Egg – E – Egg AARGH! Chicken Art Festival seeks an end to inhumane factory farming

Did you know that every year, over 72 billion chickens are killed for their meat? Also, two out of three chickens live in an inhumane and gruesome environment.

Chicken meat is one of the most popular sources of protein, but there are high risks from eating those tainted and unsafe meat. To raise awareness in Thai society about animal welfare on farms and the impacts on our health and the environment, especially in the chicken industry, and to discuss solutions that we can all join hands to achieve, World Animal Protection – Thailand, a global non-governmental organization with a goal to ensure animal welfare, hosted, “Egg – E – Egg AARGH! Chicken Art Festival”.   The festival brings together artists and activists from four different disciplines on Saturday, February 25, 2023, at the open space area in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC). After the event, all the installation arts and the arts from the youth artist drawing competition will remain on display at BACC until March 5, 2023. 

Muandao Kongwannarat, Chicken Welfare Project Manager at World Animal Protection (WAP) – Thailand, said, “Egg – E – Egg AARGH! Chicken Art Festival is the second event in the series, following the well-received ‘Happy Meat Happy Me’ event held at the end of last year, which aimed at raising public awareness on food safety and ethical eating, and calling for a complete revolution in the food industry and animal welfare on farms prior to consumption.  To keep the momentum going, WAP invites people to ‘scream’ at the top of their lung through arts. This festival represents the suffering that chickens face in the inhumane and gruesome environment of factory farms. Our aim is to urge related businesses to make the necessary decisions to improve animal welfare, such as rearranging the zoning to reduce crowding in the cage system, opting to raise slower-growing chickens, providing chickens with the proper space or materials that encourage natural behaviors, and reducing the chance of illness which will directly reduce the excessive use of antibiotics and the health hazards from antimicrobial resistance. All of these greatly affect the health and well-being of animals, humans, and the environment."

According to Muandao Kongwannarat, this festival, held in the heart of the city, features artists from four different art disciplines. Maria Poonlertlarp, World Animal Protection-Thailand's ambassador, and Nakrob Moonmanas, the revolutionary artist, collaborate on a piece called 'The Last Suffer', which sets the table for the last supper meal that humans nonchalantly feed to chickens before taking their lives.

Following them, Teacher Siang, a Mor Lam Puppet folk artist, and the Angel Children group put on an installation art called 'A4 Life', featuring a three-feet-tall chicken made from bamboo coops and local wickerworks, standing on a space no bigger than the size of an A4 paper. At the event there were also two top-notch performances. Nontawat Machai, the boy who always dare to dream from Lanyim theatre, poured his heart and soul into the plot of 'Kult of Chicken', a performance art that bludgeon the chicken industry into reducing and putting an end to the inhumane environment of the industry. And the highlight show is from the 2004 Silapathorn Award winner, Pradit Prasatthong, fused Thai traditional dramatic performance with the newly adapted story of 'Prince Lo and the Peculiar Chicken'. Not to mention the young musicians from LAAN and Beagle Hug that performed their songs for everyone to enjoy throughout the day.

The festival featured many more activities that everyone could be a part of, such as creating their own art and expressing their thoughts on colorful strips of fabric and attaching them to the giant chicken from the A4 Life art installation, asking for a better life for chickens and a better life for us. Additionally, there is also the display of youth artists from the drawing competition under the concept of “Factory Farming Antimicrobial Resistance Bacteria.”

The Chicken Art Festival may have come to an end, but the arts live on. Other than the performances that will be remembered by many of the visitors, please come and take a look at the installation art and join in calling for better treatment of chickens at the “Egg – E – Egg AARGH! Chicken Art Festival” until March 5, 2023, at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC). For more information, please visit our website at www.chickenartfestival.org or our Facebook page at World Animal Protection Thailand.

 
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