IN THE CONTEMPORARY art scene where installations and gallery spaces alike tend to become bigger and bigger to achieve “spectacle” status, artist Don Sun-pil produces miniature figurines of characters from cartoons, animations, games and other subculture productions.

Don has an exhibition continuing into June at the Arario Museum’s underground gallery at Space, an architectural gem by Kim Soo-geun in central Seoul.

The show features 400 figurines from the artist’s own collection, ranging from the first miniature he bought when he was still in high school – from the “Spawn” series, made by US company McFarlane Toys – to his own sculptural collages.

An installation view of Don Sunpil exhibition “Kitsutaiten” at Seoul’s Arario Gallery in Space. /Courtesy of Arario Gallery

The exhibition, “Kitsutaiten”, at first glance appears to be a survey of the artist’s personal tastes.

But it is best seen as the artist’s critical statement on the figurines and the subculture they have created.

“I’ve tried to look into the intersections between fine art and the subculture of miniature figures,” he says.

As a collector, Don wanted to learn more about the subculture, as well as criticism specific to his beloved small objects, but his expectations went unfulfilled.

“I was surprised that people weren’t bothered to make any kind of cultural criticisms regarding miniature figures, even though there are so many of them,” he says. “I found the criticisms and discourses very difficult to come by – not just here but also abroad.”

Discussions about figurines are typically limited to their transactional and financial value, he says.

“In online communities, for instance, people ask where they can buy miniature figures or how to get them cheaper, but not about why they like them.

“People who collect the figures have their own tastes and the reasons they collect them should vary too. A person’s preference is based on his own stories and contexts. But few people are willing to talk about them, perhaps because it is difficult to put it in words. I think that’s a shame,” Don says.

Figurines appeal to him more than sculptures because they better represent the ways in which people actually live.

“Next Back Door” /Courtesy of Arario Gallery

“Many parties come into play when making figurines, such as customers, sculptors, the company that owns the an original character and so on. The final product is a result of combining opinions and needs of those different parties.

“Creating one’s own artistic world has no limits and I admire the artists who do that. But I’m interested in the areas that have limits, like life, which is full of limits. What makes the miniature figures interesting is that they have limits.”

Figurines also have limits in that they typically don’t last long, but the artist finds attraction in those limits.

“Miniature figures easily break and you have to deal with it. The thing is that I still like them, even though their parts are broken. They don’t have to be in perfect shape. You might wish them to stay intact forever, but they cannot,” Don says.

“What’s important is the shape of your memory. My first miniature figure reminds me of high school. The objects can bring back memories that could have been forgotten otherwise.”

The artist delves deeper into the subculture in his new book “Figure Text: A Report on the Wonder Festival”.

Shrink Big

The exhibition “Kitsutaiten” continues through June 20.

For details, visit http://www.ArarioMuseum.org.

A month of Thailand’s first election in more than five years, political parties are rolling out promises for neo-populist programmes, economic revitalisation, political reform and environmental protection. Candidates representing the LGBT community and ethnic minorities are steering human rights to the forefront.

What some cultural scholars and social critics are still waiting for are policy proposals pertaining to art and culture. A seminar last weekend hosted by the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre and Artists Network did little to shed light on the matter.

Ten of the 81 parties contesting the March 24 election had representatives at what was billed as a political forum and some had “art and culture” policies to share. Three of the bigger parties – Phalang Pracharat, Pheu Thai and Thai Raksa Chart – did not participate.

The three-hour forum ended with no one offering a “macro policy” on cultural infrastructure or a strategy to foster a domestic creative industry able to compete on the global stage.

“The fact that only 10 parties are participating suggests that other candidates aren’t too concerned about cultural issues,” veteran artist Manit Sriwanichpoom declared at the forum. He denounced the campaigning to date as rife with propaganda and ideology.

“They lack vision on a national cultural policy,” Manit said.

