Latest news with #SACGallery
Bangkok Post
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Bangkok Post
Artists challenge legacy at SAC Gallery
Four artists from three countries have joined hands to reveal the power of transformation during "Dynasty|Can We Shape Our Destiny?", which is running at SAC Gallery until Aug 30. The exhibition poses profound questions about the meaning of dynasty through video, drawing, textile and mixed-media installations of New York-based artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, Dito Yuwono from Indonesia and Sareena Sattapon and Pathompon Tesprateep from Thailand. Amidst narratives of dominating power, the exhibition turns to tell the stories of extraordinary ordinary people -- stories of silent struggles and hopes deeply embedded in memory. It asks the crucial question: "Amid what is passed down from generation to generation, do we have the right to choose our own destiny?" This exhibition is a visual and linguistic experiment that transforms the meaning of "legacy" from rigid inheritance into the power of change. Its title plays with the sonic similarity between dynasty and destiny -- though phonetically alike, they point to polar opposite meanings. One represents predictable repetition, the other uncertain openness to choice. In a world where destiny is often written by traditional power structures -- bloodlines, beliefs or societal expectations, this exhibition opens space for silenced voices to emerge, allowing personal choices and intentions to challenge what has been inherited without the right to question. Through the works of the four artists, viewers will gradually discover that dynasty need not be chains binding us to the past, but it can become tools of transformation. These are the voices of people history often overlooks, yet they continue to nourish us through household rituals, community bonds and ancestral wisdom. SAC Gallery is on Sukhumvit 39 and opens Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 6pm. Visit
Bangkok Post
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Bangkok Post
Rebirth in exile
On a poster, Phnom Penh glows dimly from afar. Flickering on the other side of the Mekong River, rows of buildings dissolve, blending with water and sky in the blue hour of twilight. This photo and a whisper are an invitation to stargaze the city glimmering in the distance. The military coup in Myanmar on Feb 1, 2021, triggered an exodus of millions, with many fleeing to Thailand. "If Only It Is Seen, Thus, From Afar" is the first queer exhibition of emerging artists from the neighbouring country. Curated by Sid Kaung Sett Lin and Bodhisattva LGBTQ+ Gallery, it brings together eight lost stars -- Zicky Le, Zin Min Thike, Swannie, Roxy Owan, Na Torah, Min Chit Paing, Htet Aung Lwyn and Kyaw Min Htet. Partly inspired by Yukio Mishima's Sun And Steel, a memoir of transformation of his own flesh, the exhibition delves into the fundamental question of queer homemaking. Straddling between their homeland and a foreign city, they are navigating emotional turmoil of reinventing themselves in a terrain that is familiar, yet strange. Resilience and hope are inseparable from pain and alienation. In his prequel, Sid traced his curatorial inspiration, though fragmented, to his visit to Zin's home in a suburb of Bangkok. Slowly, the city is morphing from an adrenaline-rush getaway into a personal sanctum. He explained how they had taken root, dealing with visas, house contracts and job applications. In free time, they played a video game together, which is when this project came about. "We want to talk about home, migration, displacement and how we try to survive here. After survival, we have a little time to reflect on ourselves. What do we want to do with life?," he said in an opening ceremony on June 7. Hence, a collaboration came together with Patpong "Oat" Montien, founder of Bodhisattava LGBTQ+ Gallery and SAC Gallery. Oat noted how queer individuals are remaking home all the time, whether they be bodies, identities or places. "Some of them cannot be themselves in their own home. But in a new home, they find a community, a new sense of identity, a new sense of pride, a new dream. Hopefully, it is a reminder for us, during Pride Month, not only to celebrate but to elevate their voices," he said. Scattered on a green wall is a visual diary titled Where I Was, Where I Am Going by Zicky Le, a Myanmar-Karen photographer from Insein, Yangon. Since his family sold their only home to support his relocation, he has documented his experience of life on the move. His photos, as well as letters and drawings, capture liminal moments, including the last sunset in Yangon, an encounter with a stranger and the glowing city. "I want to memorialise this experience. For example, in the last photo, someone showed me around Phnom Penh during a visa run. I never saw the Mekong in my life. It made sense because the city is far from us, but it is still close enough to see the city's bright light. In Yangon, we don't have tall buildings. It was emotional at the time," he said. Zicky's ongoing project is a memoir of his own reinvention. In Myanmar, he worked as a fashion photographer. He said queer individuals are limited to the entertainment industry. Bangkok, in contrast, is so big that "you can be whoever you are". Now settling in Talat Noi, he and his boyfriend have adopted cats into their family. "I don't have a home, a flower vase or fame. This is the time to