{"id":21442,"date":"2025-12-26T06:48:49","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T06:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/?p=21442"},"modified":"2025-12-26T07:33:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T07:33:46","slug":"phuket-makes-time-for-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/2025\/12\/26\/phuket-makes-time-for-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Phuket Makes Time for Art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VERY THAI: In this regular column, author Philip Cornwel-Smith explores popular culture and topics related to his best-selling books \u2018Very Thai\u2019 and \u2018Very Bangkok.\u2019 As the 4th Thailand Biennale opens in Phuket, this column explores its thrilling art, and what its challenges say about Phuket and the biennale\u2019s future. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few places have kept changing so utterly as Phuket, which is entering yet another phase. After a millennium as an Indian Ocean port, then settlement by immigrant Chinese, it got pulled apart for a century through the extractive industries of planting rubber and mining tin. Four decades ago, Phuket totally flipped to mining tourists. Now Phuket embarks on mining art for soft power by hosting the 4th Thailand Biennale. Here are my own extracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2018Foxy Diva Hot Pink Lacegina Queen\u2019 by Imhathai Sywaatthanasilp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Phuket and the Culture Ministry are adorning the \u2018Pearl of the Orient\u2019 with some magnificent art for the peak season until 30 April 2026. The Biennale reveals compelling contrasts to Phuket\u2019s holiday cliches, with deep and often surprising installations. It\u2019s now all open, but launching it incomplete on November 29 has raised questions about the whole venture. Across the island, sea breezes flutter banners bearing the theme \u2018Eternal\/Kalpa,\u2019 a reference to the Hindu-Buddhist measure of cosmic eons \u2013 a long way of saying it\u2019s about \u2018time.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2018Back Home\u2019 by Tsai Ming Liang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Historical Time: Abandoned Sites and Reimagined Heritage<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Time is confronting in a culture that lives in the moment and erases awkward histories. The curators pointedly dwelt on relics of Phuket\u2019s past. Arin Rungjang<\/strong> is known for reinterpreting narratives, and his co-Artistic Director, Sino-Australian academic David Teh<\/strong>, wrote Thai Art: Currencies of the Contemporary.<\/em> The other curators are Marisa Phandharakrayjadej <\/strong>and Hong Kong\u2019s Hera Chan<\/strong>. Many of the 62 artists or collectives (Thai unless noted) have wrought stunning work about the island\u2019s marginal groups, exploited ecology and hidden stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Oat Montien in drag persona Mimosa Jazz with artistic directors David Teh and Arin Rungjang and curators Marisa Phandharakrayjadej and Hera Chan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the absence of an art museum to anchor a core exhibition, their works spread across 19 venues, plus 13 independent \u2018sala\u2019 pavilions. Three free shuttle bus routes serve the sites, with Phuket Town as the hub. Almost all the art was commissioned for this Biennale, so it matches the spaces well. Many installations are affecting and stay long in the mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2018Silent Memories\u2019 by Ibrahim Mahima<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some art fills ornate rooms of Peranakan houses whose restoration has driven Phuket Town\u2019s resurgence. Most recolonise abandoned buildings, which adds character and an \u2018urban adventure\u2019 frisson. Other spaces include a stadium, the waterfront Saphan Hin park and Anuwat Apmukmongkhon<\/strong>\u2019s mobile BangLee Pink Karee Puff vendor cart. His roving is live-streamed to a pink room of crowned nudes in the old Thai Airways office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Anuwat Apmukmongkhon\u2019s mobile BangLee Pink Karee Puff vendor cart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Work Time: Navigating Boom and Bust<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a pretty Peranakan home, batiks with rebellious motifs billow beside a warped peacock chair and artefacts from Nathalie Muchamad<\/strong>\u2019s Javanese-Kanak roots. These genteel \u2018sceneographies\u2019 mask the indentured labour behind colonial era artefacts. Built by a Hokkien tin magnate Tan Lim Yon, the house stands oddly beside a life-size mural of itself in the old Kathu Liquor Distillery Excise Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2018The Throne and the Crown\u2019 by Nathalie Muchamad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There, Wu Chi-Yu<\/strong> relates camphor extraction in his native Taiwan for the celluloid industry, except he conjures his faux-vintage films and photos using AI, forcing us to question all \u2018evidence.\u2019 Just as surreally, Indonesian Riar Rizaldi<\/strong> critiques beliefs and science in a film about how minerals were found by tracking plants eaten by the near-extinct, Javanese rhino, which haunts the museums we build to what we destroy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2018Stories of Celluloid\u2019 by Wu Chi-Yu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Asian economic destruction of 1997 began in the Bangkok Bank of Commerce. In its gutted Phuket branch, Bougainville artist Taloi Havini<\/strong> hangs spirals of a simpler currency: Pacific shells. More shells encrust tyres that sensors rotate amid stormy lighting and maritime sounds in Rungruang Sittirerk<\/strong>\u2019s ode to the tenuous survival of Phuket\u2019s remaining Urak Lawoi sea gypsies. Up top, the 1970s origin of hi-so lifestyle flares in Ariane Sutthavong<\/strong>\u2019s archive of Suwanni Sukhontha, a Thai novellist whose pioneering indie magazine Lalana<\/em>bridged art, fashion and social commentary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2018Unwritten Melody\u2019 by Rungruang Sittirerk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Suspended Time: Lives Left in Limbo<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Yi Teng Market never opened due to land disputes, but its graffitied hulk remains. On the fish counters, Pratchaya Pinthong<\/strong> splays 300 photos by Sirachai Arunrugstichai of environmental and political struggles. Upstairs, Pratchya invited swiftlets to colonise its rotting recesses as an ongoing legacy. This grim site resounds to sensor-tripped birdsong and sounds that help regenerate coral. