Is history set in stone, or is it a living document- like all received narratives- constantly being taken apart and reconstituted, erased and remade? For Nakrob Moonmanas, collage is not merely an aesthetic device, but a means of revisiting, unveiling and questioning historical memory as he excavates the archive of Thai visual art and culture. In this piece, Moonmanas layers visual artefacts that call to one another across a busy terrain, creating a chorusing web of symbols, at times harmonious or dissonant.
At the centre stood Nai Xai, a Siamese boy who traveled to France 163 years ago following his father, who was appointed chargé d'affaires to forge diplomatic ties with Napoleon III on behalf of King Rama IV. Surrounding him are whispers of scenes that evoke distant worlds and unfamiliar landscapes, as if he was a boy from a faraway land on a foreign exploration, as if he were the Little Prince on an interstellar journey. |
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