find myself again. I will catch up," he said. The Wait by Min Chit Paing, a theatre artist and writer from Palaw, Tanintharyi, is a text-based installation that comprises four short stories produced in exile following the military coup. They are presented in the form of fragments across Burmese, English and Thai. In his work, reading, like writing, requires effort. It demands a lot of concentration in the age of doomscrolling. On the other hand, Celluloid Demon by Htet Aung Lwyn, a filmmaker, is a screen test of the fiend that challenges the expectation of Myanmar artists to always produce political works. Meanwhile, Na Torah, a visual artist from Tachileik, Shan State, presents a video of ritual performance and a sculptural installation titled It Is I Giving Birth To Myself to reclaim power over the most personal sanctum -- the body. Growing up in a society where gender roles are rigidly defined in a hierarchical order, Torah confronted an existential question of why her father brought her into this world. "I don't want to be a man or a woman or anything at all," said the artist. Torah's artistic practice is an act of queer liberation. The video of ritual bodypainting with organic sound is declaration of authorship. A genderless torso and the red face challenge the binary gender system. The red mask also unleashes raw emotion and energy. Unlike previous works, Torah renders rebirth as a final movement. "I don't want to relive any more. I want to love this life, but in order to love this life, I want to give birth to myself again. This time me, not for my parents," said the artist. Kyaw Min Htet, a multidisciplinary artist, presents a three-bodied installation of sexual encounter titled I Used Him As Much As He Uses Me. Forced to leave everything behind, he has lived in Chiang Mai alone for almost a year. Using Instax, film and digital cameras, he took blurred photos of those he hooked up with, mostly expats and tourists, to document queer intimacy that blooms fleetingly in exile. "They don't know what is happening in Myanmar. It is heartbreaking because they see you as an object. This is how I navigate homesickness on a daily basis," he said. "In Myanmar, I have a family, friends and an art studio. But in Chiang Mai, I have little resources. I don't feel I am a real person." As his work is a meditation on the cycle of desire, seeking warmth in the digital no man's land can offer only a temporary cure for a yet unreturnable home. He inches closer, but never arrives at it, finding himself trapped in limbo. "If Only It Is Seen, Thus, From Afar" is running at the Front Room of SAC Gallery until Aug 9. It is open from 11am to 6pm, Tuesday to Saturday. Visit
Bangkok Post
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Bangkok Post
PRIDE IN ACTION
From donning rainbow-coloured outfits to marching in the annual Pride parade or cheering glamorous idols from favourite Boys' Love (BL) series, the Thai LGBTI community has advanced from making themselves seen and heard to making policy changes that foster a more equal and inclusive society. The Marriage Equality Act early this year marks a monumental step towards gender equality for Thailand -- the first country in Southeast Asia to endorse such a law. The legislation, allowing any two individuals 18 or older to register their marriage and receive the same benefits and rights as heterosexual couples, epitomises the collective drive for tangible, more realistic outcomes shaping the LGBTI agenda at present. However, challenges still remain. Not only must more than 50 other laws from the Surrogacy Bill and Gender Recognition Bill to employment and welfare-related bills be amended to ensure equal and inclusive protections for LGBTI communities, but continued effort must also be made to deepen understanding, confront remaining biases and connect diverse voices across generations and interests. This special issue covers panel discussions at the recent Bangkok Post's "2025 Pride in Action: Together Now, Together Always", forum held on June 25 at Lido Connect. The event highlighted change makers from various sectors, including government representatives, corporate leaders, celebrities and creators who are forging legal protection, ensuring equal support in the workplace as well as cultivating authentic cultural representation of the group in the media. Among the issues discussed were "Law Out Loud", featuring the advancement of LGBTI rights in Thailand and "Scene Stealers -- LGBTI Stories In Culture", delving into their cultural representation and influence on society and the massive potential of Thai BL or Series Y drama as Thailand's hottest soft power export. The "Life of Pride" issue is also complemented by an in-depth interview with director Krisda Withayakhajorndet of the well-known KinnPorsche The Series, discussing the need to abandon the toned-down label of Series Y and call the product by its genuine name as a gay series, and conversations with new-generation LGBTI from various professions who share their insights on remaining hurdles that Thailand should overcome when it comes to addressing gender diversity issues. There is also a colourful feature story on the first queer exhibition by Myanmar LGBTI artists which is on view at SAC Gallery until Aug 9, plus infographics developed from Mahidol University and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth)'s new study giving a peek into the increasingly fluid landscape of gender diversity in Thailand.
