EXHIBITIONS /

The Bouquet and the Wreath (Rebirth)

25 July 2026 - 11 October 2026

We are delighted to announce that ILHAM will be presenting The Bouquet and the Wreath (Rebirth), a solo exhibition by the internationally acclaimed senior Thai artist Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook from 25 July - 11 October 2026. This will be the artist's first solo exhibition in Malaysia.

The exhibition surveys the breadth of Araya's 45+ year-long international art practice. It features new artworks seen for the first time here, alongside important early works that have not been exhibited for decades. The exhibtiion includes video artworks, sculptural installations, and a selection of texts. 

Flowers, beds, and words recure throughout the exhibition, reflecting the artist's enduring preoccupations with desire and mortality, difference and curiosity. In Araya's playful yet sombre artworks, she invites us to dwell on immense philosophical questions. What is the purpose of art? What does it mean to be human? She obliquely quips: "I don't need to spell out everything that I feel, do I?"

The exhibition is a seque to the exhibition The Bouquet and the Wreath, jointly presented at MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai, and Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, in 2025-26.

The Bouquet and the Wreath (Rebirth) is presented at ILHAM in collaboration with MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum Chiang Mai, and Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai and reflects ILHAM Gallery's commitment to international partnerships and collaborations with leading art institutions in Southeast Asia and the Islamic world. 

Opening Event: 3:00 PM, Saturday, 25 July

For the opening exhibition at ILHAM, the artist Araya Rasjarmrearnsook has specially composed a new text with accompanying moving image. The text will be performed by Malaysian artist Sharon Chin, together with the first-ever screening of the video, in the presence of the artist. There will also be an introduction to the exhibition by curator Roger Nelson. The perforance text and video have been co-commissioned by Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai.

Limited seating. Attendance by RSVP only (must receive confirmation). Please email info@ilhamgallery.com for a secured seat.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook (b. 1957, Thailand; based in Chiang Mai) is an artist, writer, and professor, and one of Southeast Asia's most respected contemporary practitioners.

She has been exhibiting internationally for over 45 years, including at documenta, the Carnegie International, and biennales in Venice, Johannesburg, Sydney, Istanbul, Bangkok, Jakarta, Gwangju, Singapore, and beyond.

Important smaller surveys of her work have been presented at SculptureCenter, New York (2015) and4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney (2014).

Araya has also played a major role innovating arts education in Thailand, where she established the country's first interdisciplinary art school curricula.

At her home and studio in Chiang Mai, she cares for dozens of stray dogs, who often appear in her artworks.

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ABOUT THE CURATOR

Roger Nelson is an art historian and curator, and Assistant Professor of Art History at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has previously curated exhibitions in Australia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.

Roger is a noted specialist on Southeast Asia's modern and contemporary art, and a long-time collaborator with Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook. As well as co-curating (with Kittima Chareeprasit) The Bouquet and the Wreath in Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, Roger also co-edited (with Kittima Chareeprasit) a 222-page publication of the same title, published in 2026. He also co-edited (with Chanon Kenji Praepipatmongkol) a 496-page book of Araya's writings, titled I Am An Artist (He Said),translated by Kong Rithdee and published by National GallerySingapore in 2022. This is the artist's first book-length publication in English.

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ABOUT ILHAM GALLERY

Founded in 2015, ILHAM Gallery is a public art gallery committed to supporting the development, understanding, and enjoyment of modern and contemporary art. Our rotating programme of exhibitions reflects our commitment to connecting with diverse artistic practices in the region and beyong, to building relationships with like-minded partners, and to fostering meaningful conversations around contemporary issues of our time.

ILHAM aims to appeal to a diverse audienceand serve as a resource for those who are engaged in the arts,and those for whom art is a new experience. Through our education and engagement initiatives, we seek to bring out audiences into closer contact with the art, the artists, and their ideas.

As we belive that the arts should be accessibible to everyone, admission to ILHAM is free.