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A Collage of Colour – The Friends of Music Making in Chiang Mai’s Second Birthday Recitals.
Performers
Gilbert Medam, Ayu Namthep, Remi Namthep and the Payap Choir join Jean
Pierre Kirkland at the performance that was held on October 21.
By Jai Pee
The Friends of Music Making in Chiang
Mai have a fairly low profile yet provide opportunities for some of the
finest music making to take place in the city. The weekend of October 21st
and 22nd was no exception. Celebrating the second anniversary of
the foundation of this group, two recitals were held at Santi’s School of
Music which had the capacity audiences swinging along and enjoying every
moment. The Friends group was set up initially to help promote the bi-annual
Chiang Mai Music Festival but more recently with there being no firm news of
another festival the group now seeks to promote the finest music makers
available while seeking to make no profits whatever. All the proceeds from
membership fees go to supporting visiting artists and their music making.
The weekend of October 21st
and 22nd was a real collage of colour and first class musical
entertainment. The recitals were repeats of one another and were opened by
French-born guitarist, composer and artist Gilbert Medam. Explaining his
raison d-etre to the full house, Gilbert painted two remarkable sound
portraits, the first from his many and varied world travels and the second
from his love of Brazilian melodies. His lightness of touch, attention to
harmonic and structural detail plus his professional approach made these
pieces a delight to the ear which the audience very much appreciated.
Gilbert was followed by Payap University’s very talented pianist Remi
Namthep. She chose to perform the whole of Ravel’s wonderfully expressive
and evocative work, Miroirs (Reflections) written for a group of his friends
in Paris between 1904 and 1905. Remi played with great panache and captured
most eloquently the sounds of the ocean in the third piece and the
incessantly persistent rhythm of the bells in the final piece. The whole
work is technically quite challenging and Remi rose to the occasion by
providing the audience with a scintillating and free-flowing version that
was a delight from start to finish. To end the recital the newly formed “A
Cappella iChoir” again from Payap University and conducted and trained by
much respected Ajaan Ayu Namthep gave a great rendition of five contemporary
songs which had the audience clicking their fingers and tapping their feet.
This nine-strong male voice choir has great potential and they gave their
all in an incredibly forceful and enjoyable performance. With refreshments,
some fireworks and lanterns the recitals game to a fitting close – how
fortunate we are to have this kind of flourishing organization in the
community that over the last 2 years has provided 20 or so first class
concerts and recitals whilst at the same time allowing up-coming artists to
have a platform for their various talents.
A collection was held after the music
in response to the appeals for aid for the hundred of thousands of flood
victims in the country. JP, the recital organizer handed over the wonderful
sum of 10,000 baht to the manageress of the local Thai Red Cross Branch on
Thursday October 27th – with grateful thanks to all those who dug
deep into their pockets to help those less fortunate.
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The Royal Occasion Continues – Gallery116 to hold a second auction!
By Jai-Pee
The silent auction held on October 15th
at the 116 Art Gallery on Charoen Muang Road has raised the magnificent sum
of 400,000 baht. This is a magnificent achievement reflecting the great
generosity of the residents in Chiang Mai and the high quality of the
art-work on display. As reported in an October article on the opening of
this exhibition, the proceeds of this auction are to be divided between the
artists themselves and the Rajaprachahanukro Royal Foundation. A number of
artists have contributed additional paintings which are now to join those
remaining in the gallery for a second silent auction on November 26th
at around 5.30pm Proceeds from the auction will again be divided between
the artists and the Rajaprachahanukro Foundation, under the King’s
patronage. Those wishing to bid in the second auction, thereby contributing
to this worthy cause as well as enhancing their homes with one of these fine
exhibits should contact the manageress of the Gallery Khun Methika and
request one of the silent auction forms which list all those paintings to be
entered into the next auction with their reserve prices, artists’ names, and
in most cases small photographs of the paintings.
The Royal Foundation operates
independently of all political groups and other parties thus ensuring that
the monies raised reach their true destination without hindrance and without
the promotion of self-interest. The exhibition will close on November 30th
so it is well worth setting a date now and having a good look at these
superb paintings with their contrasting themes, centred around the Royal
Family and images associated with the Royal Family. The Gallery website can
be found at
www.116artgallery.com email:
info@116artgallery.com or phone 053 302 111 or 086 670 0153; the Gallery
is closed Mondays but open from 10.00am until 6.00pm other days including
Sunday.
