “100 Painters of Tomorrow”.

Find out more at (02) 079 7000.

THE 2016 art installation titled “The Floating Piers”, a bright yellow walkway temporarily constructed on the surface of Italy’s Lake Iseo via a system of 226,000 buoyant, interlocking polyethylene cubes, was meant, according to the artist Christo, to create the illusion that visitors were literally walking on water. The loose, almost fabric-like structure of the piece undulated with the waves, like the back of some giant, serpentine sea creature on whose spine you were riding: a tame Loch Ness monster in marigold skin.

The artist Christo, centre, in the distance, is photographed while standing on his artwork “The Floating Piers” in a scene from the documentary “Walking on Water.” (Photo/Kino Lorber)

But as the part fascinating, part frustrating documentary “Walking on Water” makes clear, the experience was far from a purely aesthetic one. Once it opened in mid-June, after the preparatory screaming fits and arguments documented by filmmaker Andrey Paounov in the weeks leading up to the opening, there were long lines, unbearable heat, cold rain and even a lost child that organisers – and visitors – had to contend with.

At one point, Christo – who first conceived of “Piers” in 1970, with his wife and collaborator Jeanne-Claude (who died in 2009) – threatened to shut down the whole thing early because of safety concerns about the number of people flocking to it.

Christo, who at the time was reported as saying that long waits were part of the experience, also describes “Piers” as something Zenlike on camera. And while it may have ultimately been so for some visitors – once new crowd controls were put in place, and the project’s round-the clock hours were dramatically curtailed – Paounov’s film does not make it seem like very much fun.

Christo, in red, oversees construction of his artwork “The Floating Piers”. (Photo/Kino Lorber)

Rather than focus on the engineering and logistics of “Piers,” which actually sound really intriguing, the filmmaker trains his camera on general bickering and whining instead – about what kind of chain to use or about how to get Skype and other technologies to work right – to an almost unpleasant degree. Christo is a colourful character, with some very set opinions about how things should be done. But a little yelling goes a long way. And scenes of the artist’s nephew (and project manager) Vladimir Yavachev trimming Christo’s unruly eyelashes with scissors feel like filler.

Only the last 10 minutes or so of the film make “Piers” look like something anyone might regret having missed – or like a fond memory, if you’re one of the estimated 1.2 million people lucky enough to have walked on water. Otherwise, the documentary might make you believe in miracles, considering how tedious – if not impossible – this interactive artwork comes across.

The portraits feature 65 subjects all captured by Brown who owns Bangkok’s Studio Soi Six. They range in age from 15 to 33 and identify as toms in their everyday looks, in contrast to the exaggerated image that is often seen in television, films and popular culture. Both the art exhibit and entertainment are free and open to the public.

“I’m drawn to subjects that do not necessarily attract the attention of the media or the attention of artists and creators,” Brown explains. “While there’s a ubiquity to tomboys in Thailand, they are also underrepresented and marginalised in the media and the images around us. Going deep into this subject meant a lot to me, as I was able to experience the diversity and individuality beyond the stereotype and share this with a broader audience.”

Brown’s focus on the uniqueness of each subject is borne out in his photos, which showcase the surprising variety of self-expression that can fall under the tom identity. While short hair – in different degrees and styles – is a common factor among the subjects, their approaches to what it means to be a tom otherwise vary widely. Some present as masculine – in their fashion, features, and hairstyles – to the extent that they could pass for young men, while others adopt a more feminine look that may make them unrecognisable as toms to the uninitiated. Large, dangling earrings are a common feature, and while many seem to eschew makeup, some embrace it – albeit applied differently from typical Thai women’s styles.

“Tom” is derived from the English word and refers specifically to homosexual females who present as masculine, tending to wear short hair, clothes designed for men, and little or no makeup. Toms often use masculine language to describe themselves, and their roles in relationships – typically with feminine lesbians called “dees,” but occasionally with other toms – are often dominant and provider-oriented, akin to traditional ideals of Thai men. However, as Tomboy Bangkok shows, these descriptive elements are by no means strict rules, and they are often broken.

The concept of the tom as a unique form of gender expression in Thailand dates to the 1970s, more recent than that of kathoey and thus less understood among older generations. To show what this means to those who identify as toms, many of the photos in “Tomboy Bangkok” are paired with statements from the subjects relating their experiences, viewpoints, and struggles – including facing judgement and misunderstanding from their families and broader society.

The subjects often express a desire to be accepted for being what feels natural to them, an openness and vulnerability that Brown sees as a path to individual understanding; his main instruction to sitters was simply “be yourself.”

“I strive for a portrait that feels to me like the subject is letting his or her mask down, that there’s a moment that’s just them,” Brown says. “With the ‘Tomboy Bangkok’ project, I enjoy the process of interacting intimately with people living a life true to who they are. If they are queer or straight, that’s not what’s driving me. I just want to experience the authenticity of the person in that moment.”

