12 Reasons Why Thai People Are Not Afraid of Globalisation (handbook)

Maker Kunavichayanont, Sutee Thai, b. 1965

Date2009

MediumInkjet print; Book

Credit LineExtended loan of the FarEastFarWest collection

Object numberEL2011:50.c.1-3

About the ArtistSutee Kunavichayanont’s native Thailand has gone through rapid social and economic change since the 1990s. Kunavichayanont’s work is concerned with the evolution of his homeland’s culture in the face of globalization. Playing on the history and customs of Thailand in his multi-media practice, his work aims to understand a new national identity being constructed amid an influx of change.

His installation, 12 Reasons Why Thai People are not Afraid of Globalization, is part of a larger body of work entitled Stereotyped Thailand, first presented as an installation in 2005. These works exemplify how Western and Eastern culture can exist both in conflict and accord. Kunavichayanont playfully appropriates stereotypical aspects of his native culture, such as massage, boxing, elephants, and traditional dress and dance. In his original installation, made to look like a classroom, he subverts these elements to comment on Western understanding of Thai culture in contrast with the reality of contemporary life in Thailand.

Sutee Kunavichayanont completed a Masters of Visual Arts from the Sydney College of the Arts at the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia (1993) and a BFA in Graphic Arts from Silpakorn University in Bangkok, Thailand (1989). He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions internationally. Selected solo exhibitions include: Phuket 360, Phuket, Thailand (2010); the Thai Art Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2001); Optica, Montreal, Canada (2001); and Tin Sheds Gallery, New South Wales, Australia (1993). Selected group exhibitions include: Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Bangkok, Thailand (2010, 2008); Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan (2007); Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangdong, China (2007); Place Saint-Sulpice, Paris, France (2006); Dahlem Museum, Berlin, Germany (2004); Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona, USA (2002).