We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.
Vasan Sitthiket / Thailand b.1957 / Fight For Art! 2002 / Synthetic polymer paint on canvas / 60 x 50cm / Gift of Alex and Kitty Mackay through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation 2020. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Vasan Sitthiket
Vasan SitthiketFight For Art! 2002
Not Currently on Display
Fight For Art! was created for demonstrations held Bangkok in 2002. The activities were led by artists, students, university staff and the media, in protest against the Bangkok Governor’s suspension of plans for the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre (BACC), which he was seeking to transform into a commercial retail venture built on private investment.
Vasan Sitthiket was instrumental in organising the events which included inviting demonstrators to create artworks, amassing some 4,000 paintings.1 These were carried in an art parade from the BACC grounds four kilometres to the Governor’s residence and displayed outside as an exhibition titled ‘We want an art centre, not a commercial mall’. In 2004, The Thai Artists Network approached the newly elected Governor about the art centre, who agreed to return it to the original concept.
Fight For Art! maintains the expressive brush strokes and use of both text and bodily action that commonly feature in Sitthiket’s practice. It shows a closely framed upright fist and the pointed phase ‘For Art’. The work represents the driving forces behind Sitthiket’s practice — an outspoken and unapologetic activism, and a commitment to creating and supporting voices through art. It is both a symbol and a statement that continues to have powerful relevance today in light of current protest movements in Thailand and throughout the world.
Endnotes:
1. Email correspondence with the artist, March 2020.
Vasan Sitthiket has produced some of the most recognisable and provocative works to emerge from Thailand in the past three decades. In challenging socio-political issues, his paintings have been influential in leading a wave of Thai artist-activists.
Despite the provocative nature of his images and the artist’s vulnerability to censorship and political reprisal, Sitthiket has remained a highly prolific artist and is one of the country’s leading international figures. He persists in his plight to confront Thai society today by exposing the dishonesty, corruption and exploitation that he sees the nation facing.
Sitthiket works across media as diverse as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture and performance. His writing, including critical texts, children’s books and dramatic plays, has received much critical attention within Thailand.