“Tomboy Bangkok” received an Honorable Mention at the 2018 International Photo Awards and a Certificate of Excellence from the Chelsea International Photography Exhibition, both in the US.

For more information visit http://www.DerekBrownPhotography.com..

For Prontip, she doesn’t think former inmates are not victims, but the great fighters. She and her fellow inmates clad dress in vivid super heroines seen in the video art created by Pisitakun Kuntalang. Photo courtesy of WTF Gallery.

After spending two years behind bars for violating the country’s draconian lese majeste laws, the life of young performing artist and rights activist Prontip “Kolf” Mankong changed dramatically. But rather than grinding the 30-year-old artist down, it made her stronger, a fact she clearly demonstrates by transforming that profoundly disruptive experience into creative art.

Her powerful debut exhibition “Planet Krypton” at WTF Gallery in Bangkok and her recently published book “All They Could Do to Us: Courage in Dark Times from a Fighter (Not a Victim)” recounts her experiences as an inmate and the close relations she developed with other prisoners, whom she refers to as family.

Prontip was arrested in 2014 for playing a part in the satirical play “The Wolf Bride”, which marked the 40th anniversary of the October 1973 military crackdown on pro-democracy student protester at Thammasat University. Set in a fictional kingdom, it featured a king and his adviser. Prontip, who directed the play and her fellow actor Patiwat Saraiyaem were both convicted on lese majeste charges and received five years behind bars, which was later halved as they both confessed to the “crime”.

Prontip, who was sent to Bangkok’s Central Women’s Correctional Institution, says her time there proved quite an education.

“Life behind bars was tough. I cried everyday,” Prontip tells The Nation. “But we [prisoners] are resilient and set out to survive in the prison we temporarily called ‘home’.”

Instead of accepting her fate, Prontip began studying Thailand’s justice system and embarked on new life experiences. She learned many things – dancing, playing music, singing, Arabic, cooking without utensils and making lipstick. She also taught English to her fellow inmates. At the same time, she also discovered love, caring and empathy with the suffering of others.

Although writing while incarcerated is taboo, Prontip found a way to record her daily experiences, the suffering of other inmates and the lack of standards in the Thai justice system. These touching stories are related in the 800-plus-page-book, which was launched in March. Porntip says she’s grateful to Ida Arunwong, editor of the Read Journal, who encouraged her to document these untold truths.

“Writing is my weapon,” she recalls. “It’s therapeutic too.”

Since being released from prison in August 2016, Prontip has been a vocal campaigner for prison reform in Thailand. Her own experience taught her that returning to normal life was no easy task and she immediately started a support group to assist former inmates after their release.

“Freedom put me in a dilemma,” she recalls. “I wanted to go back – my soul was still locked behind those bars. The psychiatrist I consulted suggested I search for my family members – my fellow inmates.”

The psychiatrist’s advice worked and Prontip invited four of those fellow inmates to join her for “Planet Krypton”. She collaborated with multi-disciplinary artist Pisitakun Kuntalang to portray their lives through the interactive multimedia installation, which comes in two distinct hues – vivid colours symbolising the positive energy of the inmates’ empowerment and black and white reflecting the harsh reality both inside and outside prison. The video installation tells their stories.

Prontip doesn’t see her former fellow inmates as victims but as great fighters. They all dress up as superheroes for Pisitakum’s video art.

“First, there’s always a central power,” Porntip says in the back-and-while video. “Find that central power as quickly as possible and become a part of it. When you enter that, there’s a mechanism to learn.”

The gallery itself has been converted into a mini prison where viewers can share their suffering.

Just like in theatre, Prontip acts as the prison’s chief warden for the workshop organised for viewers curious to experience how hard it is to sleep in a tiny cell in one of the world’s most crowded and dismal prisons.

A workshop for audiences who curious to experience how hard to sleep in the tiny prison. Photo/The Nation

Many inmates sleep on hard linoleum floors in cells so cramped they have to rest on their sides or lay their limbs on top of one another.

Fluorescent lights are kept on throughout the night and dozens of prisoners have to share a single toilet in the back of the cell, with not even a curtain for privacy.

Her fellow inmates demonstrate how to make milk candies and spicy canned fish salad, while one reveals how they used to sneak food colouring from the kitchen and mix it with Vaseline to create homemade lip gloss. She sold the gloss on the prison’s black market to earn money to raise her daughter.

Participants in the workshop express their thoughts on the board under a banner reading “return good people to the society”, which refers to the motto of the Thai prison system.

“You can see from the way they sleep just how Thailand’s prisons lack any human rights standards,” one participant comments.

