Jim Thompson Art Center

EXHIBITION

HEAD TO HEAD (video installation) by Herwig Ilegems

HEAD TO HEAD is a video installation in which Belgian actor and artist Herwig Ilegems tries to make close contact with animals: a rooster, a peacock, a goat, an ox, a donkey, an alpaca, an owl and a water buffalo. In the end they come head to head. The actor looks the animal in the eye, not from a sense of superiority, but from a perspective of equality.

‘As humans, we are getting further and further removed from nature. I noticed that while making Head to Head. With the animals, it felt like I landed in another reality.’ - Herwig Ilegems

Based on sculptures of Dirk Hendrikx.

Special thanks to De Studio and Annemie Van Hove (Panenka) Special thanks to Herwig Ilegems who contributed his extraordinary work for Jitti Chompee, at Unfolding Kafka Festival 2024.

Date and Time: Nov 1-14, from 10:00-18:00 

EXHIBITION

Mo[ram]lam project and 100 years of Kafka Death Exhibition

The tradition of improvisatory performance and collective trance in lam pifah, a shamanistic healing ritual, and the mimicry of animal sounds and sermonizing of Buddhist monks in lam puen are decoded alongside the festival’s overarching themes. Opening up grounds for the exploration of regional and globalized constructs of gender, the project also subverts the way gender identity is formulated in Molam.

Kafka’s lifelong preoccupation with health and affliction with tuberculosis–which he framed as an existential condition and often considered in symbolic terms–register a different affinity with lam pifah in particular. In “A Country Doctor”, a short story written after just his diagnosis, Kafka obliquely characterizes illness and medical treatment as a spiritual issue. Kafka’s experiences of illness and views on healthcare can be richly juxtaposed against lam pifah, a healing ritual conducted through the female Molamsinger and khaen player, who act as spiritual mediums to call on and propitiate the “sky spirit” with improvised song and movement to cure an individual of serious illness.

Positing an alternative to the tendency of contemporary dance in the region to be determined by forms and trends from abroad, the Mo[ram]lam project reverses the current of cultural expansion by centering the two oldest and most local forms of Molam, and allows cross-cultural collaboration to radiate from them. The result is an expression of the plurality of modern-day life that resonates with, and introduces Molam to, audiences in Thailand and abroad. When folk traditions are made central, rather than peripheral, to the articulation of Thai cultural identity, a new form of cultural stewardship  emerges that encourages innovative and multidisciplinary artistic creation, facilitates exchange between Thai and international artists, and brings new life to local performance traditions like Molam, with burgeoning opportunities for the Thai contemporary arts field. 

Date and Time: Nov 1-14, 2024, from 10:00-18:00

ACTIVITIES  

Opening Festival Ceremony

Mo[ram]lam Fashion Show by Jim Thompson Textiles (fashion show & music)

Direction and Concept by Jitti Chompee

The Mo[ram]lam Fashion Show, directed by Jitti Chompee, is made possible by the generous support of The James H. W. Thompson Foundation and the Jim Thompson Art Center (JTAC)— two organizations with a history of conserving, uplifting and disseminating Thai folk art traditions— and the partnership of the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Khon Kaen University, and the College of Music, Mahasarakham University.

Part of the Unfolding Kafka Festival 2024, which marks the centennial anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death and the festival’s tenth anniversary, The Mo[ram]lam Fashion Show reimagines the catwalk as the setting for a dynamic encounter between Molam, a Thai Northeastern folk tradition, performance art and timeless fashion design. Set to a minimalist score performed by Mahasarakham University’s Molam ensemble, Jitti Chompee’s choreography, showcasing movements that range from hypnotic to explosive, brings new life to vintage designer pieces from the Jim Thompson archive. Made from rare textiles coveted by renowned designers and fashion houses, the garments are historical artifacts that enshrine artisanal Thai weaving traditions and Jim Thompson’s legacy of innovating Thai silk.

