A Culture Adrift: The Moklen World in Transition
11 Sep - 8 Oct 2025
The Moklen, an Austronesian-speaking ethnic group of approximately 4,000, have resided
along Thailand's Andaman Coast for generations, with oral traditions tracing their settlement back 500 years. Known to the Thais as “Chao Le” (sea people), a term also encompassing two other sea-based ethnic groups, the Moken and the Urak Lawoi, their traditional lives are deeply intertwined with nature. They rely on foraging, cultivating profound ecological knowledge of the region. Their culture is rooted in the worship of natural and ancestral spirits, having historically integrated elements from other cultures.
However, the Moklen’s traditional existence faces significant upheaval. Modernization, driven by the tin mining boom and mass tourism, has pushed them away from maritime traditions
and towards wage labor in agriculture, tourism, and construction. They have also endured a long history of discrimination due to their distinct worldviews and language. Younger generations, influenced by formal education, often assimilate into Thai society, concealing their identity and abandoning their native language. All this weakens their cultural roots.
Our Event
Image of Space
"Image of Space" is an evocative art exhibition that unearths the essence of Silom's history, culture, and aspirations. Transcending conventional artistic boundaries, it invites you to decipher hidden narratives and immerse yourself in the heart of our interconnected world.
Envisioned by a collective of artists, "Image of Space" draws inspiration from the area’s rich historical backdrop, weaving a tapestry that integrates past, present, and future. Through the fusion of symbolic expressions and a profound engagement with physical space, each artwork serves as a portal, reflecting the ebb and flow of ages gone by.
Setting out from the perspectives of participating artists, Sriwiang Gallery functions as a platform for expression, diversity and harmonization, aiming to bridge the gap between past and present, individual and societal realms.
Things only we know
THINGS ONLY WE KNOW" is an exhibition that reveals the process of dealing with the loss of a loved one by looking back, observing, reflecting, speaking, exploring, smelling, and touching objects that were once significant in their lives. Nopchai uses these objects as if they were transformed through his coping with the loss. However, as an artist who has lost a loved one and is deeply intertwined with art, for both him (the living artist) and her (the deceased artist),
Artist: Toi Ungkavatanapong & Piyaluk Benjadol
Curated by: Moji kannikan
the status of the objects changes through the context of their relationship, and they remain and continue to be 'art objects' simultaneously. Engaging with or performing any action on these objects through the creative process and presenting them again in an artistic context makes the objects that used to represent the connection between the two people, or "Things 'only' we know," transform into "Things – we (all) know" at the same time.