Self-study and classroom lessons based on newspaper feature stories

This column is for self-study or classroom use and gives guided help with reading the wide variety of writing styles and topics that appear as feature articles in the Bangkok Post. The lessons include background information, skill-building practice and vocabulary explanations.

June 17, 2003

Art that speaks

INTRODUCTION

Why do you think artists paint or draw? Do they produce their art simply to make a living? Do you think art can be more than decoration? In today’s story and here in the lesson, you will meet two artists who definitely believe they are making more than beautiful pictures. For them, their art is a way of making strong statements, of expressing very strong opinions.

The opinions concern the recent war against Iraq. They wanted their art to make a statement in favour of peace. One of the Outlook writers, Heamakarn Sricharatchanya, visited the exhibitions and wrote the story for you to read today.
The writer’s art
There are many ways for a feature story to begin. The important things are that an opening paragraph, called the lead, must be interesting to catch the attention of readers and it must give an idea what the story is about.

Today’s lead certainly fulfills both those criteria. The writer began with a comparison. Read her opening paragraph now. What are the two types of people compared? What is their common aim? What are their individual weapons?

When she sat down to write this story, Heamakarn had some knowledge of the artists because she is familiar with the local art scene. She also had some of her own impressions of the works of art in the two exhibitions she attended. From her impressions she had formed questions to ask as she interviewed the artists. She made careful notes of their responses.

Let’s look at how Heamakarn used those responses as quotes to illustrate important points in the story. Below are three of those ideas. As you read the story, find the statements written by the writer, then highlight the quote that explains, illustrates or gives more detail about it.

Hongjorn Sa-ne-ngamjaroen was working on another project when he saw numerous pictures of the war on the news media.

As the war continued, Hongjorn’s pictures showed stronger and stronger emotions.

Hongjorn did not try to say that Saddam Hussein was right or wrong. For him the pictures had another purpose.
What can artists do?

Artist Vasan Sitthiket recently held painting exhibition on war with the hope of bringing peace to the world
There isn’t room here in feature focus for the part of the story focused on Vasan Sitthiket’s exhibition. But here is one of his paintings, with the artist in the foreground. As you can see, like the works of Hongjorn, his pictures express his anger about the war. Also in common with Hongjorn, Vasan has a history of being active in movements for social change. Here’s a quote from the story:

"Before Thailand’s student uprising on October 6, 1975, I used to believe that art was an elevated subject and it should not be used for criticising politics. But after I learned about the state’s oppression on the poor and university students, my attitude changed," he said. "I came to believe that art is the only option to help destroy evil power."

In the story, Vasan also says that the price of his present collection is US$1 million (42 million baht), and that he will give the money to the Iraqis to help revive their country if he sells it.

In the boxed sidebar story are some comments by another artist who expressed his thoughts on the role of artists in society.

After you have read the stories, here are some questions for you to discuss with your classmates or study group friends:

Is art an effective weapon for peace? Does it help to make people aware of issues of violence, war and peace?

Suppose Vasan cannot sell his paintings. Is it right for him to have spent time and money and get no payment for his work?

Both artists painted pictures of the boy Ali. Do you think it is right to make Ali the subject of paintings showing pain and suffering?

How would you describe artists and others who are active in social protests? Heroes? Fools? Troublemakers? Role models? Be prepared to give reasons for your opinions.

Do you agree that "peace is obstructed not only by war but by things as petty as family quarrels and traffic accidents"?

Has something ever affected you so strongly that you want to paint or write or shout to make your opinion known?

You can read Heamakarn’s whole story on the Internet at <http://www.bangkokpost.com/en/100603_Outlook/10Jun2003_out10.html>.

OUR STORY FROM THE BANGKOK POST

The art of WAR AND PEACE
Two artists who recently exhibited their work criticising the war in Iraq hope their paintings can help bring an end to world conflict
Story by HEAMAKARN SRICHARATCHANYA
Pictures by WEERAWONG WONGPREEDEE

Artist Hongjorn Sa-ne-ngamjaroen helds painting exhibition on war with the hope of bringing peace to the

In times of war, soldiers use guns and cannons to hunt down enemies and bring "peace" to the world. Artists have no lethal weapons — only paintbrushes — if they want to fight for peace and against the killing of innocent people.