By researching Molam’s roots and working directly with custodians of the tradition, Jitti hopes to chart yet-unexplored directions for the evolution of Molam. Embedded in the social and cultural fabric of Northeastern Thailand (Isaan) for centuries, Molam is a multivalent folk music tradition with a propensity for assimilating external cultural and musical influences. Sidestepping the recent emergence of commodified, popular forms of Molam, Jitti chooses to investigate possibilities for decoding the two oldest recorded forms of Molam. Lam pifah, a shamanistic healing ritual that can induce trance states in participants, and lam puen, music that portrays stories from traditional Buddhist literature by mimicry of animal noises and Buddhist sermons, both resonate with Jitti’s research into animalistic physicalities, trance-like repetition of movement and object theater. In this piece, Jitti digs into Molam’s idiosyncratic sound design, drawing.

Date and Time: Nov 1, 2024, at 19:00 

Venue: Jim Thompson Art Center

Ticket: Festival Pass, JTAC Pass and by invitation only.

PERFORMANCE

Fon Farang (dance & music) by Juan Kruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola

“Music is the sound of the soul, the direct voice of the subjective world.” - Franz Kafka 

Juan Kruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola’s investigation of different facets of his identity through physical theater. His extensive musical and dance backgrounds and sustained exploration of the relationship between the two disciplines, dynamically aligns with Fon Falang’s cross-disciplinary integration of Molam music with dance theater performance.

Supported by The Embassy of Spain in Thailand, The Goethe-Institut Thailand, The James H.W. Thompson Foundation, Jim Thompson Art Center.

Date and Time: Nov 1-2, 2024, at 19:00 

Venue: Jim Thompson Art Center

PERFORMANCE

The Improper point A/S/V  by JAVIER MARTÍN - ARTS OF MOVEMENT

The Improper Point A/S/V fuses movement, sound, and image in real-time: an auditory (A), somatic (S) and visual (V) composition that, in a resonant exercise, registers, activates and re-signifies choreography. 

The experience of a body in the effort of self-perception that shares with us diverse places of entrance, discoveries and revelations. An invitation to enter a laboratory in which the perception of the moving body is distorted, trained and tuned up at the same time, proposing new sensitivities. An experience that questions the self-awareness and the identity built over projections commonly assumed, proposing a journey to other possible versions: how much of us is extraneous? What is true and where to find it?

This project  was supported by a grant from Acción Cultural Española (AC/E).

Date and Time: 9 Nov at 12:00 

Venue: Jim Thompson Art Center 

PERFORMANCE

ˈstɔːriz by Joachim Maudet and Sophie Lèbre

ˈstɔːriz is the first piece by the choreographer Joachim Maudet. The body is seen as an evocative organism, where forms, figures, vibrations and sonorities emerge. With Sophie Lèbre, he and she explore bodily states where the sounds produced collide with the gestural qualities explored, to confuse the interpretation of situations. Hand in hand, they take the spectator on a tragicomic journey between what is seen and heard, signified and interpreted.ˈstɔːriz is an unclassifiable ventriloquist performance, an ode to the musicality of the body, a piece that cultivates the art of seesawing.

This tour is supported by Institut Français et Rennes Métropole, Spectacle Vivant en Bretagne and Ambassade de France en Thaïlande to Unfolding Kafka Festival 2024

Date and Time: 09 Nov at 14:00 (AVAILABLE) and 17:30 (SOLD OUT) 

Venue: Jim Thompson Art Center

PERFORMANCES    

1 November  

19:00 - Opening Festival Ceremony   

19:00 - Fon Farang (dance & music, 30 min) by Juan Kruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola, Arthit Khamhongsa, Sombat Simla    

20:30 - Mo[ram]lam Fashion Show by Jim Thompson Textiles  (fashion show & music, 30 min) direction and concept by Jitti Chompee    

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2 November   

19:00 - Fon Farang (dance & music, 30 min) by Juan Kruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola, Arthit Khamhongsa, Sombat Simla    

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9 November    

12:00 - The Improper point A/S/V (dance & visual, 40 min) by Javier Martin - Arts Of Movement  

14:00 ˈstɔːriz (dance, 30 min) by Joachim Maudet and Sophie Lèbre  

17:30 ˈstɔːriz (dance & workshop, 90 min) by Joachim Maudet and Sophie Lèbre  SOLD OUT

EXHIBITIONS  

1-14 November 

HEAD TO HEAD (video installation) by Herwig llegems  

Mo[ram]lam project & 100 years of Kafka Death (exhibition) direction and concept by Jitti Chompee 

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ACTIVITIES  

1 November  

21:00-22:00 - Welcome party and networking event celebrating the Unfolding Kafka Festival's 10 year anniversary. A gathering of artists and patrons of the arts.  

