12 Oct There Is No Thai Park
Eng | ไทย
S.A.C. Subhashok The Arts Centre
proudly presents
There Is No Thai Park
a group exhibition by
Rosalia Namsai Engchuan
Itirit Hatairatana
Theerawat Klangjaroenchai
Wisanu Phu-artdun
Bussaporn Thongchai
Sarnt Utamachote
Suchart Wannaset
at Art centre Bldg., 3rd floor
Subhashok The Arts Centre, Bangkok
24 October – 29 November 2020
Opening Reception: 24 October 2020, 6:00 PM
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There Is No Thai Park is an exhibition at the Subhashok The Arts Centre, Bangkok, realized in collaboration with the un.thai.tled collective, Berlin and with the support of the Goethe Institut, Thailand. The exhibition brings together artistic and archival projects that respond to the history of what was colloquially called the “Thai Park” in Berlin. A weekend food market at the Preußenpark that had existed for over twenty years., its informality and popularity led to conflicts with the park regulations and triggered public debates. At the same time, it is a social urban space where Thai women have been the main actors in the development of this community for many years.
Using the histories of the Thai Park in Berlin, the exhibition opens up questions of Thai identity in a multifaceted globalized world, beyond the over-simplifying framework of the nation-state. The Thai diaspora and its various movements complicate any uni-directional narrative of ‘Thainess’ and instead forces us to consider what forms of otherness are already entangled in who we conceive of ourselves to be. Indeed, it may be argued that Thainess itself has always been produced through complex, often adversarial, negotiations with otherness – from the histories of colonialism in the region, to the pressures of the Cold War, and the subsequent and ongoing intrusions of neo-imperialisms – all of which played a crucial role in the formation of the contemporary identity of Thailand as we know it. It therefore becomes all the more crucial to reclaim histories otherwise lost in the tumult of these grand narratives, that nonetheless are integral to the process of identity formation.
There Is No Thai Park brings to the fore questions of identity beyond the nation, which gain additional weight and urgency in a world of increasing nationalism, the hardening of borders and the rise of xenophobia. The current pandemic has shown the always precarious position that immigrants, especially those stereotyped as a ‘model minority’, occupy in their countries of residence and affinity, and how quickly our worlds can come crashing down around us. It is with these considerations that we turn to the tenuously pieced-together narratives of Thai Park, as told by the projects in the exhibition.
Subhashok The Arts Centre cordially invites you to join the vernissage of “There Is No Thai Park” on 24 October 2020 at 6:00 PM. The exhibition is on display from 24 October – 29 November 2020 at 3rd floor, Art Centre Bldg., Subhashok The Arts Centre, Bangkok. More inquiries, please contact: manager@sac.gallery or tel. +662 258 5580 ext. 401. Map