
08/08/2025
Chumpon Apisuk, one of Thailand’s performance art pioneers, states “lecture performance” today August 8, 3pm at his new “Chumpon Apisuk’s Lifeworld: An Archival Exhibition” at Friends of Bacc Room on the 6th floor.
Curated by Kasamaponn Saengsuratham, the exhibition is part of the broader research-based initiative, Archiving the Performance Art and Lifeworld of Chumpon Apisuk, dedicated to preserving and activating the legacy of one of Thailand’s pioneering performance artists.
Chumpon has been introducing happening art to Thai contemporary art scene since the late 1980s. He uses body art to reflects socio-political and environmental issues. Chumpon and his wife Chantavipa co-founded alternative art space “Baan Tuek” in Nonthaburi in mid 1990s and then it became prominent international art hub for performance artists social activists around the globe. At his 77, Chumpon is still active. He co-founded Nan Art Fest in his hometown Nan and performs live at other art festivals throughout the kingdom.
The exhibition features his drawings, historical photographs, archival materials like exhibition posters and art objects used in his performances.
“The project aims to collect, classify, and create an archive of Chumpon Apisuk’s body of work while encouraging engagement with his art through a bilingual online database, a board game, and a variety of public programs. It seeks to promote knowledge exchange, learning, and the development of regional networks within the context of performance art. It also offers a model for creating archives of performance art and shared imagination in Southeast Asia. Moreover, the database contributes to building an art historical knowledge base that has never been compiled or made publicly accessible before.
In addition, Chumpon Apisuk’s archive reflects the broader landscape of performance art in Thailand, the the formation of artist collectives, the development of independent art spaces, and the establishment of performance art festivals, while also mapping regional and transnational networks particularly within Southeast Asia that have shaped performance art as a critical and socially engaged practice. Chumpon Apisuk’s archive further reflects this broader landscape, encompassing the networks and organizations of performance art in Thailand, Southeast Asia, and internationally,” notes curator.
The show runs through September 6, 2025.
Photos of exhibition courtesy of Bacc หอศิลปวัฒนธรรมแห่งกรุงเทพมหานคร
Photo of Chumpon Apisuk courtesy of Blurborders official
Photo of Chumpon and Chatavipa Apisuk courtesy of Chumpon Apisuk