Jakkai Siributr’s installation highlights his family history

 

Jakkai Siributr’s fascination with textiles and embroidery began as a child in Bangkok and led to studies in textile design in the United States before returning to Thailand. Siributr is known primarily for his textile and embroidery works, and his installations increasingly offer an element of audience participation, recently the artist has begun to engage with intersections between personal and regional histories. 18/28: The Singhaseni Tapestries centres around the connections between the artist’s family and political history in Thailand.

Jakkai Siributr discusses his most personal project

Subscribe to QAGOMA YouTube to be the first to go behind-the-scenes at events and exhibitions / Jakkai Siributr, Thailand b.1969 / 18/28: The Singhaseni Tapestries 2017-18 / Cotton, silk, synthetic fabric, embroidery, found fabrics, disassembled garments, luggage trunks, sound / Purchased 2018. Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Jakkai Siributr

At the heart of the project is a homage to the Siributrs mother, whose five dresses are embroidered with scenes from family and news photographs. These connect with passages from her diaries that can be heard within the suspended tapestries, made from hand stitched fabrics acquired from seven aunts on his maternal side.

Siributr’s mother was from the ancient Thai house of Singhaseni and 18/28 is the address of the compound where Siributr’s great grandmother took in the wife and seven daughters of Chit Singhaseni, a royal page/gentleman of the bedchamber who was implicated and executed over the mysterious death in 1946 of the Thai monarch King Rama VIII.

Siributr’s art advocates for recognition of the complexities underlying official narratives and that of the social and personal lives that often go unacknowledged.

Installation views of Jakkai Siributr’s 18/28: The Singhaseni Tapestries 2017-18 installed at APT9, Gallery of Modern Art

Delver deeper into APT9 with Pannaphan Yodmanee

Pannaphan Yodmanee In the aftermath resembles both the decaying murals in the ruins of old temples and the rubble of demolished buildings. The installation is based around three key elements: rocks and stones from the artist’s hometown representing the natural world; found objects and fragments of buildings; and miniatures of Buddhist icons and sacred stupas, which have been created by the artist in a range of materials.

Shrouded in small, vivid paintings together with heavily layered wall treatments and found objects, Yodmanee’s installation illustrates Buddhist narratives. It also chronicles the formation of individual and regional identities, and explores South-East Asian histories of migration, conflict and loss, as well as destructive human tendencies. In doing so, Yodmanee’s works have developed a new platform for Buddhist art, while they simultaneously capture the interconnectedness of art, religion and history in contemporary Thai society.

Watch our installation time-lapse

Subscribe to QAGOMA YouTube to be the first to go behind-the-scenes at events and exhibitions / Pannaphan Yodmanee, Thailand b.1988 / In the aftermath 2018 / Found objects, artist-made icons, plaster, resin, concrete, steel, pigment / Site-specific installation, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) / Commissioned for ‘The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT9) / © Pannaphan Yodmanee / Courtesy: The artist and Yavuz Gallery, Singapore

Subscribe to QAGOMA YouTube to go behind-the-scenes at events and exhibitions / Watch APT9 videos or Read about artists

Buy the APT9 publication

APT9 has been assisted by our Founding Supporter Queensland Government and Principal Partner the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments.

Feature image detail: Jakkai Siributr’s 18/28: The Singhaseni Tapestries 2017-18 installed at APT9, Gallery of Modern Art

#Jakkai Siributr #APT9 #QAGOMA