“ Siam App” Exhibition Siam Application / Appreciate / Apply “ Apassage to access Thai Art ”

996 07 Dec 2012

Organized by   Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre(bacc) Main Gallery, 8th floor, Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre 29 November 2012 to 17 February 2013 This exhibitionpublicizes value, beauty and knowledge of Thai art through artworks of newgeneration artists who inherit and develop Thai art and culture. These fiftyartists are inspired by Buddhism and local culture to mutually present beautyof Buddhist art and folk art through artworks, photographs, exhibitionproviding knowledge of Thai art development and exhibition of art techniquesand procedures applied from ancient techniques as well as activitiesdemonstrated by artists.   When considering on Thai art created andinherited from ancient time, it was found that there were some evidencesrelated toBuddhism and culturehidden in notion and living of Thaipeople, namely, Thai arts are created to serve Buddhism and for benefit of Thaipeople’s daily life. Thai arts created to serve Buddhism are arts located intemples, for example, Buddhist monasty, Buddhist assembly hall andarchitectures built as the symbol of Lord Buddha’s residence, Buddha imagebuilt as the symbol of Lord Buddha,muralpainting andeasel painting (e.g., Phra Bot or Thai long book made of pulp from trees of the family Uricaceaecreated for distributing Buddhist teaching and storiesincluding Three Worlds (Tri-Phum), History of Buddha, Jatakar and Fine Artscreated for utility related to Buddhism such asBuddhist scripture cabinet decorated with gilded black lacquered figures, pearl inlay, glass inlay, etc. For artscreated for serving as benefit of Thai people’sdaily life, tis type of artinvolves with tradition, culture and way of life of people in each region suchashandicraft, utensils, folk art, entertianment,recreation, etc. Although“Thai art”hassubsequently been influenced by western art regarding the integration of formand techniques contributing modern art and post-modern art, respectively, theimportant inspiration of Thai artists remainsBuddhism and local cultureasshown in concept and contents of contemporary“Thai art”nowadays.These contemporary arts remain relate to beliefs and teaching of Buddhism aswell as local culture of each region with adjustment of appearance anddevelopment of styles and techniques according to perspectives, presentationand interpretation of each period. This changing brings new taste of aestheticsbut conserves Thai uniqueness by presenting delicate beauty of Thai artreflecting life and spirit of artists that are fostered and developed from theroot of Thai art and culture in order to express their emotion, feeling andideas to audiences with the aim to instruct and improve human’s heart. “Thai artworks”of severalcontemporary artists exhibited in this art exhibition presenting thedevelopment and clarification of Thai art from past to present time byintegrating forms and techniques of Thai traditional art to presentation ofmodern art corresponding to the contents of Buddhism and local cultureaccording to artist’s beliefs and imagination.This is another reflection oftaste, philosophy, personality and mind of a group of Thai artists who wereborn and grown under the rural or traditional context. They remain philosophyin their works creation in order to respond audiences’ mental demands andsustain their heart with aesthetics, beauty and develop their wisdom withbeliefs, concept and meaning of each artwork. These artworks are created fromartists’ wisdom with high skills and full with emotion, feeling and conceptthrough simple presentation.Althoughthis type of presentation is not striking, exciting, dazzling or new, it isprofound and interesting.Someartworks provide the feeling of gentleness, serenity and beauty while someartworks provide the feeling of amusement and delight. In present world, art becomes universalwithout any segregation on forms, techniques and presentation.With development of communication technology,artists around the world are able to learn each other and deliver influence toeach other. Artaims to present“innovation”of conceptual modeland forms of presentation in order to present innovation of human’s wisdom corresponding to contemporary world. Whenconsidering on this context,“Thaiart”may be considered to become underdeveloped and seem to beimmovable with its traditional creation, presentation and aesthetic conceptwhen the meaning of“development”is defined as abolitionof old things and replacement of new thing in today world. However, when considering “Thai art”as theunderstanding of history and culture under the context of Thai society,“Thaiart” remains meaningful cultural heritage and value intellectual property for studying and pride because creativity and development based on knowledge of true identity and advancement with direction must be better than following the world without oriented goal. This may cause us follow wrong direction and forget “who we are and what is suitable for us.” ---------- Background “Siam”is a term for calling Thailand in ancient time and it had been the formal nameof Thailand since the reign of King Rama IV until the name of Thailand waschanged in B.E. 2482. As a result, the term,“Siam”is therepresentative of Thainess in the past. In the same time, the term,“Siam”is also the name of“Siam Square”,the famous and contemporary business hub ofThailand near Bangkok Art and Culture Center, the venue of thisexhibition. “App”is a term originated from“application”,a computer program facilitating dataaccessibility and approaching to knowledge for academicbenefit and entertain. This word is thecontemporary term that is well-known in present world. As a result,“Siam App”in this regard refers tocontemporary space or channel to access Thai art knowledge and information fromthe past to present time. In addition, the term,“App”is alsooriginated from“appreciate” that meansapproach or impression; and“apply”refers toutilization. Since the origin of creating“Thai art”in currentworld is inspiration or appreciation to the value of Thai art, both Thai traditionalart and folk art, that is inherited for long period , conservation, inheritanceand development has been continued from a period to other periods. The artistsapply and develop style, form, techniques and contents shown in ancient Thaiart to create new   artworks with contemporary and unique style. Simultaneously,this exhibition also intends to be another part in publicizing knowledge,concept and beauty of Thai Art to provide all audiences appreciation towards“ThaiArt.”Subsequently, they will apply this inspiration to create anddevelop their works continuously. ---------- An exhibition by   BACC Exhibition Dept. Curator : Mr.Pakorn Klomkliang                                                                                                          Guest Curator Miss.Ochana poonthongdeewatthana                                                                                           Assitant Curator   Miss.Sasipat Sindhuprasidhi