At SAC Gallery, visitors wonder whether images of book covers at the exhibition "Old Wound" are real covers or paintings. Visitors are in doubt because each image depicts a worn-out book in elaborate detail, with scuffing, stains and spotting visible on the cover.
"Old Wound" was created by Prateep Suthathongthai -- artist and lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Mahasarakham University -- who creates masterfully realistic paintings. The exhibition comprises 20 paintings of covers for printed publications such as books, newspapers, magazines and novels. Many of them are hard to find including the government publication 204 Forbidden Books Listed By The Ministry Of Internal Affairs from the 70s, the movie's-behind-the-scenes book Anna And The King Of Siam and Old Wound, or Plae Kao, by the Thai writer Mai Muang Derm.
Prateep said the painting Old Wound was created from the first edition of the book, so it is extremely rare. A collector lent him the book to create the painting. As an art history lecturer, Prateep is interested in such covers as they portray thoughts, political situations and social changes of the time.
"Books and magazines are reflections of their time period. At Mahasarakham University, many old books are collected in the library. They feature outdated knowledge that people are not interested in. For example, Current Events Book was published in 1977, so since it is now 2023, the content is not current at all," he said.
There are many book and magazine covers at the exhibition, but Prateep named the exhibition "Old Wound" because it can refer to history.
"History is like old wounds which people do not want to talk about. "Old Wound" reflects many events. 204 Forbidden Books Listed By The Ministry Of Internal Affairs was published after the Oct 6, 1976, massacre because the government of that time wanted to control university students. The list includes books by authors who wrote about political and social ideas that the government did not want to promote.
Another book, Boromphiman Invasion, tells of the mystery surrounding the death of King Ananda Mahidol. The book presents the argument that his death might not have been an accident. It might have been due to the poor security of Boromphiman Palace. "Old Wound" is open for viewers to interpret from their own perspectives, said Prateep.
The exhibition is a series of paintings of the covers of printed publications. Prateep's first exhibition, "A Little Rich Country", was displayed in 2018 at 100 Tonson Gallery. "A Little Rich Country" focuses on publications which involve the Isan region and Isan-related images during the Cold War. "Old Wound" expands its content to include magazines, newspapers and novels.
"The first exhibition was created from publications in the library of Mahasarakham University, but 'Old Wound' was painted from publications that I collected. Covers of publications are visual culture which reflects the time period. When people see old publications, they can tell from the artwork, layouts, design and even advertisements that the publications are not current. Look at the cover of the magazine Koo Sang Koo Som in this exhibition. Current magazines do not have this kind of layout. It is not the way or style of expression that is used at present," Prateep said.
Prateep earned his master's from the Faculty of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts, Silpakorn University. He wanted to study art because of his passion for realism. Prateep revealed that his skills came from many long hours of practice.
"It is a result of my experience and practice. I took the time to notice details and mixed colours until I got the right ones that matched with the still objects. My goal is to duplicate everything that I see from the objects, so I pay close attention and draw in detail. I really enjoy painting worn-out books because there are many stains, spots and scuffs," he said.
The covers further reveal the artist's interest in history. Prateep said history helps people to understand the present. Although it is an interesting subject, most history classes in schools are boring because they focus on memorising information. Prateep does not want his art classes to be boring, so he gives students assignments that help them connect to history.
"Many people think history classes are boring. I assign students to search for their roots. They have to trace back to their ancestors, so they talk to their parents and/or grandparents to find out where their ancestors came from. It helps students to understand why history is important. In class, I try to not make students memorise content; I help them to understand why events happened," he explained.
It is said that history is written by the victors, so it comes from only one perspective. Therefore, Prateep allows students to question historical issues.
"History is not fact. It is information, so students can question it. They also should look at a historical event from more than one side of the story. Some people believe the history they have learned is accurate and do not accept other people's perspectives. This is not a good way to study history. In class, I always present multiple perspectives of an issue," Prateep said.
For "Old Wound", he said it was challenging to select paintings because he had to be careful to not choose anything with sensitive content.
"A painting of Prachachart depicts the image of King Rama X when he was crown prince. The headline said 'Where are we heading?', which is a contemporary news headline. This was published in Aug 5, 1976, which was a week away from King Rama X's birthday. It was a tradition to have images of royal family members on covers in honour of their birthdays. The headline actually has nothing to do with the king. It was during the Cold War and the media outlet thought Thailand should have found another option and not have to choose to support one side or the other. However, with our current situation, people may interpret the painting in different ways. There are more paintings that I cannot present at the exhibition because they may touch on what may be considered sensitive issues," Prateep explained.
Viewing "Old Wound" may encourage visitors to be interested in the subjects the books display.
"I think new generations are more interested in history due to the political situation. Second-hand book markets are booming. Many university lecturers wrote about historical evidence and those articles encourage people to search for historical books. I hope 'Old Wound' may motivate viewers to discuss or initiate debate about historical issues," said Prateep.
"Old Wound" runs at SAC Gallery, Sukhumvit 39, until Jan 21. Admission is free. For more information, visit facebook.com/sacbangkok or call 02-662-0299.
