Here are the first pictures of Thailand’s Krasue [กระสือ] ghost-witch and of vintage “one-baht ghost comics” displayed at the international DC NAROK : COLLECTIVE HELLXIBITION in Marseille, France. My thanks to our fresh.wo.men students at the Faculty of Communication Arts (International Program, Chulalongkorn University) for their assistance. As part of our “Thai Culture for Communication” course, students translated and composed subtitles for Thai director Santi Taepanich’s 40-minute documentary “ไอ้ผีเล่มละบาท: Damn Ghost Comics” screened during the exhibition (and also available online). The documentary explores the massive -and disregarded yet highly relevant- horror comics production in Thailand from the mid-1970s onward, as well as the precarious status of its pioneering creators.
Students also composed biographies of the exhibited Thai artists. It is also a first international collaboration with our Thai Comics Archives; lending 40 vintage KatunLemLaBaht (one-baht comics), two original artworks and a papier-mâché sculpture by Ajarn Tode Kosumphisai as well as selecting artworks by Ajarn Tawee Witsanukorn, Bangchong Kongjak, Orn (Apichat), Chatree Sungwornsilp or Jeard Mahaked for wall projections. Original covers by Dan Sudsakorn were also lended by Myrtille Tibayrenc.
The exhibition gathers the works of 50 international artists exhibited on 600 sqm, exploring the Thai/Buddhist Hell [นรก] Gardens [see “Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden” and Stephen Bessac’s Narok monograph). With thanks to Pakito Bolino, Le Dernier Cri, Benrisa Yencham and PaX Atakito.
DC NAROK : COLLECTIVE HELLXIBITION at La Friche la Belle de Mai, Marseille, France; November 13, 2021-February 13, 2022.
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