Editor's Note: This documentary created on occasion of the Pop up Museum (Model study for Nongpho community) exhibition. The project is part of day OFF-LABoratory#1: Pilot project alternative school of interdisciplinary art organized by Baan Noorg incorporated with Thammasat University in 2014. It‘s a site specific workshop and exhibition program that gathered students, emerging artists to analyze, discuss and debate in an interdisciplinary mode toward social condition and community as case study for researching and developing community engagement, art, and the work of museums with visiting international artists, activists, curators, educators. The program developed abilities relating to collaboration, social practice, art and cultural practice, as well as community engagement. The outcome is a Pop-up Museum Contemporary Art exhibition (25 Apr - 1 Jun, 2014) at Baan Noorg and selected community sites.
(Pornpilai, Baan Noorg)
"Pop Up Museum" is a project that conveys information delivered by college students who participated, interacted and collaborated with community. Therefore, it is not the kind of still museum or delivers static information.
We do not operate as conventional museum, which shows ancient artifacts. But it is rather an active than a passive museum where visitors can only view the artifacts without interaction.
(Jiradej, Baan Noorg)
"Day OFF LABoratory program" is part of Nongpho community contemporary art and culture project named “Baan Noorg”. Baan Noorg operates "day OFF LABoratory" by arranging activities during school’s summer break.
This time, "day OFF LABoratory" collaborates with college students who are outsiders that access and stay in community, which has community-based connectors who are "NongpoKiDdee" youths. They are children group who participated and created short films (animation) with Baan Noorg for 3~4 years.
(Pornpilai)
The program arranged "Let’s Talk Salon" that provides related and fundamental information for participated college students. It has 8 sessions. We invited speakers and experts in contemporary art, culture and contemporary museum areas to give lectures to 29 students.
Before they set off their work process, the invited speakers included Mark Salvatus + Mayumi Hirano (co-founders of 98B collaborator from Manila, Philippines), and Prof. Surasi Kusolwong, Prof. Suporn Shoosongdej, Prof. Sakarin Krue-On and Prof. Sucha Silpachaisri. In terms of works by 29 participated students, they are divided into five groups to create 5 projects:
- Mobile Museum / We Are the Museum,The other 5 sub-projects that we invited Thai and foreign artists called "The Museum Now". This includes 5 projects:
- The Museum of Voiceover / Where We Were,
- The Museum of Simplicity / As Museum As Grocery Store,
- Eat Museum / Eat-Ate-Art, and
- The Museum of photo / On The Way.
- "It’s like you got yesterday, today and tomorrow, all in the same room, there is no telling what can happen" by Lo, Shih-tung + Shih, Pei-chun from Taiwan,
- "The Museum Now (Magic Cow)" by Saroot Supasuthivech,
- "The Museum Now (Documentary no.3)" by Kaensan Rattanasomrerk + Jiandyin,
- "The Museum Now (In General)" by Siwanat Phongbunkumlarp, and
- "The Museum Now (Untitled)" by Awika Samukrsaman.
(Supitchaya, The Museum of Simplicity)
Baan Noorg’s main objective of this project is to create "Pop up Museum" exhibition (A Model Study of Nongpho Community). It is a project that two universities met: Thammasart(法政大學) and Silpakorn(泰國藝術大學). We came to research and seek relevant issue from collected information to create artwork for this particular exhibition.
(Kornchanok, The Museum of Simplicity)
We access to the community to collect information for realizing the exhibition for Nongpho community. So today we had a field research to reach out what they have here and feed the information for constructing idea for the exhibition.
We interviewed uncle Jai about the history of his grocery store from then to now, where he came from, how the store was originated, how did it happen, was there any difficulties?
(Songwat, Nanphanit Grocery Owner)
The students came to research about community and shops. Museum is somehow like a place for learning? As the community’s archives for everyone to study… for instance: village’s history, its culture and people’s occupations, isn’t it?
(Nattawika, The Museum of Simplicity)
In participating this project, we have chance to do a tangible field study that we could really absorb villagers’ way of living; to achieve the goal that is creating some works of art. I think it’s great that I can learn new ideas. As well as to realize that in making a piece of work we have to study till we reach the core of something that will make the result special.
This project also combines community children to join whose parents are willing to allow them to participate. It is a win-win opportunity, I think. I could see that their parents want their child to learn more things by how they said to their children “you have to be attentive so you will grow up and be like them.”
Most of students who join the project desire to bring back missing things. Take my group for example, we focus on forgotten language, not just forgotten but somehow shy to speak like Thai-Yuan dialect. I hope I will get some new perspective and inspirations. As I am a first year student, I still have no idea what direction I should go for in the future. I might attain some inspirations from this time.
(Pichanan, Mobile Museum / We are the Museum)
"We Are the Museum" is a mobile museum. We believe that Human is the most perfect museum because human or every community members are substantial resource of certain community. Everybody has his/her own stories that could represent one’s own period perfectly.
We consider that everyone is important like museum, we collect used T-shirts, silk-screen designed texts on them and give everyone to wear to remind that everybody is museum, carries important stories and are part of their community history.
