The art dispute of the year is upon us. As the art community sees the rift open up, it also reminds society of the ideological divide that has plagued Thailand for many years. The stage is the exhibition called "The Truth_ To Turn It Over" curated by Gwangju Museum of Art to commemorate the 1980 Gwangju Uprising against the military dictatorship; it's been almost a month since the show opened in South Korea, but it's still very much "an ongoing process" -- a very heated one at that.
For the exhibition, curator Lim Jong-young picked Thai artist Sutee Kunavichayanont's work. This sparked an outburst of criticism from a section of Thai artists and scholars because one of Sutee's four series selected for the show, entitled "Thai Uprising", was done in support of the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), which took to the streets to protest against the Yingluck Shinawatra government following the blanket amnesty bill proposal.
After the PM dissolved the parliament, the protests however continued. Citing political deadlock, the military seized power on May 22, 2014.
After the exhibition in Gwangju opened last month, over a hundred Thai artists and activists -- calling themselves Cultural Activists for Democracy (CAD) -- signed an open letter calling for an explanation from the curator to have included Sutee's "Thai Uprising" in the show. For the CAD, Sutee's work represents the exact opposite to the spirit of the Gwangju Uprising, which was a democratic struggle by the citizens against the military dictatorship that ruled South Korea.
"We would like to express our concern regarding Sutee's artistic practice, political standpoint and the spirit of the May 18 Gwangju Uprising," reads CAD's first open letter. "It is clear that Sutee aligns with the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) that has contributed to political crisis and the May 22, 2014 coup. The PDRC is a movement intending to uproot Yingluck Shinawatra's government by closing down the streets of Bangkok, governmental offices, including blocking people to vote on the 2014 general election."
After the first letter, a series of back-and-forth literature ensued. Sutee wrote to the museum to defend his stance, the museum then wrote to CAD, then the CAD wrote back to the museum to insist on their "mistake".
"I appear to be accused of supporting the current military regime and, worse, of prior political activism as an advocate for a military coup," wrote Sutee in an open letter to the curator. "I flatly deny both charges and would like to stress that my very active art/political activities in recent years was not in favour of the military but was in opposition to the abuse of the parliamentary majority by the government of Yingluck Shinawatra."
Sutee's series in question that is on display in the show are stencilled posters and T-shirts containing popular phrases like "Redeem Thailand" or "Reform First". During the protests in Bangkok, he was among other artists joining the Art Lane campaign that helped raise funds for the PDRC. CAD's argument is that Sutee continued protesting and making his these artworks even after former prime minister Yingluck dissolved the parliament and called an election. Denying the election is undemocratic and insisting on protesting consequently made him part of the movement that eventually led to the coup, say the CAD.
"We had to send an open letter to the museum because we wanted to point how that it's not right," said one of the CAD coordinators Thanavi Chotpradit, an art historian and lecturer at Silpakorn University. "The activity by Art Lane didn't end after Yingluck decided to dissolve parliament and call an election. By insisting on protesting, it means you didn't accept the ensuing election process, and that means you were against democracy."
Thanavi added that even though Sutee insists that he didn't support the coup, he cannot deny the responsibility that Art Lane did raise funds for the PDRC, which was the movement that paved the way for the coup. She said Sutee's work is the complete opposite to the essence of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, and this incident points out how the PDRC artists' understanding of themselves as democratic is wrong -- that it is a delusion.
"Their definition of democracy is just not the same as understood universally," said Thanavi.
In short, the affair revolves around many tricky questions that the whole country has been debating for years. What is the meaning of "democracy"?. Is the PDRC's definition of the term the same as that of the CAD? How much should the PDRC be held responsible for the coup? Were they out there to drive for reform and the coup has nothing to do with them?
Sutee insisted on that.
"None of my works explicitly states that the military should come out," said Sutee. "They are about redeeming Thailand, bringing back the power to the people from parliamentary dictatorship. The works didn't lean on one side or the other, and if I am to put the posters out now it can also mean that I'm against the military. It's all the about the context, and the context then was a protest against the Yingluck government, the corruption and a drive for reform."
Manit Sriwanichpoom is among many artists who signed up an open letter in support of Sutee. He said it's not fair to assume that everyone who went out on the streets to "shut down" Bangkok with the PDRC and protested against the Yingluck government was necessarily in support of the military.
"You cannot conclude things like that, like it's a matter of either black or white," said Manit. "I was among those who went out on the streets but I didn't agree with the coup. It's not fair to blame the PDRC alone. The protest wasn't the only factor that led to the coup, it happened because of both sides, the protesters and the government.
"The protesters were not against the election, they were against the conditions under which the election was held."
Manit stressed that the series by Sutee in the exhibition is definitely pro-democracy because they were calling for people to come out and fight against the government.
"It's nonsense to say that they were calling for the coup," said Manit. "People were coming out for all those reasons, the blanket amnesty bill, the parliamentary dictatorship and the populist schemes.
"The fact that it eventually led to the coup was another story."
The CAD has asked the museum to amend their misinterpretation, to display the group's open letters alongside Sutee's show, and to explain the political background surrounding Sutee's work. For their part, the curator in Gwanju has proposed to install additional text to give context to Sutee's work, and to explain the two opposing views regarding the 2013-2014 demonstrations in Thailand.
Last week, the CAD sent yet another letter, insistent upon their original request: the museum should display their open letters in front of Sutee's work and to issue a public apology. Thanavi of the CAD said the museum has also sent an email inviting her and a CAD member to speak at the museum, though the detail hasn't been fixed.
The exhibition continues until Aug 15 and if curator Lim Jong-young could ever resolve the dispute, he might as well be able to end the decade-long political rift in Thailand.
One the one hand, the incident has further wedged the divide between the art community, those supporting Sutee and those signing the open letters by the CAD. On the other hand, whether it's after all the curator's misjudgement or not, art is already doing its part in generating an "ongoing" critical debate about our society and the way in which we can collectively come to terms with our history.
Sutee Kunavichayanont with his works in exhibition 'The Truth_To Turn It Over' at the Gwangju Museum of Art.
Thanavi Chotpradit's open letter to the exhibition's curator.
