Pinaree Sanpitak at KMFA’s Group Exhibition ‘Ocean in Us’

5 Oct 2024

Pinaree Sanpitak’s installation Ma-lai: Mentally Secured is currently on view at Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (KMFA), Taiwan, as part of Ocean in Us: Southern Visions of Women Artists.

The exhibition re-examines the museum’s collection, building connections between local and global art contexts. It forms part of an ongoing series, following The South as a Place of Encounter and The South as a Place of Collision. In 2024, the series continues with The Song Pearls – Feminine Art from a Southern Perspective, which reinterprets the museum’s cultural heritage through curation and a cross-cultural lens.

Jointly curated by KMFA, the National Gallery Singapore, and Singapore Art Museum, Ocean in Us brings together pioneering female artists from across the “South” and explores themes of history, gender, geography, and marginalisation. The exhibition highlights the diverse, deeply rooted stories of contemporary female artists in Taiwan and Southeast Asia over the past thirty years. It celebrates the ways in which women’s art shapes a vibrant creative landscape while reflecting both personal journeys and broader cultural narratives.

Sanpitak’s Ma-lai: Mentally Secured is based around the form and symbolism of the traditional floral garland, known in Thailand as the phuang malai. An art form originally taught to women in the Thai royal court, the phuang malai as an object deeply embedded in Thai culture, life and ritual. Handcrafted from toile, this delicate and monumental installation is, in the artist’s own words, “a subtle comment on the conditions of life, not only to cherish the wonders but also to pay respect to the struggles and losses”.

This exhibition brings together works that transcend oceans and borders. Ocean in Us highlights the power of art to connect communities and cultures across regions and will be on view until 16 March 2025 at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (KMFA), Taiwan.

Image: Installation view of Pinaree Sanpitak, Ma-lai: Mentally Secured, 2015, toile, dimensions variable, KMFA, Taiwan, 2024. Images courtesy KMFA