Within the past two months, at least two art exhibitions concerning the war against Iraq were held in Bangkok. The works of Hongjorn Sa-ne-ngamjaroen and Vasan Sitthiket reflected the artists’ response to the events.

Hongjorn was in the middle of painting portraits of the world’s key figures for his exhibition entitled "Living Legend" when he became bombarded by war news in the media.

"I couldn’t concentrate on painting the portraits because my mind was haunted by the bloodshed," said Hongjorn. "To pull myself together, I painted scenes that were imprinted on my memory."

The artist, who has held two solo exhibitions — "Icon" earlier this year and "Portraits of the Soul" two years ago — said he painted the death-filled scenes right up until the last minute, one day before the installation of his work.

Entitled "Legend, Life in the Battle Field", the exhibition held in May consisted of almost 20 paintings of tragic war scenes. The first painting was a mild reflection on the war, while later paintings explored much darker sides of the tragedy.

"The first one I painted was a scene of an Iraqi mother holding her baby in her arms while soldiers invaded her house. Another painting was of a few soldiers targetting an innocent woman. Then, there were scenes of children crying over the loss of their loved ones," he said, adding that he painted the soldiers’ outfits in a blood red colour to represent the death that they brought to the innocent.

The last painting for the exhibition was of an Iraqi boy named Ali whose arms and legs were ripped off by bombs, his house torn apart and his family killed. In the painting, Ali’s body is covered in blood and his head and shoulders are bandaged. His miserable eyes express the unbearable pain that he has experienced. Hongjorn wrote a caption under the painting saying that it represented the kind of democracy and liberty that the United States was insisting on bringing to the Iraqi people.

The highlight of the exhibition was a large 1.9 x 7.2-metre painting depicting the faces of Osama Bin Laden against George W Bush and Tony Blair against Saddam Hussein. Separating the faces are piles of skulls and the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of peace and liberty.

Hongjorn has a history of social activism, including taking part in activities aimed at preserving the environment and pressing for a Contemporary Art Museum in Bangkok. He said that his work does not attempt to judge whether Saddam Hussein was right or wrong.

"Rather, I wanted the public to realise that if the Iraqis could not put up with the dictatorship, the Iraqi people should be the ones standing up for themselves. To me, what the powerful countries have done is called an invasion, and this "liberation" has caused more negative results than positive ones," said Hongjorn, who only started to depict war scenes after 20 years as an artist. "The biggest war casualties are not the leaders like Saddam Hussein but the people of the country."

Calling this war "the wound of the world", the artist said it reflected injustice in society. It is this unfairness and inhumanity that he wanted to reflect in his paintings.

Another artist speaks out
Poet and National Artist Naowarat Pongpaiboon also believes artists have a role in this regard [reflecting on issues that obstruct peace].

"It is an artist’s responsibility to in instill peace into the conscious mind of the public. Usually, artists take up this role without realising it," he said, "because art itself is about beauty and peace."

Naowarat said that peace lies deeply in the mind of the artists under normal circumstances. But when a tide going against peace begins to flow, the peace in artists’ minds comes up and fights back. This is the origin of art against war.

Naowarat added that peace is obstructed not only by war but by things as petty as family quarrels and traffic accidents.

To him, artists have the right to judge who is right or wrong, and they have the right to express their opinion freely because these issues are personal matters. However, they must make a sincere judgement.

"I hope to see more artists working on the subject of peace," he said. "We need more peaceful means to bring about peace, and creating art is certainly a good option."

SOME VOCABULARY HELP

lethal
able to cause death

reflect
to think carefully and deeply

bombard
to attack with a lot of information, questions or weapons

haunted
deeply troubled

installation
the placing of works of art in a public viewing space

dark
evil or frightening

invade
to enter an area using military force in order to take control of it

miserable
extremely unhappy or uncomfortable

depict
to show an image of something in a picture

social activism
involvement in actions to bring about change in society

contemporary
modern; of the present time

liberation
the act of setting someone free

casualties
people who are killed or injured in war or accident

instill
to make people feel, think or behave in a particular way

conscious
aware and paying attention to things

tide
the direction in which opinions or events seems to be moving

petty
small and unimportant

sincere
honest

•This lesson was prepared by Maureen Paetkau, a professional teacher of English as a second and foreign language and Assistant Manager and Webmaster for Learning Post at the Bangkok Post.

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