BANYAN BAUM – BANYAN TREE – TON SAI

Results of a workshop at the Silpakorn University, Painting Department, under the direction of Alfred Banze, Berlin, and Professor Amrit Chusuwan, Bangkok.

Fotos from the Exhibition at the
Goetheinstitut Bangkok

A GHOST IN THE TREE - Videofilms, paintings, objects and performances

In how far does regional traditional Thai culture influence the development of contemporary every day culture in the Big City? The example of the Banyan Tree goes further into this question. The Banyan Tree (Ton Sai) is regarded as the home of the ghosts – in the traditional Thai culture as well as in modern pop culture, in feature movies and TV soap operas.
Students of the Silpakorn University, under the direction of Amrit Chusuwan and Alfed Banze, seek out this tradition among their families and friends. What do they know about the Ton Sai? Does the old knowledge continue to live nowadays? Do the students or friends or members of the familiy belive in ghosts? What kind of ghost rituals do they know? Can they even visualize the ghosts? Can the language of the arts - video, paintings, performances and objects – help to grasp traditional Thai culture?
The project investigates the continuation of tradition in the presence.