Thai art curator Lyla Phimanrat (39) had not yet seen the exhibition. But now that she is face to face with the black tape, behind which the names of artists are hidden, the censorship hits harder than she expected. “I had read about it. I was already angry at the time, but now that I actually see it, I especially get a feeling of shame.”
At the invitation of NRC Phimanrat views the exhibition Constellation of Complicity, Visualizing the Global Machinery of Authoritarian Solidarity (Construction of Complicity, the Visualization of the Global Structures of Authoritarian Solidarity) which was on display at the prominent Arts and Culture Center (BACC) in Bangkok from July until this month.
The exhibition was created by the Myanmar Peace Museum, a Myanmar curatorial collective. Three days after the opening, the board of the Thai art center was pressured by China to remove or mask off some names of artists and works of art that the country did not like. The Tibetan, Uyghur and Hong Kong artists are promoting independence, Chinese authorities said The New York Times. The newspaper also saw one mail from the art center to the makers of the exhibition, saying it had to accept censorship to avoid “diplomatic tensions”.
‘Artists insulted’
“At first I was angry that the Thai government allowed this,” says Phimanrat. “Unacceptable. But now I am especially angry with the BACC itself. They invited the artists to show their art in our capital and then insulted them by removing works. It is shameful that such a renowned institution in the heart of Bangkok allows itself to be so openly censored. There has been no explanation. Not even an apology to the artists. While it is the job of an art institute to stand up for art.”
Immediately after the entrance is a compelling work by the Russian artists Taisiaya Krugovykh and Vasily Bogatov. In the dark, a child’s bed is rocked to a lullaby about Russian arms trade to Myanmar. “China apparently has no problem with that,” notes Phimanrat.
Artists’ names have been covered up at an exhibition about solidarity between autocratic regimes in Bangkok.
Photo Valeria Mongelli /REUTERS
When she enters the rooms with the Tibetan and Uighur works of art, she notices empty spaces. Some Tibetan and Uyghur flags have been removed and a multimedia installation that was supposed to show a Tibetan religious ritual is blacked out. The name of artist Tenzin Mingyur Paldron is crossed out on the sign.
An artwork of Tibetan prayer flags on which he had “Free Palestine” printed has not been removed. His signature is on a silk ribbon. An act of resistance? It is not clear whether the ribbon was added later or was originally part of the work.
A room further on hangs a satirical work by Hong Kong artists Clara Cheung and Fum Cheng Yee Man. How do you defend yourself against autocratic governments? These artists’ answer is a wall-to-wall drawn manual for founding an ‘anti-espionage spy club’. Tips for spying on spies of an autocratic regime. The names of the artists have been crossed out, but this work has also been left untouched. Possibly because China is not literally mentioned.
If China’s intention was to push the artworks out of the attention of the international art world, it has not succeeded. Just got the censorship international attention by reports from Reuters, BBC and the magazine Nikkei Asia.
Hunger games
The censorship is a new example of increasing ‘transnational repression’, the phenomenon of autocratic countries helping each other to persecute dissidents. The makers of the exhibition wanted to show how authoritarian regimes cooperate in arms trade, oppression and circumventing embargoes.
The curator stops in front of a photo of a Myanmar woman protesting the 2021 coup. “This woman is holding up three fingers, the ‘Hunger Games’ sign of the Hollywood film,” she explains. “The sign was also used by Thai students who took to the streets in 2020.”
The photo evokes mixed feelings in Phimanrat. “They would not even consider a photo of a Thai pro-democracy demonstrator making the three-finger hand gesture. As an official institution, the BACC would never venture into art that is sensitive in Thailand, for example critical art about the royal family.”
Thailand has been dominated by a royalist military elite for over a hundred years. The protests against General Prayut Chan-o-Cha in 2020 heralded a period of hope for democratization. Thousands of young people demanded reforms, such as amendments to the lese majeste law, which carries a prison sentence of three to fifteen years.
“People see Thailand as a peaceful paradise, but it is a cruel country
The law is applied to all expressions that challenge the power of the king. In 2024, the pro-democracy party Move Forward won the elections. The party has now been banned. Hundreds of activists were arrested. Some are serving a prison sentence. Others face persecution.
“People see Thailand as a peaceful paradise, but it is a cruel country,” says Phimanrat. She explains how the disappearance of activist Surachai Danwattananusorn has affected the art world. In 2019, two aides who had fled with him to Laos were found in a Lao river with cement in their stomachs. Danwattananusorn’s body was never found.
Art backwards
Phimanrat has been working as a curator for ten years now, having to compromise in a climate of fear. Around the time of the disappearance, she exhibited works by her friend, artist Arjinjonathan Arjinkit (41), in her gallery, including a print from the ‘Sick October’ series. The title refers to the murder of more than a hundred students who rebelled against the then military dictatorship on October 6, 1976. Phimanrat decided to hang the work, a portrait of the king in military uniform, backwards. “Of course people asked about the meaning. I only told those I trusted what was depicted on the canvas.”
During the protests leading up to the victory of the pro-democracy party Move Forward, there was an unprecedented revival of the arts. “I had never experienced so many people making art. Not everything was equally good.” Phimanrat smiles at the thought. “But it was a fantastic time.
Paper weapons, on display at the exhibition on authoritarian regimes in Bangkok.
photo Valeria Mongelli / REUTERS
Is art better when it is politically engaged? “No,” she responds firmly. “A lot of the art that was made during the protests was wonderful to look at. The artists made their point. But I did not include everything in an exhibition. That art must have a deeper artistic meaning that lasts.” Now that political repression is increasing again in the region and also within Thailand, the creative explosive years are over, Phimanrat fears. “But the talented artist will always create valuable art.”
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