Group Exhibition
Spirits Melt to Flesh
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Bangkok Kunsthalle with the support from the Japan Foundation, Bangkok, is pleased to present a group exhibition “Spirits Melt to Flesh” curated by Sam I-shan. The exhibition features site-responsive moving image, sound, sculptural and photographic installations by eight Asian artists: Anthony Chin (Singapore), Daniel Hui (Singapore) Hee Sue Kwon (South Korea), Hsu Che-Yu and Chen Wan-Yin (Taiwan), Lieko Shiga (Japan), Soe Yu Nwe (Myanmar) and Taiki Sakpisit (Thailand).
Their works transform the raw spaces of the Bangkok Kunsthalle through variations of light and darkness, and reverberations of sound and voices in dialogue. The building becomes a container for utterances, a site of encounter for the stories that circulate through its spaces, even as viewers are made aware of their own perceiving bodies in time. The works consider representations of regional histories and personal subjectivities by juxtaposing the bodily with the otherworldly, and excavating myths and minor narratives. They reflect the contemporary concerns of a world in transition through their intimate portraits of real and imagined beings, and speculations on alternative forms of intelligence. This exhibition meditates on how lives and societal realities are continually shaped by forces that evade full apprehension, recalling Al-Ghazali’s proposition: “This visible world is a trace of that invisible one, and the former follows the latter like a shadow.”
The exhibition runs from Friday 5 June to Sunday 4 October 2026 at levels 4 and 5 of the Bangkok Kunsthalle.
Maelstrom (2026)
Taiki Sakpisit (b. 1975, Japan)
Maelstrom is a durational sound and kinetic installation focusing on narratives about Mae Nak and Somdet To. A famous spirit from Thai folklore, Mae Nak is celebrated for her character as devoted wife, protective mother and fierce warrior, and is also an object of worship in shrines and monasteries. The saintly monk Somdet To of the Rattanakosin period is revered for his spiritual powers and is a major figure on the amulet, magical, religious text and image industries of Thailand. This new commission features sound
Blind Date (2009)
Lieko Shiga (b. 1980, Japan)
While residing in Bangkok in 2009, Lieko Shiga was intrigued by the glances she exchanged with thousands of strangers sitting on the back seat of motorbikes. With the help of a Thai friend and translator she pursued motorbikes, interviewing and photographing over a hundred couples. For this exhibition, Shiga has produced a new video edit featuring the entirety of the series. The enigmatic expressions of the young people she captured reveals the passage of space and time at grand scale. This work intimately links the artist, subjects and audience together through the give and take of gazes.
Lieko Shiga’s stay in Bangkok in 2009 took place in the context of “TWIST and SHOUT,” a large-scale exhibition organized by the Japan Foundation at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, which introduced the works of 17 Japanese artists including Lieko Shiga. For the exhibition, she undertook a residency in Bangkok to produce and present this body of work. Now, after more than a decade, it returns to Thailand in a newly restructured form for “Spirits Melt to Flesh”, with support from the Japan Foundation, Bangkok.
About the curator
Sam I-shan is an independent curator with an interest in moving image, photography, art and politics. She was previously curator at National Gallery Singapore (NGS), Singapore Art Museum (SAM) and Esplanade Visual Arts. Exhibitions include Chronotopia (Asia TOPA, Australia) Under One Moon (Hong Kong), Nowhere Here (Singapore International Photography Festival), Sim Chi Yin: One Day We’ll Understand (Rencontres d’Arles, France), Cao Fei and Georgette Chen: At Home in the World (both NGS, Singapore), and Afterimage: Contemporary Photography in Southeast Asia (SAM, Singapore). At Esplanade, she curated and managed new commissions and site-specific exhibitions, working with a range of regional artists. At SAM, she headed moving image initiatives and co-programmed the annual Southeast Asian Film Festival. She also programmes for film festivals, specialising in artist films and video, and Southeast Asian experimental cinema, working with the Singapore International Film Festival, Asian Avant-Garde Film Festival at M+ Hong Kong, Asian Film and Video Art Forum at MMCA Korea, Art SG Film, and Videoex Experimental Film and Video Festival Zurich. Her essays have been published in books, journals and exhibition catalogues. She lives and works in Singapore and Cambodia.
Organized by: Bangkok Kunthalle
Supported by: The Japan Foundation, Bangkok