La Fundación Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB) presenta The Spirits of Maritime Crossing, un evento colateral de la 60ª Exposición Internacional de Arte - La Biennale di Venezia. La exposición presenta una constelación de proyectos artísticos del sudeste asiático que reflexionan sobre los flujos culturales y la circulación del agua como metáforas de mares y territorios inexplorados. Las obras presentadas incluyen pintura y escultura, obras de técnica mixta y videoinstalaciones.

The Spirits of Maritime Crossing, con curaduría de Prof. Dr. Apinan Poshyananda, destaca temas como desplazamiento, diáspora, colonialismo e influencias de diversas culturas del Sudeste Asiático, con especial énfasis en el simbolismo del agua y las travesías marítimas. La Fundación Bienal de Arte de Bangkok fue establecida por Thai Beverage Public Company Limited (ThaiBev) con el apoyo de sectores públicos y privados.

Marina Abramović & Pichet Klunchun: The Spirits of Maritime Crossing, 2022. Intérpretes: Marina Abramović y Pichet Klunchun, con dirección de Apinan Poshyananda. Encargo de Bangkok Art Biennale Foundation. Stereo, 34.27 min. Video trailer en YouTube.
Video still. Cortesía de los artistas. © Bangkok Art Biennale Foundation

Chitti Kasemkitvatana and Nakrob Moonmanas: Our Place in Their World, 2023. Two-channel video installation, color, sound, 4:00 min. Commissioned by Bangkok Art Biennale Foundation.
© Photo: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe

In parallel worlds of Italy and Siam, Chitti Kasemkitvatana and Nakrob Moonmanas create phantasmagorial montages of foreigners and commoners whispering in different tongues.

Jompet Kuswidananto: Terang Boelan (Moonshine), 2022. Broken glasses, glass chandeliers, iron, wood, upright piano components, electronics, 200 x 150 x 200 cm. 
© Photo: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe

Colonizers and missionaries brought new faith and left behind painful memories. Jompet Kuswidananto’s twinkling shards evoke broken vessels and shattered dreams in the vast ocean.

Alwin Reamillo. From the series: Jesus is condemned to death, 2023. Mixed media on a constructed box and objects, 61 x 30 x 14.3 cm each. 
© Photo: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe

Across the archipelago, Christianity became enmeshed with locality. Alwin Reamillo weaves cultural currents through found objects and assemblages. Fourteen Stations of the Cross reveal layers of colonialism and Christian iconography through subjects on migration, New World Disorder and globalization.

Natee Utarit: Temple of the King, 2019. Oil on canvas, 190 x 262 cm (left)
The Man without a past, 2018. Oil on canvas, 190 x 228 cm (right)
© Photo: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe

Natee Utarit infuses Buddhist philosophy with Western art history that convey contradiction and absurdity. East-West encounters depict foreigners everywhere in temples and piazzas. Convoluted time and space take viewers back to the time when serene and exotic life of foreigners searched for abundance and refuge between Venice and Bangkok.

Bounpaul Phothyzan: Story from Plateau, 2019. Metal sculpture, 40 x 40 x 200 cm. 
© Photo: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe

For Bounpaul Phothyzan, the remnants during American occupation in Southeast Asia left scars and trauma. Bombshells discarded in rice fields are carved to record victims crippled and killed by mighty foreigners. They are a haunting testament to the memory of violence.

Khvay Samnang, Calling for Rain, 2021. Single channel video, colour, sound, 30'42". Commissioned for the Children’s Biennale by the National Gallery of Singapore. 
© Photo: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe

Mythological dancers by Khvay Samnang inspired by Ramayana relate to hegemony and deforestation. Rain dance is intertwined with local worship to nourish harvest and dispel foreign threats from the fire dragon.

Yee I-Lann: Budi's Song, 2023. Single channel film, 12:37 min. loop. 
Jalan-jalan cari Jalan (Walking around looking for the Way), 2024. Bajau Sama Dilaut pandanus weav, plastic rubbish collected at Omadal Island, 600 x 250 cm
© Photo: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe

Yee I-Lann and sea-based communities explore maritime histories to revive ancestral knowledge. She addresses issues of indigenous connections by collaborating with weavers and local communities. Mats stitched with rubbish washed ashore by tidal currents connect Venice and Borneo.

Truong Cong Tung, The State of Absence – Voices from Outside, 2020 - Ongoing. Gourds, water, soil, seeds, machinery, time, and temperature, variable dimension. 
© Photo: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe

Gourds by Truong Cong Tung are analogous to spirits from Vietnam, with drops of water and bubbles symbolizing time and decay shared by humanity. These strange objects are reminders of distant land and foreigners across maritime crossings.

