The Bouquet and the Wreath (ข้อมาลา), a retrospective exhibition covering Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook’s entire artistic career, opened at MAIIAM in Chiang Mai on 26th July. The exhibition runs until 25th May 2026, and a second phase (إكليل باقة الأزهار) will be shown in Dubai later this year.
The show includes several of Araya’s contemplative videos filmed at a morgue. The Class 1–3 (ชั้นเรียน 1–3) are shown in an installation appropriately resembling a classroom, and the triptych Chant for Female Corpse (สวดเพื่อร่างตายหญิง) is installed inside a wooden hut. (The Class 1–3 were previously shown at Dialogues in 2011, and Chant for Female Corpse was shown during Galleries’ Night in 2014.)
The installation Prostitute’s Room (ห้องโสเภณี) is another highlight: a small, semi-enclosed space containing three bowls of the artist’s blood, some of which has spilled onto the gallery floor. The piece has not been exhibited for thirty years; when it was first shown in 1995, it featured bowls of the Araya’s menstrual blood.
Many of Araya’s video works will be shown at another retrospective, The Same Old Karma (กรรมเก่าเดิม), at 100 Tonson Foundation in Bangkok. This exhibition, organised in conjunction with MAIIAM, runs from 16th October until 18th January 2026.
The first phase of the Tonson exhibition, from 16th October to 9th November, includes the videos Reading for Female Corpse, Reading Inaow for Female Corpse, Reading for Male and Female Corpses, Reading Inaow for Three Female Corpses, I’m Living, and A Walk. The second phase, from 13th November to 14th December, includes The Treachery of the Moon.
The first phase of the Tonson exhibition, from 16th October to 9th November, includes the videos Reading for Female Corpse, Reading Inaow for Female Corpse, Reading for Male and Female Corpses, Reading Inaow for Three Female Corpses, I’m Living, and A Walk. The second phase, from 13th November to 14th December, includes The Treachery of the Moon.
