"LOCAL MYTHS: BEAUTY BASIC."
"LOCAL MYTHS: BEAUTY BASIC" As Local Narratives Become Contemporary Creative Force
Who is true beauty defined? This is the key question that the exhibition "LOCAL MYTHS: BEAUTY BASIC" invites us to stick to, because beauty does not emerge from a universal eye viewed from the center alone, if it is still deeply rooted in the narratives, legends, memories and lifestyles of local people.
The exhibition is part of the Local Networking Project (2025), under the initiative of the Cultural Arts Hall of Bangkok, aimed at exploring The Intrinsic Aesthetic, or "Oriental Beauty," by letting artists from various regions explore the unrecorded history of the mainstream, oral narratives, contemporary lifestyles, and generations of beliefs to be transmitted as contemporary works of art that are both rooted and contemporary at the same time.
The works on display reflect deeply social, cultural, historical, and environmental dimensions, such as Manol Phra and the work 'Kitkong', which tells of the Mekong River facing the crisis of dam building and weather, through the sound of the northeast poem, combining synthetic music to convey the oppression of the people on the banks of the water, while Nurya Vaji used cloth, soil, and stitching traces in his work 'Stroke' to record the memories of a father who had been bound to the Sai Buri River but is now being swallowed up by development.
In another dimension, the Tower Spreading Mahakam presents the work 'If Bahaed Kabhak Had Eaten' through an exploration of the earthworm economy in the Roi Et community. Sculpture, mixed media and electrical mechanisms are used as tools to reflect people's survival struggles after the plague crisis, while Keitta Istrian and Hayani Mali convey the role of Muslimah women in the three South Frontier Provinces through mixed media fashion in a 'Motherhood' portfolio latent with the fragility, burden and splendor of motherhood.
Amused fun appears in Speedy Grandma's work with the work 'Speema Grandi' telling the story of "Grandma" through four eras in a playful but serious mood, while Prachna Piman and Rosi Hari take the audience on an exploration of Patani history in 'Aurea Chersones' through Southeast Asian mythology, inscriptions and trade, presenting a mixture of religion and culture that shaped the meaning of the word Malayan in another dimension.
Many other artists have interpreted "primitive beauty" in different dimensions, such as Suruit Steady with the work 'Threshold' that harks back to the Khamchanod Forest in Udon Thani, the land of serpent mythology and divinity, transmitted through video arrangements that reflect the supernatural faith and forces hidden in the vestiges of the forest, while Malayan Leaf runs, using the mixed media in 'ANONYMOUS LETTER...' to question the red city memory being created through media and misunderstandings, while inviting viewers into the Malay Prison drawing room to co-create a new truth through dialogue.
On the other hand, the history of global politics is interpreted through the work of Puritika Halo in "Mekla - Ramphur," which compares the military camps in Bangkok and Udon Thani during the Cold War with the folk myth of lightning-lightning to reflect the relationship between myth and war, and Panchai Chaijiraphan used the events of the crisis of 112 as a precursor to the work of 'Eclipse' to reflect domination, power and obscurity through a symbolic language that is both mysterious and difficult to access.
What we as spectators will get from this exhibition is not just to see art, but to explore the roots of different areas in Thailand. Through the eyes of artists who are both researchers and contemporary interpreters, we will see the hidden mythology, history, environment and culture of everyday life, and ask ourselves what beauty is and how we can live with nature, history and diversity in the future.
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🗓 The exhibition period is now today - October 10, 2025.
📍 Exhibition Place: 7th Floor, Cultural Arts Hall of Bangkok (Bacc, Cultural Arts Hall of Bangkok)
🕚 Opening Hours: 10: 00 - 8: 00 pm (Closed every Monday)
💵 Admission is free.
🚍 Travel: BTS National Stadium
🚘. There's a private parking lot.