Artist-to-Artist: Chiang Mai Social Installation and Southeast Asian Art Historiography

David Morris and David Teh's essay introduces a volume on the Chiang Mai Social Installation (CMSI) festivals, part of Afterall's Exhibition Histories series. The festivals, held in northern Thailand, challenge conventional art history by emphasizing ephemerality and sociality over material artworks. The essay addresses the lack of archival resources and institutional infrastructure in Asia, the breakneck pace of development, and the contention over proper historiographical methods. Contributors include Rosalind C. Morris, who provides a personal account of 1990s Chiang Mai, highlighting its tension between modernity and the premodern Lanna kingdom; May Adadol Ingawanij, who examines Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook's practice as a counter-narrative to CMSI's gendered 'boys' club' organization; and Patrick D. Flores, who traces a genealogy of 'installative' practices in Southeast Asia, linking them to indigenous rituals. The volume is the first collaboration with Asia Art Archive, alongside existing partners Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College.