20th April 2024
copied
We are excited to announce that our current exhibiting artist, Jakkai Siributr, is participating in The Spirits of Maritime Crossing—a Collateral Event of the 60th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia.
100 Tonson Foundation is honored and grateful to be funding and partnering with the Bangkok Art Biennale Foundation to showcase The Spirits of Maritime Crossing curated by Prof. Dr. Apinan Poshyananda, which highlights themes of displacement, diaspora, colonialism, and hybrids of diverse cultures across Southeast Asia with a particular emphasis on the symbolism of water and maritime crossings.
The exhibition is a Collateral Event of the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, which will be on view from 20th April 2024 to 24th November 2024 at Palazzo Smith Mangilli Valmarana, Venice, which has not been accessible to the public for 11 years.
The Spirits of Maritime Crossing is a journey from Southeast Asia to Venice through cultural and diasporic experiences — viewed through the eyes of those away from their homeland, both physically and spiritually. Southeast Asian artists share many similarities, while also differing in terms of their ethnicities, religions, and languages, which can sometimes create a sense of foreignness among them. The legacy of these nations is evident in the so-called 'cultural hybrids' — refugees, immigrants, and stateless people.
Set in a historic Venetian palazzo located in the Cannaregio district overlooking the grand canal, The Spirits of Maritime Crossing reflects on topical conversations from the Global South, from the effects of colonialism and wars on communities across Southeast Asia, through spirituality and indigenous presence in the region, to the importance of nature.
The presentation builds upon the region’s local voices and narratives, its history as a significant meeting point of cultures and trade, and draws from its geographical relationship with the bodies of water that surround it.
The Spirits of Maritime Crossing showcases a constellation of artworks from Southeast Asia, reflecting upon cultural flows and moving water as metaphors of unexplored ocean and territories. Spanning a range of mediums including painting, sculpture, mixed media, and video installations, the exhibition features fifteen artists, including Jakkai Siributr, who is currently showing his latest work "Matrilineal" at 100 Tonson Foundation.
In The Venice Biennale, Jakkai Siributr uses textiles to provide commentary on ethnic cleansing in the region, through intricate embroideries created together with asylum seekers who are assumed to be strangers and foreigners everywhere they go. His embroideries titled There's no Place evoke the plight of stateless people, whose pursuit of freedom is a violent path.
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*For inquiries, please contact Arina Matveeva arina.m@thaibev.com*
Bangkok Art Biennale (+66) 083-088-9385