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Lanna Artists Exhition
A
contemporary Lanna piece by Arnan Ratchawang-inn.
A unique exhibition by 15 Lanna
artists, all obtained their Masters Degree from Silpakorn University will be
on display at Galerie Panisa on Mahidol Road. This 4th
Contemporary Thai Art exhibition is entitled “Planupap Hang Julasilpa”
(Small But Strong Paintings) and features paintings from Thongchai
Srisukprasert, Songdej Thipthong, Asawinee Warnjing, Pornchai Jaima,
Lipikorn Makaew, Arnan Ratchawang-inn, Surathin Tatana, Thanpisit Saenchan,
Sakol Sutimarn, Chaiwat Khamfun, Likit Niseethanakarn, Veerasak Sasadee,
Suwan Lamom, and Thanongsak Pakwan. The opening is November 4 at 6 p.m. and
will be on view until November 30. 189 Mahidol Road (Closed on Sundays)
Naresuan Composers Prepare for Friendship Concert with Chiang Rai Youth Orchestra
Young local musicians to play alongside world stars
World-famous composers and conductors Bill Connor and Richard Harvey are
welcomed to the Dusit Island, Chiang Rai, by the resort’s general manager,
Mana Chanhorm, and Paramet Lerdkasem, founder of the Chiang Rai Youth
Orchestra.
The English composers of the music for
Thailand’s epic Naresuan movies have arrived in Chiang Rai for a week of
master classes and rehearsals leading up to a free Friendship Concert on
Saturday in the beautiful surroundings of the Dusit Island Resort.
Richard Harvey and Bill Connor will be
working closely with the violinists and other string players of the Chiang
Rai Youth Orchestra, who will be the real stars of this unique concert.
The CRYO is the only orchestra of its
kind outside Bangkok. It includes nearly 60 youngsters from six years old to
25 and has been built up over more than ten years through the tireless
enthusiasm of its founder and conductor, karate champion and music lover
Paramet Lerdkasem.
Also taking part in this week’s daily
music workshops will be the members of the all-female London-based string
quartet, Sixteen Wires, led by 25-year-old Susie Gillis. They will teach and
advise the Chiang Rai youngsters and play alongside them in Saturday’s
Friendship Concert.
Richard Harvey has been the main
composer for all the Naresuan films and has written music for many UK and
Hollywood movies, including The Da Vinci Code. He lives in Sattahip, south
of Bangkok, with his Thai wife, Chamnongchit.
Between them, Richard Harvey and Bill
Connor have conducted dozens of major European orchestras and worked with
everyone from Georg Solti, Kiri te Kanawa and John Williams to Sir Paul
McCartney and Eric Clapton.
“This is the finest youth orchestra in
Northern Thailand – probably anywhere outside Bangkok,” says Richard Harvey.
“And it owes everything to the inspiration and energy of Khun Paramet.”
The Friendship Concert is presented by
the Chiang Rai Youth Orchestra, the Siam Chamber Orchestra Foundation and
the MAE Foundation, a British-based charity that focuses on helping young
people in Thailand to learn and play music.
The organisers have agreed that
Saturday’s concert will feature a one-minute silence period, out of respect
for all those who have suffered in Thailand’s recent and devastating floods.
Richard Harvey’s next conducting
performance, at the end of November, will be a grand concert in Bangkok in
honour of the birthday of His Majesty King Bhumipol Adulyadej. It will be
attended by Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and will feature a handpicked 70-piece
international orchestra and chorus, with a roll call of leading soloists
flown in from around the world. For further information, in English or Thai,
call: 086 7325 292
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Light space project at Gallery SeeScape
An
international artists group exhibition will be held at Gallery SeeScape on
Nimmanhaemin Soi 17 from November 3-17 and will investigate the broader
conceptual ideas of light and space and painting as light. The placement
within the site of specific artworks will also focus on the idea of painting
as a spatial relation. The opening will be held November 3 at 6:30 PM.
The Dolls of Japan Exhibition
Japanese dolls: Beautiful pieces of art
that display exquisite craftsmanship and the unique cultural heritage of
Japan.
“Dolls” have been a part of everyday
life in Japan since ancient times. Apart from being examples of the high
level of craftsmanship needed to produce such beautifully elaborate
artifacts, these dolls also play a distinct role in Japanese culture at, for
example, the Doll Festival and the Boys Festival. Japanese dolls can be
categorized in many ways according to the techniques and material used to
create them, as well as the themes and shapes of the dolls.
