Beyond the Future: Papers from the Third Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

Next I'd like to look at the 'Hers Group', comprising young women artists such as Daunghatai Pongprasit, On-anong Klinsiri, Watcharapom Srisuk and Toeingam Srisubut. Hers Group made their debut in the exhibition 'Art and Reflection' at the National Gallery, Bangkok in 1 998. This exh ibition successfully stimulated the young women's art movement, which had hardly existed in Thai contemporary art circles before then . Their recent exh ibition 'Women Opportunity' was held at the Tadu Contemporary Art Gal lery in December 1 998. Their concern in the exh ibition was with the u rban environment, and concerns for cultural frames in which Thai women are l iving as they face challenging social and cultural changes in the new global era. Forming the women's voice, 'Womanifesto' was an international women's art exchange. It was organised in March 1 997 in conjunction with International Women's Day. The exhibition contained work from eighteen artists from n ine countries : Austria, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, the United States, Singapore and Thailand. Through their personal contact and interaction, these women of different nationalities became a unified force. The exhibition comprised paintings, sculptures, drawings and installations which were undoubtedly forming the 'voices' of women artists whose works reflected the preoccupation with their society and the world; the art examined political issues, social conflicts and ecolog ical concerns . The strong relationship between the participating women artists resu lted in the next exchange project of the second 'Womanifesto' in March 1 999 . It is interesting that this project was fully supported by the Bangkok Metropolitan Adm inistration ( BMA). The second 'Womanifesto' was about addressing and understanding the pre-occupations of women as human beings, and as artists with ind ividual backgrounds. Fifteen Thai women artists actively joined thirteen women from Austria, Croatia, Indonesia, Japan , Korea, Pakistan, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam . The exhibition took place in Saranrom Park. The goal of this exhibition was different from the first 'Womanifesto'. The event took place in the open air and allowed the artists more freedom to create their work and to express themselves in d ifferent forms, wh ich comprised mainly sculptures, installations and performances specific to locations. Among the Thai artists were N ittaya Ueareeworakul, Pinaree Sanpitak, Sriwan Janehuttakarnkit, Surojana Sethabutra, Kanya Chareonsupkul and the previously mentioned 'Hers Group'. Regard less of national ities, cultures or language differences and beyond their shared characteristics and experiences, these women artists are bound together by the visual arts as their common language. The younger generation of women has been successful in organising art exhibitions and they play important roles in art adm inistration. Alternative stud ios such as About Studio/About Cate, run by Klaomard Yipintsoi, and Project 304, run by Gridthiya Gaweewong, are non­ profit spaces devoted to accommodating and presenting creative and experimental art work by emerging young artists. These two spaces have provided venu e s for challenging d iscussions by the Bangkok art community in its attempts to engage local audiences. Another novel p roject is the exh ibition of collaborative works titled 'Alter Ego', which occurred in February 1 999. This two-month program , organised as a joint Thai-European Union contemporary art project, was aimed at developing close relations and cross-cultural d ialogue between Thais and Europeans. Thirteen Thai artists were paired with European artists from European Union member states: Greece, The Netherlands, Germany, Finland , Spa i n , France, Macau and Sweden. The European artists worked in Thailand as artists-in-residence. They were required to work closely with their Thai counterparts for a month . The project included two Thai women artists, P inaree Sanpitak and Vimonmarn Kanthachavana and six women European artists from France, Greece, The Netherlands , Italy and Germany. Due to time constraints, the artists were pressured to produce work in a relatively short period . Problems were compounded by various cultural d ifferences ; however, towards the end of the project, when these difficulties had been addressed , the benefits of an international exchange could be seen more, I think, in the dialogue between the d iffering cultures than in the resulting art work. Future plans for women artists include an international exhibition of contemporary printmaking at the Chiang Mai Contemporary Art Museum, scheduled for 2001 . The increasing flow of international art exchanges has provided new experiences, new attitudes and new ideas for 42