Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook's 45-year retrospective at MAIIAM explores mortality, memory, and canine companions

MAIIAM in Chiang Mai presents "The Bouquet and the Wreath," a comprehensive survey of Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook's 45-year career from July 26, 2025, to May 25, 2026. The Thai artist's practice examines womanhood, longing, and death through sculptural installations, photography, and video works. Major installations include "Has Girl Lost Her Memory?" (1994/2025), featuring an upturned bed half-buried in dried corn husks, and "Dinner with Cancer (Rebirth)" (1993/2025), with a bed perched on steps surrounded by black liquid bowls. Araya's video triptych "The Class I, II, and III" (all 2005) shows her teaching classes to actual corpses obtained from university labs, exploring memory transfer between the living and dead. Recent works shift toward more joyful subjects, featuring playful dog sculptures throughout the exhibition. "Bang Wang Hma (Dogs' Palatial Castle)" (2025), a towering wooden structure adorned with portraits of her dogs, occupies the museum's ground floor. The artist, who resides in Chiang Mai, channels personal experiences including her mother's funeral at age three and her father's hospital death. Her work balances conceptual engagement with visceral emotion, using materials like medical equipment, Chinese ink, and light bulbs.