11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

BORN 1960, CHIANGMAI, THAILAND LIVES+WORKS INCHIANGMAI A prominent figure in the development of contemporary art in Thailand, Mit Jai Inn has cultivated an ambitious and prolific practice over four decades, which has both nurtured an artistic community and called attention to the political constructs governing it. At the beginning of his career in the 1980s, he sought exposure to international practices at a time when Thailand had limited influence on global discourses. Abandoning his studies in Bangkok, he travelled around Germany, and settled in Vienna to study and work as a studio assistant to artist Franz West (1947–2012). Before returning to Thailand in 1992, Jai Inn was instrumental in the creation of Chiang Mai Social Installation, a series of influential artist-run events staged between 1992 and 1998, devised by Jai Inn and other important figures in Thai art, including Uthit Atimana (b.1960), Montien Boonma (1953–2000) and Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook (b.1957). Social participation and political inquiry were central to Jai Inn’s involvement in these events and, in the years since, he has continued to develop other initiatives around concepts of healing, collectivity and accessibility, while using his platform for activism and political resistance. 1 Among the first generation of Thai artists to reject the practice of exhibiting within a ‘white cube’ to focus on art as a social experience, Jai Inn has continued to explore interaction and intervention in his work. 2 MIT JAI INN (left to right, installation view, Queensland Art Gallery, 2024) Untitled (Scroll #APT) 2024 / Oil on canvas / 300 × 600cm / Purchased 2024 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art; Untitled (Totem #APT) 2024 / Oil on canvas / Three parts: 100 x 100 x 600cm (each, approx.); Untitled (Tunnel #APT) 2024 / Oil on canvas / Eight parts: 150 x 1200cm (each, approx.) / Commissioned for APT11 / Courtesy: The artist and Silverlens, Manila and New York ARTISTS+PROJECTS ASIAPACIFICTRIENNIAL 114 — 115