Tag: Patani

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Petani Semasa is a significant exhibition on contemporary art about the Patani region of Southern Thailand, that privileges local artists. Currently on display at the Ilham gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the works are deeply complicated, and largely unsettling. Featuring 27 artists, the show never resolves into a unified voice, but showcases the diversity of practice and experience of the region. Patani Semasa adopts poetic means of representation from a region largely internationally defined by its enforced marginality. This conflict has been simmering for decades, perhaps peaking in 2004 with the Tak Bai incident wherein approximately 78 men were tragically killed by Thai police (some reports put the number of the dead higher). While the majority of the artists of Patani Semasa deal with the contentious politics of the region, they don’t propose solutions, or lean on simplistic answers. While many works on display are dark and violent, the exhibition is successful because of its much more subtle, even quotidian representations of the Patani region, which are equally worthy of our consideration. Another powerful work made from local materials is Jamilah Haji’s, “The Spirit of Faith 7,” (2011). Like Waji’s work, the figures in “The Spirit of Faith 7,” are expertly crafted and really pop from the frame, though with a dramatically different affect. Everyone can appreciate a good meal.