“Prontip’s story of being incarcerated for violating the lese majeste law might be seen as just another casualty of Thailand’s political wars,” says gallery director Somrak Sila, who co-curated the show with Penwadee Nophaket Manont.

“But if we look deeper, it is symbolic of the changes in our society. The country is rapidly falling into a deep social trough, where each person fights only for themselves, where connections between people are weakened by the blinkers that a repressive government puts on them. The result is a kind of tunnel vision. Hence the extreme divisions, the tribal and political turf wars that are tearing the country apart.”

Prontip went the other way. Instead of allowing herself to be broken and lashing out with anger and resentment, she chose to let change happen, and to become part of a community. She asked herself what her responsibility in the prison was, and by focusing on her new mission – to encourage the women to help each other survive this darkest period – she earned their trust and won the freedom to make a lasting difference.

Although the five-week-show wraps up this weekend, the lives of the Krypton gang are destined to move both art scene insiders and the general public through a variety of genres.

The curators and artists are planning to echo these powerful human-rights issues by hosting shows upcountry and abroad. Prontip herself is seeking to collaborate with a theatre director to portray her story through a stage play. We might even get to see her life and those of her fellow inmates on the big screen, as leading director Wisit Sasanatieng is said to be interested in the efforts of these heroines.

Meanwhile her book will soon be translated and published in English. Tyrell Haberkorn, an associate professor in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of “Revolution Interrupted: Farmers, Students, Law, and Violence in Northern Thailand”, will take on the translating work.

“I hope my life will be recounted other platforms if financial support can be found,” she says.

In her parallel universe between art and life, Prontip is drawing on her ingenuity to support her fellow inmates and help them survive in this very unequal society.

 LISTEN AND LEARN

– Artist Prontip Mankong and her fellow inmates will give a talk on Sunday at 5pm as they wrap the exhibition “Planet Krypton” at WTF Gallery in Bangkok.

– “All They Could Do to Us: Courage in Dark Times from a Fighter (Not a Victim)” in Thai is published by the Read Journal and available at leading book stores. For more information, go to Facebook/readjournal.

FROM SMASHING social boundaries to chasing Pokemon, the power of Japanese manga to inspire and entertain fans around the world surges forth in a major London show opening on Thursday.

The largest ever manga exhibition to be held outside of Japan takes visitors to the British Museum on a journey from the art form’s traditional roots to the multibillion-dollar industry of today.

“Manga is the most popular form of storytelling today,” museum director Hartwig Fischer said at the launch of “Citi Exhibition Manga”.

“JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” by Araki Hirohiko, 1987 /AFP

The show traces manga’s evolution from the comics and dramatic designs by famous Japanese artists such as Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) to the global phenomenon of Pokemon and the Oscar-winning animations of Studio Ghibli.

“It’s something about the engagement that makes manga special,” said Nicole Rousmaniere, curator of Japanese arts. “It’s visual language that relays content very, very quickly. This is because of the power of the line.

“I believe that in Japan it makes a lot of sense that when you are doing calligraphy, when you are looking at characters, your brain is already conditioned to have that pictorial content.”

Visitors will learn how to properly read manga, which translates as “pictures run riot”, and about the influence of “god of manga” Osamu Tezuka (1928-89), who created iconic characters the Mighty Atom (later known as Astro Boy) and Princess Knight.

Delicate stills from hit franchise “Dragon Ball” are also on display, as well as more visceral works exploring complex themes.

“It’s about telling stories for a lot of people who feel their stories aren’t being told,” Rousmaniere said.

“It’s always been edgy, drawn by people who feel a little bit different. You don’t have to have money to be able to draw manga – you can just draw it on a scrap of paper, as many people did.”

One such artist on display is Gengoroh Tagame, one of the most influential creators of gay manga and known for his graphic depictions of sadomasochism.

An historic manga curtain painted by Japanese artist Kawanabe Kyosai for the Shintomi Theatre stage is part of the exhibition at the British Museum in London./AFP

“Manga is a very casual media, so to read manga is very easy. And using manga to show social issues is very powerful,” the artist said.

Further dispelling the notion that cartoons are only for children, there are also harrowing works addressing the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and the 1995 Kobe earthquake.

On a lighter note, visitors can pose for instantly generated digital images of themselves in various manga styles.

The industry had a global turnover of 3 billion pounds (Bt121 billion) in 2016, and lends itself to cross-platform franchising, with the result that its popularity is only likely to increase with the technology boom.

Manga characters are also commonly used as avatars by internet users creating alternative online identities. “There is a manga for everyone, literally every subject,” Rousmaniere said.

But the ability to digitally create manga poses a threat to fans of traditional manga, she added. “I think hand-drawing will eventually die out. I just hope we can then preserve them.”