February 17-20, 2005
Lamphun - Chiang Mai, Thailand

Venues: Hariphunchai National Museum, Lamphun
Chiang Mai University Conference Center, Chiang Mai
Center for the Promotion of Arts and Culture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai

The international symposium Public Art In(ter)vention is the culmination of a year long community art project entitled Fly with Me to Another World in Lamphun and Chiang Mai, Thailand. This project began with the inspiration of an acclaimed international Thai artist named Inson Wongsam on a younger, international figure: the Chiang Mai and Fukuoka based artist Navin Rawanchaikul. In 1962, Inson daringly ventured forth on his Lambretta scooter loaded with his artwork to travel west from Bangkok, Thailand to Florence, Italy, engaging with diverse communities along the way. Such social engagement was a constant in his transition from a nomadic figure to one grounded to his roots in Lamphun. There he established the Dhamma Park Foundation which supports art that affirms local heritage and social consciousness.

Thus inspired, in February 2004, Rawanchaikul launched a like-minded journey to connect with community through the project Fly with Me to Another World, which commenced with an exhibition honoring Inson's life-long social commitment at the Hariphunchai National Museum in Lamphun. A series of community outreach activities then followed throughout the whole year such as workshops, performances, exhibitions and public talks.

Ending this project by linking the local with the international, parallel to the journeys of Inson and Navin, the symposium Public Art In(ter)vention will: evaluate the impact of the project; address the positions of indigenous traditions within contemporary contexts; discuss contemporary art's dialogue with community through various levels of space; explore potential collaborations among artists, art professionals and community organizers which creatively address social and environmental concerns; inspire social commitment in the new generation; and pave the way for interdisciplinary community art projects.

The symposium Public Art In(ter)vention will be held over the course of four days, from February 17-20, 2005. All symposium events will be bi-lingual, in both Thai and English. There will be 220 local, regional and international participants involved.　The event will be enriched by field trips, a film screening and other events in Lamphun and Chiang Mai so that local audiences and visiting participants can have more opportunity to learn, enjoy, and exchange their experiences.

The symposium will begin with a site visit to the Fly with Me to Another World exhibition at Hariphunchai National Museum on Thursday, February 17th. Along with this exhibition honoring Inson, a related display will present documentation and objects collected throughout the one-year project. A tour of both exhibitions and a video documentary presentation of the project will be offered to the participants. On the same day in the first panel Fly with Me to Another World: Views from Project Collaborators and the Outside, local project participants will discuss their project activities with community members and visitors. The day will conclude with a welcome dinner reception and live events by project collaborators.
On Friday, February 18th, the second panel Public Engagement in Contemporary Art will discuss how government-funded institutions, alternative art spaces, and collaborative projects engage contemporary art with communities. It will then be followed by the third panel Indigenous Positions in Contemporary Art and Culture which will examine how indigenous knowledge and methods are in dialogue with contemporary forms and contexts. In the evening, a film screening featuring works by local art initiatives will take place. Then on Saturday, February 19th, the fourth and fifth panel Art & Social Transformation will provide examples and discuss of how creative means can be applied to social and environmental issues through inter-disciplinary collaboration.

The symposium will end on Sunday, February 20th with discussion groups and presentations of the topics discussed which will lead to constructive steps towards grounded community art projects.

The symposium panels will include Chumpol Apisuk (Artist and Director of Concrete House, Nontaburi), Varsha Nair (Artist and Co-organizer of Womanifesto, Bangkok) Gridthiya Gaweewong (Independent Curator, Bangkok), Rirkrit Tiravanija (Artist, New York/Berlin/Bangkok), Tran Luong (Artist and Independent Curator, Hanoi), France Morin (Independent Curator, Luang Prabang/New York), Ong Keng Sen (Artist, Independent Curator and Director, TheatreWorks, Singapore), Nindityo Adipurnomo (Artist and First Director, Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta), Ly Daravuth (Artist and Co-Founder, Reyum Institute for Arts and Culture, Phnom Penh), Lu Jie (Independent Curator and Director, The Long March Project, Beijing/New York), Yuko Hasegawa (Chief curator, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa), Masahiro Ushiroshoji (Professor, Kyushu University, Fukuoka), Hans Ulrich Obrist (Curator, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris), Hou Hanru (Independent Curator, Paris), Saskia Bos (Director, De Appel, Amsterdam), Jonathan Watkins (Director, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham), Melissa Chiu (Museum Director, Asia Society, New York), Keith Wallace (Director/Curator, Morris & Helen Belkin Art Gallery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver) and more.

Most of the programs will be live broadcasted at About TV (www.superchannel.org select "AboutTV"), the interactive Internet TV channel that regularly broadcasts Thai and international art and cultural news, talks, exhibitions and events. During live productions the viewers can communicate directly through a chat with the producer and with the other viewers and give questions to the panelists. The edited version of all activities will be archived on this site, so the viewers can continue to watch and link to the project website's forum.

Click to learn more about the one year Fly With Me Project

All events are free and open to the public. Please visit: www.flywithmeproject.org for further details.

The international symposium Public Art In(ter)vention is organized by the Fly with Me to Another World Project Team in collaboration with the Center of Promotion for Arts and Culture, Chiang Mai University and AARA, Bangkok.

The project is made possible by the James H W Thompson Foundation; Jim Thompson, The Thai Silk Company; Asia-Europe Foundation and Asian Cultural Council.

Supported in part by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture, Thailand; Embassy of France, Thailand; Royal Netherlands Embassy in Bangkok; Canadian Embassy in Thailand; The Japan Foundation; British Council, Thailand and University of Hawaii, Honolulu; also privately sponsored by Petch Osathanugrah.