VS Gallery proudly present Museum 2032, a contemporary photography exhibition by Pailin-Charinthorn Rachurutchata, the winner of the World Press Photo 2023 award in the Open Format category, which will simulate space for a political history museum in the future world to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Thai democracy. This museum will contain a fraction of important events in which people participated in changing the face of Thai society. Charinthorn brought photos of those events which were damaged and torn, then repaired it with the Japanese Kintsugi technique, which is used to restored porcelains and ceramics with lacquer mixed with gold powder (Under the philosophy that flaws and damage are all beautiful imperfections that give each object a unique identity). Charinthorn uses kintsugi to communicate that The history of this country being driven by the free will of the people is a valuable memory and should not be forced to be lost.
Museum 2032 has brought together historical photographs that mark two popular movements to connect them. The first event is the defeat of the Boworadet Rebellion in 1933, which was considered the first rebellion after the Siamese Democracy Revolution. There was an evidence that Siamese civilians participated in an attempt to expel the rebels who overthrew democratic rule. Today, the Constitutional Defenders Monument that was built and opened in October 1936 to commemorate this event (which people generally calle “dLak Si Monument”) was demolished in December 2018. The second event was the Free People Movement in 2020 to demand democratic freedoms and to protest the government's work. Charinthorn brought stories about the bravery of the civilians on both occasions and presents in the form of the historic evidences of Thai politics, and displays in a room of the future world museum in the year 2032, with a optimistic purpose to leave a memory to audiences that at once upon a time in our history, Thai civilians had the rights to participate in changing the fate of the country.
Museum 2032 is exhibited at VS Gallery from 21 October until 30 December 2023, with an opening ceremony on Saturday, October 21 at 5:00 p.m.
information provided by event organizer
