Rediscovering Forgotten Thai Masters of Photography

EXHIBITIONS /

Rediscovering Forgotten Thai Masters of Photography

18 May - 25 August 2019, LEVEL 3

In collaboration with NUS Museum, Singapore and Manit Sriwanichpoom.

VIEW PROGRAMMES

Rediscovering Forgotten Thai Masters of Photography gathers images taken in Thailand during the 1950s to 1970s by seven photographers Buddhadasa Bhiku, Liang Ewe, S.H. Lim, Saengjun Limlohakul, Pornsak Sakdaenprai, ’Rong Wong-Savun and M.L. Toy Xoomsai. By assembling these bodies of works, the project offers conjectures on film photography and ethnographic lines of inquiry. Over 200 photographs were found and remastered, potentially surveying photographic traditions at the onset of Modern Thailand, suggesting views such as celebrity and cosmopolitan life alongside inland societies and the periods antecedent to Thailand’s tourism in the 60s.

Rediscovering Forgotten Thai Masters of Photography which is on its third iteration at ILHAM Gallery in collaboration with NUS Museum, proposes ways in which such independent research work by artists and cultural practitioners can travel, educate and solicit conversation with parallel studies in the region. Independently consolidated and studied by Manit Sriwanichpoom, these images survey practices in Thailand that are alternative to public histories transmitted around Southeast Asia. b was exhibited in NUS Museum from 15 March 2018 – 30 March 2019. The first consolidated appearance of these seven photographers was at Bangkok University Gallery in 2015.

Manit Sriwanichpoom (b. 1961) is an artist who lives and works in Bangkok. His photography-based works are held in the collections of institutions in Europe and Asia, and he has been known for his exhibitions that satirizes Thai nationalism and consumerism with insight and humor since 1996. The project Rediscovering Forgotten Thai Masters of Photography involves many years of Manit’s personal research. Its recent reiteration showcases the works of seven Thai masters of photography that Manit has sought out, gathered and restored.