Jakkai Siributr: There's no Place, 2020. Ongoing geographically mobile collaborative 'call-and-response' embroidery installation, hand embroidery on fabric, dimensions variable.
© Photo: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe

Embroideries by Jakkai Siributr evoke the plight of stateless people, whose pursuit of freedom is a violent path. As a commentary on ethnic cleansing, Siributr collaborated with asylum seekers, who are assumed to be strangers and foreigners everywhere they go.

Moe Satt: Hunting & Dancing: 15 years, 2023. Two-channel, B/W, sound, 4K video, 12:52 min, performed by Moe Satt and Liah Frank, camera by Martin Toloku. 
Courtesy the artist; Nova Contemporary. © Moe Satt

Moe Satt uses his body as a space of identity, difference, and estrangement. His video performance, inspired by dance and tribal hunting, suggests survival of sectarian violence in his homeland.

Priyageetha Dia: The Sea is a Blue Memory, 2022. 3D animation, 10:25 min. Commissioned by Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Supported by National Arts Council, Singapore.
© Photo: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe

Priyageetha Dia’s video of the deep sea examines ancestral migratory movements from India to the Malay Peninsula. Drawing from her family experience, Dia looks at the way migrants across the Indian Ocean are perceived as foreigners and marginalized. Maritime currents enmesh subaltern culture with diasporic histories.

Kawita Vatanajyankur: A Symphony Dyed Blue, 2021. 4K video, 6:13 min. Still from video. 
© Photo: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe

For her piece, Kawita Vatanajyankur, performs in foamy blue dye from textile industry as a way to discuss female labor in the patriarchal society and the role of water in the context of femininity and textile industry. Female labor, feminism and abuse are parts of being foreign.

Los artistas del Sudeste Asiático del Sur Global se parecen en muchos aspectos, pero también difieren en etnia, religión y lengua que los hacen extraños entre sí. El legado de estas naciones se reconoce en los extranjeros, refugiados, inmigrantes y apátridas, los llamados "híbridos culturales". The Spirits of Maritime Crossing presenta una travesía desde el sudeste asiático a Venecia a través de experiencias culturales y diaspóricas, vistas con ojos de extranjeros dispersados, lejos de su patria física y espiritual.

Prof. Dr. Apinan Poshyananda, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Bangkok Art Biennale is curator of The Spirits of Maritime Crossing exhibition. Poshyananda has curated and directed international art exhibitions across Asia, Europe, USA, and Oceania including Traditions/Tensions, New York; Thai and Australian sections, Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art; Asian section, São Paulo Biennial; Thai section, Istanbul Biennial; as well as Tout à Fait Thai, Paris. Commissioner and curator of the Thai Pavilion, 50th Venice Biennale 2003; Commissioner of the Thai Pavilions at the 51st Venice Biennale 2005, and at the 52nd Venice Biennale 2007.

Poshyananda comments: “We are delighted to announce The Spirits of Maritime Crossing as a historical event as Southeast Asia artists will participate in the collateral program at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Moreover, it is a great honor that a new short film featuring world-renowned Marina Abramović, winner of Golden Lion at Venice Biennale, will be shown at Palazzo Mangilli Valmarana. The contents of this film and exhibition that focuses on sea travel, displacement and diaspora relate directly with the theme of Foreigners Everywhere”.

see the biography

Palazzo Smith Mangilli Valmarana was once the home of British Consul Joseph Smith, who was a passionate art collector. He was an agent of Canaletto and patron of Venetian painters. Smith and his wife, soprano singer Catherine Tofts turned the palazzo into a bustling social and artistic hub for art collectors, patrons, scholars, aficionados, artists, actors, musicians, philosophers, diplomats, and dignitaries. Among the visitors were Pietro Longhi, Giovanni Baptista Piazzetta, Giuseppe Zais, Carlo Goldoni, Rosalba Carriera. Count Giuseppe Mangilli who later became owner commissioned Giannantonio Selva to direct the decoration of the interiors in neoclassical style with subjects related to virtue, amour, and sacrifice. The palazzo is still perfectly preserved and will open to the public after 12 years with the launch of The Spirits of Maritime Crossing.

The Spirits of Maritime Crossing
Palazzo Smith Mangilli Valmarana
Strada Nova, 4392
Campo Santi Apostoli, Cannaregio
Estación vaporetto: Ca' d'Oro
Abierto Mie - Dom 10:00 – 18:00 hs
(cerrado feriados)
Ubicación en el mapa

Website: smc.bkkartbiennale.com

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De informaciones de prensa. Traducción al español: Universes in Universe
© Foto portada: Marina Abramović & Pichet Klunchun: The Spirits of Maritime Crossing, 2022 (still del video). Intérpretes: Marina Abramović y Pichet Klunchun, dirección: Apinan Poshyananda. Encargo de la Bangkok Art Biennale Foundation. © Bangkok Art Biennale Foundation