Nearly five months after his removal from power the spectre of former Prime Minister Thaksin remains, sadly, front of mind. His rather absurd attempts to portray himself as the “great democrat” to the world’s media are almost as pathetic as those same media’s willingness to listen to him. In welcoming a new artist, Prasart Nirandonprasert, to artThailand, we also have an opportunity to celebrate Artists for Democracy, a small but important anti-Thaksin pressure group that participated in the pro-democracy protests of 2006.
Prasart Nirandonprasert was born in 1968, in Khon Khaen, which is in the north of Thailand.
Trained initially as an architect, Prasart is today better known as a painter and sculptor.
His current medium of choice is woodcut prints. He is the first woodcut artist that we have worked with.
Most of his prints are limited editions of between two and five pieces. At an average price of 7,500 baht they represent a very cheap means of owning some interesting and beautiful Thai contemporary art.
The woodcuts are exquisitely sculpted from raw wood. Prasart then mixes a wide variety of inks to produce bold and interesting colors.
Like many Thai artists, Prasart’s inspiration are drawn from Buddhism.
As he puts it himself, “The living of life is to find truth”.
Personally I like Prasart’s work. It’s simple, technically skilled, with imaginative use of color and imagery.
However, as some of you know, I am personally drawn to art that carries political and/or social messages.
It has always interested me that some of the most powerful art and literature has thrived in times and places of adversity.
For me the most obvious example would be the Nazi Degenerate Art movement.
In 1937, Nazi officials purged German museums of works the Party considered to be degenerate. From the thousands of works removed, 650 were chosen for a special exhibit of Entartete Kunst.
The exhibit opened in Munich and then traveled to eleven other cities in Germany and Austria.
In each installation, the works were poorly hung and surrounded by graffiti and hand written labels mocking the artists and their creations.
Many of the artists included in the Entartete Kunst exhibition are now considered masters of the twentieth century. They include Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, Edvard Munch, Paul Klee, Ernst Kirchner and Emil Nolde.
Now Thailand is not the Germany of the 1930s but we have been through several years of political struggle, a struggle that will likely continue for some time yet.
What interests me most about Prasart is the role he played in the Artists for Democracy movement of 2006 and the anti-Thaksin woodcuts he produced at that time.
In the print above, Thaksin’s face lies in the background. He “Betrayed his mother land….”.
To the right is Thaksinipatri or, literally, “Thaksin is democracy”. As Prasart puts it, Thaksin installed his own people into all key positions and removed anyone who disagreed with him.
Artists for Democracy was a small collective of Thai artists that participated in the anti-Thaksin protests of 2006. Prasat himself went to many of the protests and, together with his colleagues, produced a number of prints in criticism of the then Prime Minister.
The name “Artists for Democracy” is interesting in itself. If you read recent editions of The Economist or Time you get the impression that Thaksin, a “great democrat”, was removed from power by an anti-democratic military dictatorship.
Yes, Thaksin and his party were democratically elected but his abuse of power and of the 1997 constitution are comparable to the actions of President Chavez of Venuezela. Democratically elected maybe, but no democrat for sure.
The title of this print is Poo Nam Pee 2548 or “Leader of the year, 2005″. In Prasart’s words, “he is a god and no one can touch him”.
Artists for Democracy reminds us that the struggles of 2006 were about Mr. Thaksin, not about democracy. They remind us that whetever the future for Thailand, it needs to be a democratic future, but a democracy that is real rather than a sham.
Prasart’s political activism and his expression of that activism in his prints is fascinating to me. His work becomes almost cartoon-like, in the tradition of some of the very best political cartoonists.
When hasn’t it been okay to rip on Thaksin? Not exactly too brave at this point given that the government in power is doing everything they can to completely bury any memory of the guy.
What nonsense even loosely comparing Thaksin’s regime with the Nazis. I would be more impressed with Thai artists if I saw some anti-coup art — that would be brave.
As it is Thai artists, at least the ones you feature here, and groups like Carabou are seeming to go more when the wind blows than anything else.
That this group calls themselves “Artists for Democracy”, when their paintings could be hung in junta headquarters is even more of a laugh.
U obviously don’t have a sense of humor or u might have seen the joke in the title. Otherwise u are entitled to ur point of view but not many would agree with u. I’m guessing u don’t live here. If u do then u are blind indeed.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions.
Those opinions mean more to me when they come from people that actually live in, and are subjected to, the decisions and actions of said named individual; as I do. Strange that when I win a bowling tournament here, taxes are taken out of the check before it is deposited into my account. Taksin makes 74 billion baht selling his company (or was it is son/daughters company? LOL) and pays not one satang ($0 for the non-residers) in taxes. Thailand is now losing face over “the great ones” decision to speed up the opening Suvarnabhumi airport. I have no problem with him jetsetting around the world, running down the current government because soon the whole world will see he is able to put both feet in his mouth.
I won’t get into a whole discussion on how not everyone in Thailand has the same feelings about Thaksin and the coupmakers… That’s for a different forum.
I do live in Thailand and have been here for some time. I did not, however, get the “irony” behind your headline Adam B, nor have I gotten the point of many of your blogs, especially given their frequency and prominence on this site.
My assumption is that they are to promote your own website, which is all well and fine but do we really need an update from the Thai art world on a daily basis — or, in the case of your most recent post, something that has nothing to do with Thailand whatsoever?
BTW Is it really much trouble to type out the word ‘you’?
I totally agree with Terry.
Thaksin did his wrongs but as any Thai intellectual will tell you is “What plans did the military have”
As for sponging up to the new government thats what a lot of artists did. Have a look at Carabao, they spent 20 years singing songs anti-military coup and then suddenly within 2 days of the the coup they are singing praise.
A true artist has to understand both sides of the matter. Thailand’s intellectuals have spent, since 1973, fighting military dictatorship.
What kind of ‘Artists for Democracy’ are this group? Supporting a military coup, it is an insult to their grandfathers.
I live here!!! I state that only because other posters have made it a “litmus test” for posting. In other words, if you don’t live in Thailand your opinion doesn’t count. What pathetic thinking!
But to the point. It is such a pity that our beloved Prime Minister was deposed by the threat of force. He is a great and honorable man. He did so much for Thailand and now the current “dictators” want every one to forget about his good works. If you come to Thailand now you will see confusion and no clear answers from the Coup leaders. They say there isn’t censorship but 100′s of web sites critical of the Coup makers are now blocked here. They control the Television and Print Media. And people thought our Great Prime Minister tired to censor critics. Well he never did what the current illegal government is doing. Many of our great Prime Minister Thaksin’s infrastructure projects in Northern Thailand have been abandon and the common people are suffering because of it.
No matter what the current illegal government may say Prime Minister Thaksin was democratically elected. They on the other hand seized power with the point of a gun. There is no way to justify their actions. They will tell you that Prime Minister Thaksin had “tricked” the common man into voting for him and the Thai Rak Thai party and that “they (The Coup Makers) know better than us†had a duty to overthrow him. These people are just like the Democrats in the USA that think they know what is better for you. They are elitists who believe they know better than you and they, the self anointed, must protect you from your self. What a sad joke. People overwhelming voted for Thai Rak Thai and Prime Minister Thaksin because he was a man of action and ideas. He won people over by the clarity and force of his ideas and actions not by the force or the threat of military power. But of course all military dictatorship use force because their ideas lack logic and substance and they can’t convince a majority that their ideas are correct. Therefore they can’t get elected so they always resort to force to gain power.
Thaksin introduced universal health care for the good of all. A step forward that is much greater for humanity than anything the USA has ever done