MYTHS Exhibition | Five Female Artists
Thavibu Gallery is pleased to
present the art exhibition MYTHS featuring
works by selected new generation women artists from
Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. The characterization of the
Southeast Asian woman has been embedded in its cultural
history and has typically been determined by their physical
beauty. This association has commonly been identified
through icons such as the Apsaras or mythical nymphs
that appear in fables or the romanticism of Vietnamese women
clad in flowing Ao Dais. Though Southeast Asian
history celebrates "feminine reason and
beauty" the notion of gender was built
around a public sphere of feudalism despite the fact that
learned and powerful women did exist.
The exhibition MYTHS
examines the status of women in contemporary Southeast Asian
society through the works of five women artists from
Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. Though they once shared a
common history, their common cultural values continue to
unite their societies - their political histories had carved
out different paths that are today visible through various
levels of socio-economic progress.
Nguyen Thi Chau Giang and
Duong Thuy
Duong relate how modernisation is influencing the
status of women in Vietnam through their paintings. Duong
lives and works in Berlin and Giang in Ho Chi Minh City.
Rattana
Salee and
Angkana
Kongpetch are both Thai artists whose artistic
vocabularies articulate their opinions on the myths that
surround femininity from a very contemporary perspective.
They have both done sculptural works in the past and pursued
studies at the Ecole Superiuere des Beaux Arts,
Paris. Myanmar's
Nge Lay draws
inspiration from ordinary working women who quietly form the
backbone of her society.
| 16 June - 14 July, 2012,
Curator: Shireen Naziree |
