Bangkok University Gallery (BUG) presents, in partnership with Nova Contemporary, Museum of the Swamp of Eels, an exhibition by artist Aracha Cholitgul as part of their BRANDNEW 2017 ART PROJECT.
The Swamp of Eels is the name of a rural area located in the eastern part of the country. Due to its location near the equator and the swamp’s placement close to the coastline, the weather there remains tropical all year round.
Humid-warm climate and sandy loam soil result in the perfect condition for growing cassava; it has become the main industrial crop of The Swamp of Eels in the past decades, and thus occupies the largest area of the land.
(For those not familiar with tropical plants, a field of cassava can look like a giant cannabis jungle sometimes.)
In the beginning of the rainy season, the monsoon blows across the area from the southwest to the northeast. The atmosphere of the Swamp of Eels is usually quite clear and pleasant, however, the locals have a habit of burning things – perhaps, trash. As a result, heavy smoke plumes often loom over the area, and those people find themselves living in the dark.
Aracha Cholitgul (b.1988, Bangkok, Thailand) is a storyteller who creates logical perspectives out of nonsensical thinking. She is interested in history, culture, philosophy and spirituality. Cholitgul uses intimacy as a tool to explore meanings of and relationships between things and beings. After various mental processes, her works can take on many physical forms, mostly as a combination of writings, drawings, craftworks, and photographs. The abstraction in her works provides a safe space for self interpretations while at the same time welcomes the audience to her own personal dimension.
BRANDNEW 2017 ART PROJECT
Bangkok University Gallery’s BRANDNEW 2017 ART PROJECT aims to give active young artist the opportunity to improve, learn and develop their works, without any limits on their qualifications in education, age or institution. In its first 12 years in the run this project has produced numerous curators and artists who have since created quality work and established themselves on an international level. In the 12th BRANDNEW ART PROJECT, the guest curator has the full right and freedom to select the artists and their works without an open call.
This year, BRANDNEW 2017 honorably invites Haymann Oo; curator and assistant director of New Zero Art Space, from Yangon, Myanmar. She specialises in community art projects, art exhibitions, art activities and art education, with a particular focus on collaboration between artists and audiences. Haymann has also been a writer and art critic for New Waves Art and Literature Magazine since 2014. Currently, she has a significant role in initiating international collaborations for Burmese artists working with abstract art and contemporary art. Oo has selected Aracha Cholitgul alongside 5 other artists for this year’s project.