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2018water-copy-air-streak\u2019 by Pratchaya Pinthong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nearby, the Poon Phol Building was a failed store, but makes a fine gallery, with six fan-shaped floors. Standouts are a film of Isaan village villas by Taiwanese auteur\u00a0Tsai Ming Liang<\/strong>\u00a0and three captivating animations by\u00a0Haig Aivazian<\/strong>\u00a0of Lebanon. Italian\u00a0Rosella Biscotti<\/strong> turns batiks into cast rubber to retell stories of women and Austrian\u00a0Olivier Laric<\/strong>\u2019s bronze gecko evolves into furniture. Serbian\u00a0Aleksandra Domanovic<\/strong>\u00a0lists cities by temperature on a flight departure board that blandly records abnormal shocks in climatic time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2018Mei\u2019 by Rosella Biscotti<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
\u2018Monument to the Bent-toed Gecko of Phuket\u2019 by Olivier Laric<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
\u2018Departures (hottest to coldest)\u2019 by Aleksandra Domanovic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Night Time: Relishing Tales of the Dark Side<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pearl Theatre and Pearl Bowl were built by a tin mining family as the acme of boom-era adult amusement. Now vacant, the cinema retains tromp l\u2019oeil murals from its stint as a novelty hall amid saturated lighting in what\u2019s the standout venue. Its halls converge on a black garden and reflecting pond by the Indonesian performance artist Melati Suryodomo<\/strong>. Featuring cones where you\u2019re invited to speak your mind, this eerie invocation to accept life\u2019s dark side is bathed in purple light and electronica by Singaporean Yuen Chee Wai<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2018Ancescape\u2019 by Melati Suryodomo and Yuen Chee Wai.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The dark side continues with a provocative array of bikini-like figures, Thai hair artist Imhatai Suwattanasilp<\/strong> laced coat-hangers using filaments from the wigs of trans cabaret performers. Probing further in \u2018Pearl Boy,\u2019 Oat Montien<\/strong> parallels the process of pearl farming with the life of male sex workers in Patong. In shower-show cubicles, oysters hang in shibari knots before the shellfish get painfully seeded in their gonads, leaving a pile of neon-bathed nacre topped by a pearl necklace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2018Foxy Diva Hot Pink Lacegina Queen\u2019 by Imhathai Sywaatthanasilp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Pearl Boy\u2019 by Oat Montien<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pearl\u2019s tomb-like exit hall was turned by Thai-Japanese videographer Taiki Sakpisit<\/strong> into a mesmerising mausoleum to the 1879 Kathu massacre. Black lanterns flicker and the immersive soundtrack swirls to multiple projections. You have to keep glancing over your shoulder as secret society feuds cause the murder of 400 tin miners, whose ghosts refuse to be silenced. It leaves you feeling chills. Don\u2019t ask if any of the sites are really haunted\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2018Foreign Bodies\u2019 by Taiki Sakpisit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ecological Time: Scenes from the Anthropocene<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The vast Pearl Bowl, gutted of its ten-pin alleys, opens with fisherman Doloh Chetae<\/strong> mapping human disruptions of Pattani Bay. Inside, five giant screens show the impact of snorkellers and motors on reef and mangrove idylls, filmed by Alex Monteith<\/strong>, Maree Sheehan<\/strong> and Apiwat Thongyoun<\/strong> (from Belfast, New Zealand and Phuket). They borrow the crashing soundtrack emanating from animations by France\u2019s No\u00e9mie Goudal<\/strong> of ecology collapsing. It\u2019s a transfixing Biennale spectacle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Origins III\u2019 by No\u00e9mie Goudal (right) and \u2018Cherishing the Sea Forests \u2018by Alex Monteith, Maree Sheehan and Apiwat Thongyoun<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Life Time: Late Artists and Lasting Art<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
\u2018Is your time\u2019 by Ryuichi Sakamoto with Shiro Takatani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
\u2018Moto-Bagads\u2019: Urak Lawoi Resilience as a Vehicle for Adaptive Commons\u2019 by Chatpong Chuenrudeemol and Eakapob Huangthanapan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thai biennales tend to salute dead masters and leave landmarks. Literally the most spotlit art is a piano retrieved from the Tohoku Tsunami by the late Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto<\/strong>. Dominating the 4000-Seat Stadium, it plays notes from within a reflecting pool, ringed by paintings evoking the 2004 Tsunami that traumatised Phuket. In a side room, architects Chatpong Chuenrudeemol<\/strong> and Phuket\u2019s Eakapob<\/strong> Huangtanaphan<\/strong> charmingly modify the Urak Luwoi\u2019s impromptu transit \u2013 a sidecar and moveable boat shelter \u2013 embodying their forced shift from sea nomads to precarious settlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Archives of Minnette de Silva<\/strong>\u2019s 1950s innovative Sri Lankan housing share the modernist Phuket Contemporary Art Gallery with models for a children\u2019s library by Ryue Nishizawa<\/strong> of Japan to be built at Nai Harn bay. Installed at nearby Cape Promthep, a moon dial by South African Nolan Oswald Denis<\/strong> will later track lunar time permanently at Surin beach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other outdoor art, Pitupong Chaowakul<\/strong>\u2019s climbable red maze cube will be a long-term attraction in Saphan Hin Park. Along the adjacent mangrove walkway, everyone swoons at the sublime lighting by Bangkok-based Japanese Eiji Sumi<\/strong>. Using colours that encourage tree and fish growth, he evokes the spiritual protection of tree ordination. Atop Khao Rang viewpoint, tattered jute sacks imbued with manual labour have been swathed around the gazebo by Ghanaian Ibrahim Mahama<\/strong>, who\u2019s No 1 in Art Review<\/em>\u2019s \u2018Power 100\u2019 of world art figures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
