[+] CHUMPON APISUK (THAILAND)
Silence
Silence was inspired as a response to the disappearance of a human rights lawyer Somchai Nilapaijit and it is dedicated to those whose human rights have been violated in Thailand and elsewhere.
The performance needs an intensely silent environment, which the audience will be brought to by the performer. Peaceful but intense.
Chumpon was born in 1948 in Nan, a northern province in Thailand. He is known for his activism in AIDS and human rights work. He also works with the EMPOWER Foundation, an organization that advocates for the rights of sex workers in Thailand and which was founded by his partner Chantawipa Apisuk. He has promoted performance art in Thailand since the 1980s and is one of the best known performance artists in Asia. Since 1996, he has performed in Germany, England, Quebec, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, Australia, and the USA. He presently teaches art and political activism at Chulalongkorn University’s Department of Visual Art.
Chumpon founded Concrete House, an art and community space, in 1993. It is the only performance art venue in Thailand and is well known for its unique character. He is also a founder and director of Asiatopia – an international performance art festival in Thailand.