This exhibition will display 70
Japanese dolls according to different themes. For example, dolls used in the
Doll Festival or Hina Matsuri, warrior dolls from the Boys’ Festival, dolls
depicting characters from traditional Japanese performing arts like Noh,
Bunraku and Kabuki, Hakata dolls or clay dolls, Kimekomi dolls or wooden
dolls dressed in kimonos, dolls made by modern craftsmen, and Kokeshi dolls
with their unique character.
“The Dolls of Japan” exhibition will be
held from October 2011 to early 2012 in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Nakhon Si
Thammarat and Phayao. The exhibition is organized by the Japan Foundation,
Crystal Design Center, Chiang Mai University Art Center, Muang Khon
Contemporary Art Gallery and University of Phayao.
At Chiang Mai University Art Center,
Nimmanhemin Road on Friday 4th– Wednesday 30th November 2011 from 9 a.m. – 5
p.m. (Closed on Mondays) Opening Reception on Friday 4th November 2011 at 6
p.m.
For further information, please contact
the Japan Foundation, Bangkok 02-260-8560~3.
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American Documentary Showcase at CMU Art Center
The U.S. Consulate General in Chiang
Mai and the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, in collaboration with Rabbithood
Studio, will launch the American Documentary Showcase in Chiang Mai on
November 12-13 and 19-20, 2011, at the Chiang Mai University Art Center
theater. The showcase will bring six award-winning contemporary American
Documentaries to present various views and issues to local audiences.
The six selected films are contemporary
calls for social change: —“Make Believe,” “New Frontiers,” “If a Tree
Falls,” “Corner Plot,” “One Lucky Elephant” and “Niger ’66.” Some of the
films were also screened at the 9th World Film Festival of Bangkok earlier
this year.
The showcase’s opening and premiere
screening will be on Saturday, November 12, at 6:00 p.m. at the Chiang Mai
University Art Center theater. The American filmmakers Steven Klein (“Make
Believe,” Best Documentary 2010 at Los Angeles Film Festival) and Melinda
Levin (“New Frontiers”) will be in attendance. Both are also scheduled to
meet a Lampang audience the day before at a special screening at Nation
University.
The American Documentary Showcase is
funded by the U.S. State Department to offer a view of American society and
culture as seen by independent documentary filmmakers.
Admission is FREE, with all films in
English with Thai subtitles. For more details, please visit
http://chiangmai.usconsulate.gov;
https://www.facebook.com/chiangmai.usconsulate and
http://www.facebook.com/Rabbithood.
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Computer hard drive production seriously affected by flooding
Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC)
announced that production of hard drives in its facilities close to Bangkok,
Thailand, will be constrained in the current quarter due to the severe
flooding in Thailand. The flooding is causing problems with the region’s
infrastructure, including transportation and utilities, and has resulted in
the inundation of some supplier facilities and employee homes. The company
is gratified to report that its approximately 37,000 Thailand-based
employees are deemed safe at this time.
The company is working with its
suppliers to maximize throughput and availability of parts in order to best
meet the needs of its customers.
In the quarter ending July 1, 2011, WD
shipped approximately 54 million hard drives from its facilities in Thailand
and Malaysia, with approximately 60 percent coming from its Thailand sites.
The company’s Thailand operations source much of its supply of components
from local suppliers.
While WD’s facilities in Thailand are
operational, production has been suspended on a temporary basis to protect
its employees and its facilities and equipment against water ingress. The
company indicated that conditions associated with the continued flooding are
evolving quickly and the extent of the impact on its operations in Thailand
cannot yet be fully determined. (PR)
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A Right Royal Occasion – Gallery116 does it again!
Doi Saket
artist Eng-Orn with her vibrant painting of gladioli.
By Jai-Pee
If ever you wanted to experience
something very different, then Gallery 116 on Charoen Muang Road is the
place to go. Having had to postpone the opening of its new exhibition by
just over a week due to flooding in the area, the Gallery threw wide its
doors on Sunday 9th October to an enthusiastic and eager crowd of
artists and art lovers. And the Gallery owner, Khun Wanthip Nimmenhaeminda
made sure the opening was a real fiery affair! The throng of guests entered
the gallery holding candles, which, after a short introduction were all lit
with the assembled guests standing to attention as they sang the King’s
Anthem and other loyal songs, showing their love for the King and country.