\u2018Whisper of the Forest\u2019 by Eiji Sumi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Opening Time(s): A Delayed Second Launch<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Eternal\/Kalpa<\/em> launched on November 29, with a folksy parade of handmade floats and aunties dancing in Southern kebaya<\/em> blouses. Unfortunately, the biennale was only 70% done, though it was all complete by December 13, so media didn\u2019t get to see work at Chao Fah Power Station and two shrines. The unready venues, unresponsive systems and late payment were widely attributed to the bureaucratic seniority culture. Oat Montien, hosting the afterparty in drag, lampooned those flaws to cathartic cheers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Structural problems really matter. State projects are paid in arrears \u2013 usual for firms, but not for distressed artists having to pay in advance. As the excellent Biennale guide book arrived late, the \u2018press kit\u2019 bag was empty except for a yellow flag to wave at the launch as if journalists are cheerleaders! The state now funds the arts well, but soft power only comes from how other people feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The curators wish the Biennale had its own institute like, say, TCDC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe commitment is there, the budget is enough, but if they don\u2019t make an arm\u2019s length organisation, it\u2019s doomed,\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

they told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe inappropriate structure has a cost that isn\u2019t felt by the organiser, but was very exacting on the participants \u2013 and it shouldn\u2019t be. The artists had to operate on trust [and] on their own funds for far too long. If you have a body that can make decisions in the interests of the platform, the future is very big.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Installing the Biennale during the launch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Biennale Time: Two-Yearly Efforts Every Year<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Biennials are by definition every two years, but normally in one place. Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB) was the private initiative of Apinan Poshyananda and corporate sponsor Thai Bev. The state responded by making its own rival biennale the same year, in Krabi. The Covid hiatus enabled a wiser reset to alternating with BAB, as at Khorat and Chiang Rai. But that means Thailand dilutes the impact with annual biennials!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decentralising projects is laudable, but takes the Biennale to ever-less-equipped provinces. The curators have to train-up localities that lack culture management experience, suitable venues, or fluency with contemporary art. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chiang Rai worked well as it had a new art museum, star curators who were also locals, many resident artists and officials attuned to the art economy. Picking Phuket despite the lack of art infrastructure meant that large spaces were mainly empty buildings that needed fixing. Yet re-purposing old structures is a valiant sustainable cause that needs role models. If Phuket wants an art museum, they could easily convert Poon Phol, which has imposing presence, great spaces and views of hills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
\u2018You May Own the Lanterns, but We Have the Light\u2019 by Haig Aivazian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some insiders reckon the Thailand Biennale should alternate between Chiang Rai and another regular city, or give itself more time as a trienniale. Yet it will next reincarnate in 2027 in Rayong. A surprising choice to many, rich Rayong nevertheless has migrant cultures, eco issues and industrial edge, with plenty of warehouse spaces. But they\u2019ll have to squeeze a kalpa<\/em>-long learning curve into two short years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This periodic column, Very Thai, is syndicated by River Books, publisher of Philip Cornwel-Smith\u2019s bestselling books\u00a0Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Very Bangkok: In the City of the Senses<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The views expressed by the author of this column are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Koktail<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VERY THAI: In this regular column, author Philip Cornwel-Smith explores popular culture and topics related to his best-selling books \u2018Very Thai\u2019 and \u2018Very Bangkok.\u2019 As the 4th Thailand Biennale opens in Phuket, this column explores its thrilling art, and what its challenges say about Phuket and the biennale\u2019s future.  Few places have kept changing so utterly as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":21521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,51,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultural-happenings","category-lifestyle","category-the-arts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPhuket Makes Time for Art<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"VERY THAI: In this regular column, author Philip Cornwel-Smith explores popular culture 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