SEARCH

Showing 1-10 of 22 results

  • LIFE

    A creative accounting

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 13/02/2023

    » Sophie, a young pianist, dreams of performing at a concert hall. When she gets an invitation letter, she feels overjoyed and begins to prepare for a debut, though with a sense of foreboding. On concert day, the sound of music comes from nowhere. She finds that it is created by the ghosts of past performers, yet continues to play her instrument. Her performance brings the ghosts peace, and they gradually disappear. As time goes by, Sophie becomes a successful pianist, but she never forgets the event.

  • LIFE

    Preserving an ancient art

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 26/04/2022

    » Despite a two-year hiatus, Nutchanat La-ongsri commanded a stage with unwavering power. Donning a large headpiece, she pulled on a white costume with a red strap tied on her upper body. Her back rose up like a bird's tail. She pressed her hands in front, showing silver bracelets and nail tips. After a wai kru ceremony, she staged a play in nora kaek, the dying breed of performance art from the Deep South.

  • LIFE

    Ancient art moves to modernise

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 10/05/2022

    » After a two-year hiatus, Thanyaporn Khongkrathok, 17, and her friends dusted off their kaleidoscopic bird-like costumes. When the curtain was raised, they danced gracefully to pay respect to their ancestors. Thanyaporn has practised nora, the southern performance art, from an early age because she wants to preserve it.

  • LIFE

    Imaginary city

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 12/04/2023

    » A shabby man wanders, scavenging for whatever he can find from a pile of rubbish. Still, he shares leftover food with a stray cat, caressing the creature with a warm smile, the only positive expression on his nondescript face, in a capital city that betrays no sign of any human existence.

  • LIFE

    Curtains for Chinese opera?

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 27/02/2023

    » "Hurry up," shouted a crew member who climbed up onto a makeshift stage. Casting sidelong glances, performers, half-clad, looked in the mirror and concentrated on applying layers of make-up. Nearby, a motley bunch of musicians and technicians double-checked their instruments. A stream of chatter from a growing audience -- without any partition between the theatre and real life -- put unintended pressure on the band.

  • OPINION

    When art gets stifled

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 21/11/2022

    » 'Art is short, a case is long," read a banner. Students apparently hijacked the well-known motto "art is long, life is short" by Prof Silpa Bhirasri, the father of Thai modern art, in protest of Chiang Mai University's legal action against its own lecturers and a student who "trespassed" on the art centre to exhibit works, some of which might challenge those in power, last year. It is a case in point for stifling democracy in Thai art.

  • OPINION

    Heritage is not soft power

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 02/05/2022

    » Harvard University Professor Joseph Nye coined the term "soft power", or the ability to obtain preferred outcomes by attraction, rather than coercion or payment, in his book Bound To Lead in 1990. However, he has since seen his brainchild, scribbled out on his kitchen table, grow in scope of application and distance.

  • LIFE

    Tunes of the forest

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 08/02/2022

    » It is a heavenly radio broadcast that reminds villagers twice a day -- morning and late afternoon -- of their feathered companions under threat of extinction. Despite being hampered by lockdowns, artists have managed to imitate birdsong for public announcement systems to promote human-animal relationships.

  • THAILAND

    A poem born in a protest

    News, Thana Boonlert, Published on 05/11/2020

    » Monday Oct 26 was just another dark and sweltering night on Sathon Road, central Bangkok.

  • LIFE

    Artists rally to save the Chao Mae Thap Thim Shrine

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 23/08/2023

    » Hemmed in on all sides by construction, colourful paintings are nailed to the metal sheet fences of an age-old community. Inside, there is thoughtful mixed-media artwork, performances and memorabilia left behind in the wake of displacement. Artists are campaigning all-out for the protection of the Chao Mae Thap Thim Shrine ahead of a first court ruling that could result in demolition at the end of the month.

Your recent history

  • Recently searched

    • Recently viewed links

      Did you find what you were looking for? Have you got some comments for us?