Between Decay and Rebirth: Korakrit Arunanondchai’s Vision at Museum MACAN
Thai-born artist Korakrit Arunanondchai, who splits his time between New York and Bangkok, has brought his first solo exhibition to Indonesia. Presented by Museum MACAN, Sing Dance Cry Breathe | as their world collides on to the screen opened on November 30 and runs until April 6, 2025. This exhibition offers an expansive view of Korakrit’s artistic practice, presenting the gallery space as a theater inhabited by non-human actors who take anthropomorphic forms, brought to life through light, sound, architecture, and imagery.
Featuring works from 2018 to the present, the exhibition ignites a collective internal flame, exploring the tension between the desire for renewal and the fear of letting go. Central to Korakrit's narrative are the symbols of birds and serpents—metaphors rooted in ancient myths of human origins. These symbols reflect humanity’s relationship with social structures and nature, transcending physical or narrative manifestations. Known for his storytelling approach, Korakrit's works fulfill a collective need for narratives while deconstructing and questioning those that have lost relevance in contemporary contexts. Driven by anxiety over the unknown and a fear of uncertainty, the artist combines animism with science fiction to create emotionally charged works that embrace complexity without explicit explanation. The exhibition delves into the interplay between earth and sky, connected through various states of being—decay and resurrection—each bowing and praying for a fiery-winged entity to reemerge.
Among the diverse pieces featured, No History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 5 and Songs for Living stand out. In an interview with Grafis Masa Kini, Korakrit shared that he selected these works to align with the exhibition’s envisioned landscape, set between the forest and the sea. "In No History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 5, there’s a kind of Cold War era nationalism forming thesis that I think all people in Southeast Asia can probably relate to. Because it’s sort of our contemporary origin myth," he explained. Meanwhile, Songs for Living features text adapted into a script with strong Christian connotations. "I think there’s also something about that inheritance of Christianity or Christian narrative and the ocean, the idea of birth and rebirth, and the afterlife that I feel will somewhat resonate here as much as it does in Thailand," he added.
For Korakrit, Sing Dance Cry Breathe | as their world collides on to the screen is an exploration of human emotions channeled into diverse media, objects, and the natural world. “I think in today’s time, so much of how we feel is expressed through mediums outside of us, they hold our collective emotions, and we re-experience them through the screen. I wanted to create an exhibition that imagines itself as a theater of non-human actors sharing space with us, carrying buried emotions that have been left with them," the artist explained. He envisioned the exhibition as a stage inviting audiences to perform—singing, dancing, crying, breathing, and experiencing the full spectrum of emotions presented through its screens. “So we can hear the cacophony of this non-human world sing these songs, carrying all these feelings back to us,” he concluded.
Venus Lau, Director of Museum MACAN, emphasized the breadth of themes in Korakrit's work, including simultaneous decay and rebirth, the mystical, collective yearning for a higher power, and art as a process of spiritual renewal. "There will be a significant number of new paintings that have never been shown elsewhere. We look forward to inviting visitors to experience Arunanondchai's art at this landmark exhibition," she said. Korakrit Arunanondchai:Sing Dance Cry Breathe | as their world collides on to the screen is open to the public, with tickets available through Museum MACAN’s official website.