Phungluang Party leader Kongpop Wangsunthon said it wanted to promote Thai cultural tourism globally, while Piyabutr Saengkanokkul of the Future Forward Party, a legal scholar, said his party wants to amend any law limiting freedom of expression and build more art and communal spaces across the Kingdom.

“We will promote local art globally by establishing an arts fund in every village,” Kongpop said. “Intellectuals in each village will share their knowledge and pass it on to the next generation and carry local wisdom on into cultural tourism.”

Piyabutr noted that many artists and activists had to endure censorship under the military junta for the past four years. “We will use culture as soft power to enhance rights,” he said. “Our party will amend any laws that limit the freedom of expression. We believe that art and culture can drive our society equally.”

With its youthful leadership, Future Forward is specifically targeting younger voters, using pop culture and social media as campaign tools. Last year, it hosted the Future Festival in Bangkok, with film screenings, concerts and art exhibitions.

The party counts dozens of artists among its members, including famous transgender filmmaker Thanwarin Sukhaphisit, whose movie “Insects in the Backyard” was banned by the Culture Ministry.

“We will decentralise cultural management and support local museums,” Piyabutr said. “We also plan to open more community art spaces, provide financial support to artists and establish artist councils.”

The Commoner and Thai Local Power parties are focusing on cultural localisation.

“Freedom of expression and equality are the keys to culture management,” said Laksanaree Duangtadam of the Commoner Party, himself an artist. “We will promote cultural diversity and provide financial support to artists and we plan to build local museums throughout the Kingdom.”

Thai Local Power’s Chuenchob Kongudom agrees that’s a sound approach, along with the promotion of local wisdom in every province as another means to forge a creative economy.

“We should export our arts to the world,” he said. “Thai wine should be as popular as Bordeaux. Our party also plans to promote clusters of local art villages for cultural tourism.”

Vitidnan Rojanapanich of Chart Pattana Party, another artist, said it wanted to use digital platforms to get the world interested in Thai art and culture.

“Thais like Louis Vuitton more than Thai art, and this is a problem in our society,” he said. “We will merge startups and artists to invent new products. We’ll revolutionise the Culture Ministry for the progressive promotion of Thai art and culture, like the way South Korea promotes its culture around the world. We hope to make Thailand the creative economy hub of Asia.”

Sukthawee Suwannachairop of the Moderate Party said the cultural landscape could be transformed through changes in the law, upgrades in art education and support for the art market.

“We should decentralise and deregulate cultural management by using new technology to upgrade our art and culture,” he said.

“For example, using YouTube as a new learning method. I like the idea of TK Park, which decentralises learning to local communities with its branches upcountry.”

Palinee Ngaarmpring, one of the Mahachon Party’s three candidates for the next prime minister and the only transgender challenger contesting the election, said she was interested in cultural diversity and freedom of expression. “Culture can be a weapon for developing the country,” she said. “We will use market mechanisms to boost contemporary and local art. We will promote local products such as wine and herbal medicine globally.”

Representatives of the Action Coalition for Thailand, Chart Thai Pattana and Democracy parties proffered ideas for conserving Thai culture so future generations can continue enjoying it.

No policies on cultural diversity

Thammasat University anthropologist Yukti Mukdawijitra and art lecturer Thanom Chapakdee of Srinakharinwirot Prasarnmitr University agreed that most of the policies shared involved smaller-scale rather than national undertakings.

“There were no policies about using our cultural diversity to empower society,” Thanom told The Nation Weekend. “Those based on ideology would be difficult to implement. Some plan to build a lot of local museums but don’t talk about sustainable management, professional staffing and long-term funding.”

The mid-1990s Democrat government under Chuan Leekpai built four museums in four regions – Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Songkhla and Chon Buri, he noted. “But because of a lack of funding and professional management, these museums are basically dead today.”

Yukti found repetition in many of the policy proposals, such as promoting Thai art globally and cultural tourism.

“What’s lacking is a national policy that will lay the foundation for cultural advancement, like the Thaksin Shinawatra government did in the early 2000s by setting out policy for a creative industry.”

