Neo-Nationalism

Went to a somewhat-fairly-cool-ish art exhibition yesterday called "Neo-Nationalism" at Chulalongkorn University. Walked around for three-quarters of an hour to find the bloody gallery but learned a thing or two about Thai university life and got chased by a stray dog.

I kept being slapped in the face by profound statements, by the time I was done there I was thinking in exclamation marks! In a fit of stupidity, I did not copy down any titles or names of artists. In this here piece, the television had a loop of the artist expressing his views on nationality, "I am not Thai" says he. My Thai is rusty and this is unfortunate as I am certain of the fact that he had some incredibly profound things to say which would have solved all my identity displacement issues. Alas, I will never know and thus continue to live as confused as ever.

Curator Manit Sriwanichpoom's statement writes:
"Now is the ideal moment for reflection; for us to pause and reexamine, to explore our own ideas and understanding of the concept of ‘nationalism’. What is nationalism, really? We should do this lest we fall prey to nationalistic consumerism, or start running around accusing other people of being 'traitors to their nation'... Let's not become anybody's tool; let's not fall prey to opportunists."

The exhibition left me with a sense of relief actually, in a country where the news is censored and foreign journalists face extradition and the Prime Minister consults planetary alignments before press conferences, student art continues to ask questions and make bold statements.