Spirituality & Sticky Rice: Arts & Social Impact at Loei Arts Festival

Phi Ta Khon festival is a traditional “ghost festival” unique to the Dan Sai district in Loei Province and reflects the local Isan belief. Well known for the colourful parade of mischievous “ghosts”, its popularity as a tourist attraction also raises questions about the corresponding impact on the local Dan Sai community.

With the Phi Ta Khon festival as a starting point of discussion, Loei Arts Fes seeks to give voice to the experience and cultural identity of the local community through contemporary art. 

From zoom consultations with the spiritual leader of Dan Sai, to participatory sculpture in a community hospital, join artist Gerald Leow and LAF Director Wayla in a casual fireside chat as they share about their process and experience. 

Moderated by Clara Yee, from design and culture consultancy agency in the wild. 

Gerald Leow - Artist / Sculptor 

Gerald Leow (b 1984, Singapor e) expresses his fascination with material cultures and anthropology by sampling contemporary culture and indigenous forms together. His practice is a material based exploration between the boundaries of culture and interpretation. His work has been showcased at Chan + Hori Contemporary (Singapore) and the Queensland College of the arts (Australia), as part of the Singapore Art Museum Front Lawn Commission (Singapore), Palais de Tokyo (France) and Art Science Museum (Singapore). 

Wayla Amatathammachad - Loei Art Fes

Loei Art Festival is a contemporary art festival celebrating Loei spirits, held in the Dansai region of Loei provinence. The objective of LAF is to invest in our spirits & soul, our skills, our time to create the society in which art will be more valued and well managed by capital administrative office.

It is organised and produced by Prayoon for Art, an open network art network founded in Bangkok, Thailand, aiming to support all aspects of arts in Thailand to a level that, ultimately, become sustainable with well-thought-out design thinking.

It was founded by an independent contemporary performing art management researcher Wayla Amatathammachad in October 2017, and has expanded into an open network by a gathering of art lovers both local and international who work as professional art practitioners and individuals from different career backgrounds.

Prayoon for Art ’s vision is to operate as a bridge between art and society to strike through the limited social structure conditions and beliefs in Thailand that prevents sustainable development of the country's art and creativity.