Thaksin, founder of the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai party that has several affiliated parties contesting this election, in 2004 established the Office of Knowledge Management and Development. It was a public organisation with a Bt790-million budget for building a creative economy out of art, design, fashion, food, film and other forms of intellectual property.

Within that structure he established the Thailand Creative and Design Centre and Thailand Knowledge Park (TK Park).

Efforts in this direction continued under the Abhisit Vejjajiva (Democrat, 2008-2011) and Yingluck Shinawatra (Pheu Thai, 2011-2014) administrations. Prayut Chan-o-cha did not overtly pursue the same goal after seizing power in 2014.

Thammarit claims his family collected historical artefacts for generations with the aim of eventually handing the national treasures to the Culture Ministry’s Fine Arts Department.

The collections include Ban Chiang pottery along with metal and bead jewellery dating from 1,800 to 4,300 years old.

The collections were in a good condition.

Fine Arts Department will register and preserve all items before turning them over to the appropriate museum collections that reflect their origins.

Running from March 7 to 17 as part of the museum’s programme, “ArtScience in Focus”, the exhibition invites visitors to engage with current environmental and societal challenges through the blending of art and technology.

Organised by the MeshMinds Foundation, the second iteration of this interactive and technologically-rich exhibition will showcase the works of Singapore artists who have participated in the Foundation’s artist incubation programme, Please Insert Human, working in conjunction with the Foundation’s media studio arm, MeshMinds.

“With the support of leading technology partners and ArtScience Museum, our talented artists have had the opportunity to harness emerging technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), 3D modelling and printing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT). The experience not only enhances their art-making, but also creates impactful and immersive artworks with which people are invited to interact and will hopefully be inspired and empowered to engage in the global sustainability conversation and to effect positive change,” said Kay Poh Gek Vasey, founder of the MeshMinds Foundation.

This year, “MeshMinds 2.0: ArtxTechforGood” artists will shine the spotlight on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Singapore’s declaration of 2019 as the Year Towards Zero Waste, and burgeoning global campaigns such as #beatplasticpollution in their works.

Utilising AR, animators Jason Loo and Cherlyn Mark, address the devastating consequences of marine pollution with interactive mobile game OceanScrub; while botanical artist Lucinda Law charts her inaugural expeditionary artist-in-residence experience on sustainability-focused island resort Batu-Batu through Experiencing Beauty.

Water Bodies, a VR showcase by leading visual artist, MightyellOw offers a journey through the human stomach to educate people on microplastics that are unknowingly consumed in our daily lives.

In “From Wheelchairs to Motorbikes and (In)visible Sound”, the MeshMinds Foundation has partnered with Our Better World, Singapore International Foundation’s digital storytelling platform, to create an immersive, intimate and impactful VR experience, bringing audiences into the worlds of those living with visible and invisible disabilities.

In addition, visitors can interact with MeshMind’s mascot, AstroCat, m.me/astrocat.bot, to find out more about the exhibition, as well as local sustainability efforts and campaigns on how one can reduce waste and recycle in their daily lives. Visitors can also learn more through artworks that address food waste and recycling such as through Ugly Vegetables, an AR-driven photo opportunity curated by social enterprise EYEYAH! Magazine; as well Paperchase by local artist Alphonsus Wong, an AR experience that aims to encourage greater recycling in a treasure-hunt setting.

“Our collaboration with MeshMinds on the first edition of ‘ArtxTechforGood’ last year was a success. It encapsulated what we set out to achieve with ‘ArtScience in Focus’ – providing the platform for the exchange of new ideas and to nurture the seed of curiosity in the next generation. We look forward to the second edition where our visitors will witness how art and technology can create works that send a powerful message about our environment,” said Honor Harger, executive director of ArtScience Museum.

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

 The one act, ninety-minute musical, opened on Broadway to great acclaim in 1990, and got its Tony Award for best revival of a musical in 2018, competing against revivals of “My Fair Lady” and “Carousel”.

