Paris Welcomes First Sufi Art Museum This Autumn, Featuring works by Pinaree Sanpitak

25 Sep 2024

The Musée d’Art et de Culture Soufis MTO (MACS MTO), dedicated to exploring the art and culture of Sufism, will open in Chatou, a suburb of Paris, on 28 September 2024. The museum will debut with an exhibition titled Un Ciel intérieur (An Inner Sky), featuring primarily new contemporary works that respond to their collection from seven international artists, including Pinaree Sanpitak. This exhibition aims to create a dialogue between symbolic objects associated with Sufi art and culture.

The exhibition borrows its title from Henry Corbin, a philosopher and Sufi scholar, evoking the inner journey of the Sufi during their spiritual quest. Un Ciel intérieur invites us to experience this journey towards spiritual elevation through art, offering insights into the quest for the divine essence present in every experience that is simultaneously intimate, universal, and timeless.

In dialogue with the Kashkūl from the MACS MTO collection, Sanpitak has conceived a new series of paintings that resonate with the symbolic and spiritual dimensions of the Kashkūl. She draws inspiration from their shape and materials, such as coco de mer, to highlight the connection between these objects and the human body. The colour red, which recurs in her work, is rooted in the vibrant dresses worn by whirling dervishes in Pakistan. According to the artist, this colour expresses a profound sense of elevation and awakening.

Pinaree Sanpitak’s works in Un Ciel intérieur will be on view at MACS MTO until 6 April 2025.

Artwork: Pinaree Sanpitak, The Body and Coco de Mer, 2024, acrylic and silver leaves on canvas, 110 x 100 cm.