Media artist and filmmaker Chulayarnnon Siriphol puts his own spin on Behind the Painting, one of Thailand’s most acclaimed novels, for his newest show at Bangkok CityCity Gallery. Written in the late 1930s by the legendary author Sri Burapha, the novel tells of a fictional love affair between a noblewoman named Mom Ratchawong Kirati and an economics student Nopporn who is 13 years her junior. Chulayarnnon’s multidisciplinary show acts like make-believe museum where Nopporn recollects memories of Kirati through a series of moving images (imagine The Daily Prophet in the Harry Potter series) after her death.
In this exhibit, Chulayarnnon also tries to read between the lines and examines the socio-political undertones in Burapha’s novel, given that the latter was also a famous newspaper editor and social activist.
