Darwin-based Thai wins Australian art award
Chalermsri Vout, a Thai resident of Australia's Northern Territory, recently won the Northern Territory Government's 2012 Portrait of a Senior Territorian Art Award, the Australian Embassy in Thailand recently announced.
She was awarded the Government House Foundation’s Acquisition Award of $7000 (Bt210,000) for her portrait of Yib Kohler, a Thai lady who has been living in Darwin, the capital city of the Northern Territory, for 37 years.
The award came as a surprise to Chalermsri, 51 who had never before entered her work in a major art competition. Previously self-taught, she recently signed up for formal training in oil painting at Charles Darwin University. Chalermsri settled to Darwin in 1992. She now works as a child care worker and dreams of having more time to paint.
Yib is a Rapid Creek market stallholder in Darwin selling fresh fruits and vegetables and a mother of eight children. Born in Thailand in 1938, she moved to Darwin in 1975.
The Portrait of a Senior Territorian Art Award and Exhibition is organised annually by the state government of the Northern Territory to acknowledge the significant and valuable contribution that senior Territorians make to the Northern Territory community and to encourage excellence in artistic expression.
