Interview with Art Critic Thanom Chapakdee (2001)

As an artist and reviewer residing in Thailand, I often muse over the standard of contemporary art emanating from the Kingdom. What is the general state of contemporary art in Thailand? How does it rank in the world art arena, and what does the immediate future hold for Thai art ? As a foreigner, I feel somewhat limited in qualifying such posing questions, in fact there are only a handful of people with the knowledge and insight capable of giving expedient responses.

Having recently gained a Masters Degree in Art Criticism and Theory from Canterbury in England, prominent art critic and lecturer in Rangsit University's Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Thanom Chapakdee has the directness and sincerity to reflect upon Thailand's art scene with both insider submergence and neutrality from his Western influenced education base. In judging Thai art's current condition, Thanom feels that although Thai artists are highlighting issues and concerns from within their own country, they are still heavily influenced by style, media and conceptual trends being set abroad, "We are still following Western style, material and ideas, but artists are trying to bring and mix in the context of Thai society and culture. "There's somewhat of an irony in the Thai art scene now especially since the economic crisis hit the region, there's a blind, absolving tendency to spurn all things Western. Yet to succeed in the international forum Thai artists have, and desire to operate within the Western apparatus. Thanom finds this both bewildering and amusing, " Thai artists live in two worlds, one in Thailand and the real one in the international arena. But they say to me 'I hate Western ideals', I don't know why. If I ask them what is Thai identity, they cannot answer and just get angry with me for being too Western. They want to separate Thai and Western, but still talk about globalisation!"

So which current artists does Thanom suppose are worthy of international recognition? "Well, there are not many; Montien Boonma, Chatchai Puipa, Vasan Sittiket, Kamol Paosawasdi, and Pinaree Sanpitak. But when I refer to these artists, the Thai people don't know them. They're known in Germany, Japan, or in America, but the Thai government doesn't support them. We lack financial support and most of the top level artists in Thailand are struggling to fund themselves, compared to Western countries and Japan which have a lot of funding. They're success internationally comes from foreign funding. "The absence of financial resources are also increasingly affecting the small number of private galleries in Thailand constantly battling for funding and desperately trying to stave off the threat of closure. Since the bubble burst, the art market has diminished considerably, and with corporate sponsorship becoming increasingly seldom due to economic conservatism.

Thanom blames the government for not shouldering some of the responsibility. "If the government did something to support them, it would be great for this business, but somehow they've been left to fight for themselves and in the future I cannot see any concern from the government or any political party regarding art and culture."In the past couple of years the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) appears to have woken up to the benefits of sponsoring contemporary arts and culture based activities, in terms of improving the quality of life for Bangkokians and promoting Thailand abroad as a vibrant cultural hub. But there's a mood of scepticism as to the longevity of this recent policy, believing it to be the incentive of a few select, but temporary individuals. Their removal will see the initiative dissipate.

Thanom reiterates these anxieties, "I would like to see a permanent policy for art and cultural activities, but it's up to the politicians. Now we're seeing many events happening but this is due to personal ideas not government policies, mostly from people like Kraisak Choonavan."This negative sentiment has been carried through to the plans for the BMA's new B300 million Bangkok Contemporary Arts Centre due to open in 2000. The eye-catching architectural design and location will certainly ensure it becomes a significant landmark in the capital, but there's trepidation over what will actually be housed in, and the function of the space. As Thanom puts it, "I'm quite doubtful, they just have the building but I don't know how they are going to manage the gallery. I don't know what kind of art they're going to put in there, who's going to be the director, and who'll be the curator ? They should explain to the public more than just I've got a big building. The concept has to come first then the building, we should manage the building, not the building manages us!

"The competency of art criticism must also be raised when discussing the Thai art scene, even though few publications warrant art as an element of interest to their readership. Those writers who do actually report on the subject, fail to evaluate the work with any real analysis of social, political, historical, religious or other determining factors. Thanom believes this is a long rooted predicament borne out of the education system, "We have been lacking critical ideas for a long time. Since the beginnings of modern art in Thailand the way has been to observe art in terms of aesthetic value only. When we are talking about criticism of course we must deal with theoretical ideas as well. There's a big gap, an intellectual loop hole. This is because there's a very confusing syllabus and system within the art schools. They all follow the Silpakorn standard, which is very basic and formalised, perspective and anatomy are still taught at degree level.

Art students lack and are uninterested in the area of art history, what there is comes on a practical level."Thai art schools place great emphasis on practical concerns and technical instruction, fundamentals that are necessary, but are absent due to the rudimentary high school teaching received. So at degree level, there's no real conceptual development or guidance over analytical artistic assessment. These institutions are nurturing a force of crafts' people rather than a body of professional artists, all the significant artists currently working within the country gained their real experience and stimulation from time spent abroad.

Thanom finds this dilemma fundamental to the future of contemporary art in Thailand," I very much like the English system, with the intensive one year foundation course. The students find out what they want to study (specialise in), not just that they want to study art. In Thailand when art students enroll in university, they have no idea what they want to do just that they want to be an artist. It's a major problem that the students are controlled by the syllabus, by the time they have their degree shows in the fourth or fifth year they still don't know how to express their ideas and feelings, and the work is more about craftsmanship."When asked if he felt open to say what he actually thinks of Thai art and artists within such an insular and familiar community, or did he feel a need for diplomacy, Thanom confidently retorted, "In my opinion I never hesitate to say what I really feel, I'm very direct in my expression and don't care about their (the artists) feelings. When they show their work to the public, it means they dare to show their minds as well and are therefore open to critical ideas. The Thai art movement should learn more about how art criticism works."

teven Pettifor ( stevenpettifor@hotmail.com)
This article was first published in the METRO Magazine, Bangkok