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2 November 

17:00-18:00 - Panel Discussion: "Economic Horizons of the Molam Music Industry and Thai Performing Arts Industry" 

Speakers: Thitipol Kanteewong, Associate Professor Dr. Pornprapit Phoasavadi, Jitti Chompee 

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9 November  

10:00-11:00 - International networking and presentation session: "Updates on Thailand's Evolving Dance Landscape and Connection to International Dance Platforms"  

11:00-11:45 - Artist Talk with Ary Zara and Gaya de Medeiros

Cooperation Partners: the Goethe-Institut Thailand, Ambassade de France en Thaïlande, Embassy of Portugal, Camões – Institute for Cooperation and Language,The Embassy of Spain in Thailand, Embassy of the Czech Republic, Jim Thompson Art Center, the Japan Foundation, Bangkok, TCEB, The James H.W. Thompson Foundation and 18 Monkeys Dance Theatre. 

Venue Partners: Jim Thompson Art Center, Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts Chulalongkorn University, Neilson Hays Library and Alliance Française Bangkok 

Hotel Partners: The Quarter hotel by Urban Hospitality Group (UHG), Asia Hotel. 

Educational program partners: Department of Dramatic Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Chulalongkorn University (FAA),Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Khon Kaen University / Bachelor’s Degree of Fine and Applied Arts (Performance Practice) and College of Music, Mahasarakham University

International Sponsors and Support: Institut Francais, Spectacle Vivant en Bretagne. DRAC Brittany – Ministry of Culture, Brittany region and City of Rennes, the Internationalization of Spanish Culture, PICE a grant from Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), a state agency, República Portuguesa – Cultura, Direção-Geral das Artes, INAEM Ministry of Culture (Spain), Kunstfest Weimar, Pumpenhaus Münster, Theater im Ballsaal Bonn, Ringlokschuppen Ruhr Mülheim, Kunststiftung NRW, Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Fonds Darstellende Künste aus Mitteln der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien im Rahmen von NEUSTART KULTUR, Bundesstadt Bonn

Local Sponsors: Canon Thailand, TCEB, The James H.W. Thompson Foundation, Urban Hospitality Group (UHG).

Festival Team 

Artistic Director: Jitti Chompee

Assistant to Artistic Director: Nannapat Kaewngam, Nisakorn Prapsripoom

Stage Manager: Thachaporn Jirasakkee

Technical Director: Jirach Eaimsa-ard

Project Coordinator: Pattarasuda Anuman Rajadhon

Press & PR Coordinator: Jitti Chompee

Programme Designer: Theetat Thunkijjanukij

Web Designer: Chanatda Ruangrat

Web Editorial: Panalee Maskati and Jitti Chompee

Contributors 

The Unfolding Kafka Festival is teaming up with the Goethe-Institut Thailand,  Ambassade de France en Thaïlande, Embassy of Portugal, The Embassy of Spain in Thailand, Embassy of the Czech Republic, Jim Thompson Art Center, the Japan Foundation, Bangkok,and TCEB, The James H.W. Thompson Foundation to extend a high level of support to our arts and culture festival. We are spreading the word that Thailand has this unique “signature” festival, which allows local people to discover at first hand some of the most dynamic contemporary artists in the world and who, most of the time, never came to South-East Asia.

You not only make this year’s event possible, but also ensure stability for future editions. Gain access to the entire festival programme and support our cause by purchasing our festival pass or JTAC pass.   

Contact: unfoldingkafkafestival@gmail.com

For more information: http://www.unfoldingkafkafestival.com
Tickets: Ticket Melon