Womanifesto Artist Residency Program (2008)

The Womanifesto Residency was first run in October-November 2008 at Boon Bandran farm. Organisers : Nitaya Uaereeworakul and Varsha Nair

Participating Artists : Pan Parahom, On-Anong Klinsiri, Naruemon Padsamran, Graciela Ovejero, Liliane Zumkemi, Phaptawan Suwannakudt

Supporters and Funders : Office of Contemporary Art, Ministry of Culture, Thailand, Pathanajarin Suankeawmanee, Kabkeaw Suwannakudt, Lena Eriksson (Artist and Curator of Lodypop, Basel, Switzerland, Bildwechsel, woman’s archive, Hamburg, Germany)

About the 2008 Womanifesto Residency

Varsha Nair in 'Womanifesto: A Biennial Art Exchange in Thailand', Southeast of Now: Directions in Contemporary and Modern Art in Asia, vol. 3, no. 1, March 2019.

"In October/November 2008, Womanifesto organised its first Artist-in-Residence programme, again at Boon Bandarn farm. The residency brought together eight women artists of different generations and backgrounds, including 70-year-old Khun Pan Parahom (now deceased), who had spent most of her life on the farm experimenting with the abundant vegetation to produce different colours to dye silk and cotton yarn that she then wove into cloth."

"Supported by the Office of Contemporary Art, Ministry of Culture of Thailand, we revisited this unique environment and location where the diverse visions of both the elders and a younger generation of people come together to ensure continuity of a way of life by once again linking artists with artisans and setting up a dialogue between the traditional and the contemporary.

The extended time period also provided artists with the possibilities of learning about other art forms such as Morlam and Pagnya, music and oral poetry forms respectively, as well as vernacular architecture forms, and of getting involved with the seasonal farming/harvesting of rice. Also organised were workshops involving the artists on the farm and local university and school students, with an open day event on that last day presenting talks and works created during the residency.

For the participants, five weeks together on this remote farm, a mixed agricultural area with livestock and a forest, situated near Khayoong Creek, which begins at Preah Vihear Hill in Cambodia, required adjusting to present realities and finding a ‘way of being’ before one could dwell on anything else.

This included dealing with natural elements, heavy rains at the end of the monsoon and an abundance of creepy crawlies. Added to that, as the residency began, the political scene in Bangkok was heating up and news being beamed on TV encroached on the calm of the farm.

Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia relating to the disputed land around the Khmer-era Preah Vihear temple (the farm is located 36 km from the temple) came to a head and there was an exchange of fire between the two armies. Nevertheless, experiencing the meaningful interactions between the participants—those who resided on the farm, visiting students and artisans—and the over-whelming response from the community at the open day gathering, clearly demonstrated the importance of continuing with the residency programme and taking the dialogues and collaborations that were activated further.3

Khun Pan Parahom was among the few remaining elderly women who practised Pagnya. Reflecting on the six weeks spent with the other resident artists, she remarked, “I have never experienced being part of this kind of a project. I have gained a lot from other participants and their way of thinking. I would like to make a work and add this knowledge to it—a cloth where each participant’s presence will be in the piece. I am proud and happy that everyone comes here from different places to participate on this land. My life changed when I came here. This land, I feel, is ancient and it was fated that I be here. We are all here too, because it is meant to be”. Read more...