A bridge |TOO FAR

ORIGINALLY PLANNED to take place at its art centre on the very central Rajdamnoen Avenue, the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC)’s 10th anniversary celebrations of the Silpathorn Awards were forced to relocate at the last minute when the current political conflict prevented a timely completion of the venue’s refurbishment. The opening last Friday was thus moved to the small hall of the National Theatre.
The organising team, led by Pichet Klunchun Dance Company, managed to creatively adjust the otherwise mundane venue to effectively accommodate the afternoon workshop by novelist Chart Korbjitti, the opening ceremony by OCAC’s director as well as “Sorrow”, a contemporary dance by Manop Meejamrat. It was a memorable afternoon and evening even if fewer than 10 of the total of 52 Silpathorn artists were spotted among the crowd.
A student of mine, an aspiring playwright, said she learned a lot from Chart’s two-hour workshop but had to leave immediately afterwards for a dinner nearby. Only quick talking and the promise of free drinks and snacks were able to lure her back to watch “Sorrow” and I’m sure she wasn’t the only workshop participant not wanting to stay for the evening performance. This shows a flaw in programme curation: there should have been more connection between the workshops and the performances especially as OCAC is aiming to promote interdisciplinary art collaboration in this event.
Inspired by the last moments of sea ogress Phisuea Samut from the classical drama “Phra Aphaimani”, the soulful and engaging “Sorrow” demonstrated how Manop’s dance vocabulary, performed to a soundtrack of live saxophone, made for a happy marriage of western and Thai dances. However, those familiar with his works are probably starting to get bored of his signature move that sees him twisting his ankles as he shifts sideways. That said, his message was clearly delivered, thanks in part to the inclusion of an excerpt from Saksiri Meesomsueb’s writings, and the audience learned an important lesson on how to let go of love and desires.
On Saturday the programme moved to the Chang Theatre, home of Pichet Klunchun Dance Company, where it will stay until the end of the celebrations. Although only about 10 kilometres from Bangkok’s business centre, the fact that it’s nestled in a purely residential area and that the closest bridge, Rama IX, is under construction makes it a challenge to get there and is the reason why attendance has largely been restricted to local residents.
On Saturday afternoon, while some audience members were attending a contemporary music composition workshop by Narongrit Dhamabutra, others gathered in the outdoors theatre to witness Singaporean artist Sai Hua Kuan’s “Space Drawing”. The guest artist had spent a few days connecting a long wire to different parts of the space. Murphy’s Law intervened when showtime arrived and after he cut it, the wire didn’t move as planned but stopped halfway through its trajectory.
Moving indoors, the audience was then mesmerised by the artistic marvel and technical wizardry of the Sema Thai Puppet Theatre, led by Nimit Pipitkul, which also combined Western and Thai arts and crafts. But the troupe’s stage adaptation of the late Supreme Patriarch’s “Chitta Nakhon”, performed to music by Narong Prangcharoen, was somewhat dense and left little time for the audience to think.
The following afternoon, Chalermchai Kositpipat inspired the young artists in his workshop while four hours later, Janaprakal Chandruang supervised his students’ adaptation of Buddhist teachings. The presentation style and storytelling technique were eclectic and the energy and sheer sincerity of the performers, especially in the way they had been studying various Silpathorn artists’ works and took them as their inspiration, made this more praiseworthy than a typical student’s production.
 CELEBRATION
ON UNTIL SUNDAY
 n “Silpathorn: A Decade of Success in Thai Contemporary Art” continues until Sunday at the Chang Theatre in Soi Pracha Uthit 61, Thung Khru, Thon Buri.
n Admission is free. For more details, check Facebook.com/OCAC.ArtAndCulture or call (080) 924 0002.