“Beauty on the Golden Sky“
A solo exhibition by Charinthorn Rachurutchata
22 March – 3 May 2025
Opening: Saturday 22 March, from 6 pm
at HEAD HIGH Second Floor, a non-profit Art Space in Chiang Mai
Delving into the state’s destruction of memory surrounding the 1932 People’s Party Revolution, Charinthorn became captivated by the images of women from this era. At the dawn of Thailand’s democracy, on the golden sky, once the people emerged as the sovereign. ‘Miss Siam’ the national beauty pageant held as part of the Constitution Celebration, depict a monumental moment in Thai women’s right, revealing the time when women gained freedom to pursue education and careers, became figures of authority, and liberated themselves from the traditions of the old regime.
But their beauty has been lost into historical oblivion. After the People’s Party fell in the 1947 Coup d’état, the Constitution Celebration was canceled, the national beauty pageant then lost its political significance and connection to the revolution. Monuments and buildings erected during this period were gradually demolished. As Benedict Anderson remarked, “all profound changes in consciousness, by their very nature, bring with them characteristic amnesia”. To establish new memory, the post-1947 Thai state painted the revolution as prematurely acted, a symbol of blemish, an irremovable stain in nation history.
‘Beauty on the Golden Sky’ is a photographic ode celebrating the women of the revolutionary era. Working with Kintsugi, the Japanese practice of repairing ceramics with gold, Charinthorn literally inscribes the Golden Stain onto a tarnished history, countering the national narrative and monumentalizing the lost cultural heritage. Through the performative ritual of applying each gold leaf with great respect for the democracy heroes and sitters, her symbolic Golden Stain embodies resistance gesture and hope to bring back the Golden Sky.
About the Artist
Charinthorn Rachurutchata is a visual artist who works on gender inequality, religious, social and political issues. Charinthorn has exhibited her work worldwide and has been selected for many artist residency programs, including in Canada, Australia, Taiwan, and Japan, where she began studying Kintsugi techniques. In 2022, she became the first Thai female photographer to receive the World Press Photo Award in the Southeast Asia and Oceania Open Format category for her project The Will to Remember. Though the project could not be shown in Thailand, it was exhibited in 25 countries as part of the World Press Photo Exhibition Worldwide Tour.
For more information, please contact:
Head High Second Floor (New Address)
28/1 Singharat Rd. T.Si Phum A.Muang, Old Town, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50200
+66 61 686 0660 hello@head-high-second-floor.com www.head-high-second-floor.com
Open by appointment, Best via FB Messenger (Reinhard Kressner)
Or
TQPR Thailand, Tom Van Blarcom, tom@tqpr.com or Nuie Titichayapon, nuie@tqpr.com +662 260 5820