This was centred in the Gallery’s main room where most of the paintings were
of members of the Royal family, past and present, plus other very important
symbols that honoured His Majesty and his family – after all, on December 5th
this year the King will reach the grand age of 84, entering his Seventh
Cycle on that auspicious day – and the exhibition will run through from now
until a week after the King’s birthday.
Guests at
the Gallery 116 opening light candles and sing
the King’s Anthem to open the exhibition.
The paintings are wide, varied and most
attractive – many acrylic but a number of exceptions including wood cutting
and oils. Particularly outstanding contributions were made by local Doi
Saket artist Eng-Orn with a large canvass of gladioli, the protective flower
of the Monarchy in true Buddhist tradition; there were several more similar
paintings of such flowers by other artists in addition. Portraits of the
Royal family abound with the King featuring in many of them, capturing his
noble presence at various stages during his long and productive life,
including one of him as a monk skillfully painted by Santi. Another
outstanding eye-catcher is a large portrait of her late Highness Princess
Galyani Vadhana painted by Sukanya – this attractive and beautiful homage to
the dearly loved Princess captures both her elegance and her wonderfully
radiant smile. In all, over 100 artists have contributed to this grand
collection celebrating the great achievements of the country’s long-standing
monarch and his family. Buddhist symbols feature in other paintings as well
as some related Hindu images in two smaller contributions from local artist
Plaek that he suggested were born from mother earth herself. This is really
a fabulous collection and is a must for those who love art, Thailand and its
time-honoured traditions.
Twenty-six of these paintings will be
sold at a silent auction, the outcome of which will take place this Saturday
October 15th at around 5.30pm. Proceeds from the auction will be
divided between the artists and the Rajaprachahanukro Foundation, under the
King’s patronage. This Foundation was set up about 30 years by the King to
help the victims of a serious hurricane in the south of the country,
especially focusing on aiding the children made parentless and homeless –
today the Foundation continues with this very deserving work and no time
more so than now, with the dreadful flooding that has been plaguing the
country for several months. Those people wishing to bid in the auction,
thereby contributing to this worthy cause as well as enhancing their homes
with one of these fine exhibits should contact the manageress of the Gallery
Khun Methika and request one of the silent auction forms which list all
those to be entered into the auction with their reserve prices, artists’
names, and in most cases small photographs of the paintings. The Gallery
website can be found at
www.116artgallery.com email:
info@116artgallery.com or phone 053 302 111 or 086 670 0153; the Gallery
is closed Mondays but open from 10.00am until 6.00pm other days including
Sunday.
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What to Dip at CMU
The What to
Dip exhibition opened at the CMU Art Museum and runs through October 28,
featuring the works of 35 artists from 12 countries who work with
unconventional materials and means to present their visual works. Working
together with Sangdee Gallery and in association with the Chiang Mai
Creative City Committee, What To Dip is brought to Chiang Mai by
uncookedculture.com, an online community dedicated to fostering free-minded
and self-taught artists. The
exhibition opened on October 6, 2011 to an interested crowd of artists,
guests and local residents. The artists were encouraged to make site
specific works that utilize local materials and culture. (Photo courtesy of
CityNow!)
Smartphone and geotagging
By Shana Kongmun
I think by now, everyone has taken a
photo with their phone and uploaded it to Facebook, Twitter, or other sites
and yet have not perhaps been aware that they have just broadcast their
location to anyone who chooses to have a look at the geotag embedded in the
photo properties.
This geotag pinpoints the precise
location where the photo was taken and then embeds that information into the
photo, which can be easily found. If you take enough photos, someone can
easily follow your footsteps, locating your home, where you buy your latte
and where you go shopping.
And while most of us won’t have a
stalker who goes to the effort to find this information, in this day and age
where everything about everyone is online, broadcasting the location of your
home and when you aren’t at it, may not be the wisest thing to do. And while
it might not quite be the invitation to burglars that it is in a more
connected society, a little bit of privacy isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Different phones have different options
to turn off geotagging, and detailed information for several phones can be
found here:
http://icanstalku.com/how.php#disable. Check your own phone to see if
geotagging is turned off.
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Shadow Whisper; modern flamenco
Shadow Whisper is showing at
the CMU Art Museum Theater this weekend and, having had a peek at the dress
rehearsal, I must say that it is an enjoyable show. Shadow Whisper features
the flamenco performance of Supreeda Wongsansee, whose fierce love for the
dance shows. The musicians involved are terrific complements to the
performance and the finale was great fun. Tickets for the afternoon shows at
2 PM today and Sunday still remain.
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