Showing 1 - 5 of 5
Venice and the milk of dreams
Life, Apinan Poshyananda, Published on 15/08/2022
» Santa Maria Della Salute, also known as Saint Mary of Health, stands majestically at Punta Della Dogana by the Grand Canal in the city of Venice. In 1631, Venice experienced an unusually devastating plague when nearly a third of the population was wiped out. As a votive offering, the Republic of Venice vowed to build and dedicate a church to Our Lady of Health with objects of art that bore reference to the Black Death. In March 2022, after postponement due to Covid-19 that killed thousands in the city, the 59th Venice Biennale opened under the theme of "The Milk Of Dreams" and was welcomed like a warm delicious latte by the art world.
Frolicking in Korat
Life, Apinan Poshyananda, Published on 14/03/2022
» Postponed since 2020 due to Covid-19, Thailand Biennale had a grandiose opening last December in Pak Chong and Phimai in Nakhon Ratchasima. Held under the themes of "Butterflies Frolicking On The Mud: Engendering Sensible Capital", "Nature Reigns Supreme In The World. Art Is Having Freedom In One Self" and "Soeng Sin Thin Ya Mo" (Celebration Of Art In The Land Of Ya Mo), the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC), Ministry of Culture and Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) co-hosted the events with a budget of over 120 million baht.
A monument of emptiness and embarrassment
Life, Apinan Poshyananda, Published on 15/05/2023
» On Thiam Ruam Mit Road, Huai Khwang, a huge and empty building with a triangular façade has stood for years. A big plaque on the lawn in Thai translates to The National Gallery of Art. With no activities inside, people are left wondering when it will open. Is it true that there are plans to convert it into mixed-use spaces instead of a display of national treasures of modern and contemporary Thai art?
Contemporary mediocrities
Life, Apinan Poshyananda, Published on 03/05/2021
» At the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture's (OCAC) Art Collection in the spacious art hall on Ratchadamnoen Avenue, a group of ageing male artists covered in sanitary masks surrounded the director of OCAC, Vimolluck Chuchart, who gave a self-congratulatory speech. She proudly announced that the public will be able to view for the first time the national collection of the Ministry of Culture's contemporary Thai art. Beside these elderlies stood a white giant fibreglass sculpture by Sutee Kunavichyanont in Thai military uniform wearing a helmet with a rifle erect. Sutee's Equality; Thai Soldier (2016) is inspired by the cultural mandates between 1939 and 1942 during the premiere of Phibul Songkhram that aimed to uplift the national spirit and moral code of the nation and instil progressive tendencies and newness into Thai life.
Cool art in hot Japan
Life, Apinan Poshyananda, Published on 06/09/2017
» Recently, embattled Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet reshuffle was seen as a desperate attempt to improve his popularity that nosedived due to scandals involving ministers. Despite the summer heat in Japanese politics and the North Korean missile tests, the "Cool Japan" policy initiated by Abe's government to revitalise Japanese contemporary culture and art has developed.