Some humans desire to transcend their biological limits. Such pursuit of immortality is expressed through art or architecture, or living through their descendants. I have been in touch with a number of artists who struggle to preserve their craft amid changing times. A succession crisis occurs when one cannot find anyone to continue his or her artistic legacy and only some can let go, though not easily.
I recently interviewed the owner of a Chinese opera troupe almost 100 years old at the Bangkok Design Week earlier this month. Thirapatnon Anankawin, 53, is currently at the helm of Chae Lang Ngek Lao Chun. After 40 years, a founding tycoon in Yaowarat sold his business to a music instructor, who managed the troupe for another 40 years but failed to pass it down to his children because they chose to run their own businesses. In the late 1990s, Thirapatnon bought the troupe.