Based on the 1985 novel “My Love, My Love” or “The Peasant Girl” by Rosa Guy, “Once on this Island” in set in the Antilles. It centres on a peasant girl on a tropical island, who is guided by the island gods of earth, water, love and death. With their guidance and strength she uses the power of love to bring together people of different social classes and backgrounds.

The story begins as Ti Moune is orphaned by a storm. She is adopted by two loving peasants and she dreams of a life bigger than her own. She falls in love with a boy from the rich side of the Island and heals him after he suffers from a car crash. The power of love guides her to overcome death and to her final destiny.

Directed by Michael Allman, the show will be performed by a multinational cast that includes Ashley Moyles, Bonnie Zellerbach, Celia Barthman, Emilia Clarke, Jay Pangilinan, Kaylee Marie, Kristoffer Cabuyao, Naomi Bactol, Neil Anthony Castillo, Pearl Rapeeporn, Philip Luis and Zipporah Gene.

The line-up of songs includes “Mama Will Provide”, “The Human Heart”, “We Dance” and “We Tell the Story”.

“Once on this Island” will be staged from March 22-23 and again on March 29-30 at 7.30pm with matinees at 4pm on March 23 and 30 at Creative Industries, M Theatre. Tickets are priced at Bt850. For more information, Find out more at http://www.BangkokCommunityTheatre.com.

It seems easy to photograph the sleeping – the subject is not going to dash off or even move; you wouldn’t need to be an expert cameraman. Pabhawin’s longer gaze is rewarded by revelation of the inspiration behind these simple but haunting images: we soon discover that these shrouded sleepers are travelling to a different dimension. They’re able to cut themselves off from environmental disturbances as if that public space were in fact their safe haven, their private bedroom.

Cut to a corner of Ikea, a middle class family is spending its day off selecting bedroom furniture. They fall asleep on the soft mattress and sofas, out of exhaustion from working so hard to pay for their “dream bedroom”. Pabhawin captures this series of photos with sympathetic humour.

“The series ‘Sleepers’ reveals Pabhawin as a sensitive observer of something as simple as sleep, which every human needs. She’s able to view these sleepers both in the context of public versus private space and as beautiful sculptural forms, as well as reflect the middleclass aspiration for a modern, convenient, tasteful private bedroom at low cost,” says curator Manit Sriwanichpoom.

Pabhawin, 24, is a recent graduate in visual arts from the School of Architecture, King Mongkut Institute of Technology Lat Krabang. She is working as a graphic designer for a well-known Thai fashion designer. “Sleepers” is her first solo show.

Kathmandu Photo Gallery is at 87 Pan Road (near Indian Temple), Silom Road. The gallery is open daily Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 6pm. For more information, call (02) 234 6700 or visit http://www.KathmanduPhotobkk.com.

Works by the two artists are part of the gallery’s first exhibition this year, entitled “Rembrandt, Vermeer and the Dutch Golden Age: Masterpieces from The Leiden collection and the Musee du Louvre”.

The exhibit, on display in the United Arab Emirates capital from February 14 to May 18, is dedicated to the famed “fijnschilders” — fine painters — of the Netherlands.

“Rembrandt is a master of the Golden Age,” museum head Manuel Rabate told AFP.

“He’s a universal genius, he’s connected to the world.”

The exhibition features 95 works, including Vermeer’s “Young Woman Seated at a Virginal” alongside Rembrandt’s “Portrait of a Man” and “Study of the Head and Clasped Hands of a Young Man as Christ in Prayer”.

The museum has also acquired Rembrandt’s “Head of a young man, with clasped hands: Study of the figure of Christ” as part of its permanent collection.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi was inaugurated with great pomp in November 2017 — nearly five years behind schedule — by French President Emmanuel Macron and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

It was marketed as “a universal museum” celebrating cultural exchange and tolerance.

The museum has reportedly cost the UAE around $1 billion, including upwards of $500 million to use France’s “Louvre” brand.