• Struggling for survival
• 'Washed up' fishermen turn carpenter and build their own boats
• 'Tsunami village' rises from rubble
• Inspired by Church aid, sea gypsies turn to Christ
• Foreign aid crucial
• Body ID center looks future
• Shoddy housing doesn't make a home
• Outside volunteer carves new career in housing
• Counting the costs to the environment
• Underwater tourist trails
• Turtle hatchery at risk after waves
• Where the money went
• Covered for everything but the wave
• Corporations learn that caring counts
• Starting again from scratch
• Swedish survivor gains perspective after wave 'turned my life upside-down'
• Reasons to smile
• Justice will prevail, investor believes
• Courage and resilience ease personal pain
• Help wanted
• Second chance to get it right
• Tide turns on tourist demographics in Khao Lak
• Light on the horizon
• One day at a time
• Widows and orphans left out in the cold
• Art for the heart
Art for the heart
While it can't undo what the tsunami did, art can help victims of the disaster come to terms with their grief and learn how to move on while also providing ways to lure back tourists and showcase their own identity
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| Jakapan Vilasineekul, `The Lost Angels'. | Phaithoon Chongthong, `Soul to Heavens'. |
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| Prasit Vichaya, `Sense of Awareness'. | Youth camp painting exhibition. |
It's been a year since the giant waves that took so many lives swept through this part of the world. Is it too soon to hope that grieving people will be open to appreciating the beauty of art?
Professor Apinan Poshyananda, director-general of the Ministry of Culture's Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, said art and culture were probably the last thing people expected after a disaster - but that didn't mean they were not crucial. In fact, they are perhaps the only means available of healing souls after such a traumatic experience.
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| Choi Jeong Hwa, 'Flower Flower'. |
''Art is like meditation,'' said Prof Apinan. ''It's a way for tsunami victims to concentrate on other aspects of life, rather than the loss of employment, property and particularly of their loved ones.''
He added that while financial aid and immediate relief efforts were undeniably necessary - houses must be rebuilt and food brought back to the table - psychological assistance is also needed if we are to try to cope with the wounds. After a catastrophe of such a massive scale, life may never return to ''normal'' - the damage may be etched too deep to even become a scar - but at least there must be a way for people affected by the disaster to express their sorrow and try to cope with the loss.
For this reason, as well as to highlight the unique lifestyle and beautiful scenery of the Andaman area, the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC) launched several short- and long-term art projects known as ''Art for the Andamans''.
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| Sketch of 'Jit Jakawan (Heart of the Universe)', artwork in the 'Sculpture Memorials Project', by independent Thai artist Udon Jiraksa. The sculpture will be installed at Kamala Beach, Phuket to commemorate the first anniversary of the tsunami. |
One of the major activities under this project featured a sculpture exhibition entitled ''Art on the Beach'' held in October - the tsunami-hit area on Phuket's Patong Beach was transformed into an international art venue with 30 pieces of artwork by Thai and international artists on display. The outdoor exhibition not only allowed artists to express emotional support for the people affected by the tragedy, but it also aimed to turn a negative into a positive while bringing back tourists, which would, in turn, generate income for local communities.
Some of the artists who joined in the project had a brush with the tsunami themselves. German artist Frank Roedel was hit by the wave on Similan Island last December.
''When invited to join 'Art on the Beach', Frank Roedel was reluctant at first,'' Prof Apinan recalled. ''He had just managed to escape the disaster and did not want to revisit Thailand.''
But he did participate finally, by creating a huge digital photo-montage entitled The Lost. That gave the artist a means to deal with his trauma.
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| Chainapa Lepajarn, 'Wind & Wave'. |
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| Tawatchai Puntusavasdi, 'Lucky Charm'. |
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| MongKol Kerdvan, 'The Altar'. |
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| Liliane Zumkemi, 'Buoy Collection'. |
Some activities were designed to allow both the public and independent artists to participate. There was an art competition entitled ''Andaman Contemporary Art Contest'' designed to promote artwork that captures the essence of the Andamans. These included paintings, batik-making, leather-carving, product design, jewellery design and photography.
''To many people, it is not yet clear as to just exactly what is the identity and artistic genre of the Andaman area,'' Prof Apinan said. ''This art contest helped to identify and promote the characteristics of Andaman art.''
Other added benefits were to open up opportunities for artists to advance in their career and to help revive the dwindling tourist industry, the major source of income for many people in the area.
Organising an artistic camp for youths was another activity that generated hope and income for younger members of the community. The camp not only provided children with hands-on learning about painting, batik design, poetry-writing, storytelling, photography and film-making, it also offered these young participants the opportunity to reflect on the state of their own minds.
Organising these art- and craft-related activities in disaster areas was not risk-free, said Prof Apinan. The OCAC and the artists who came to help on a voluntary basis were never certain how the tsunami victims would respond to their attempts at offering emotional support.
He said that three weeks after the waves hit the Southern coasts, the first group of artists visited the affected areas. They wanted to help relieve the pain of the victims. Joining forces were renowned poet and National Artist Naowarat Pongpaiboon, musician Surachai ''Nga'' Chantimatorn and artist Vasan Sitthikhet. What they found was physical wreckage and mental despair.
''At that time, many of the tsunami victims were not physically or mentally ready to take part in any art project. They were simply too devastated. The situation was an absolute toss-up between success and failure,'' Dr Apinan said.
To mark the first anniversary of the tsunami, three permanent sculptures will be installed to serve as tsunami memorials. For this ''Sculpture Memorials Project'', internationally acclaimed New York-based artist Louise Bourgeois will create a sculpture to be installed on Phi Phi Island, Krabi. Renowned Swedish sculptor Lars Englund will produce a work for Ban Bang Niang in Phangnga while Thai artist Udon Jiraksa will create a work for Kamala Beach, Phuket.
''The site at Ban Bang Niang in Phangnga is dedicated to Nordic citizens who lost their lives during the tsunami tragedy,'' said Takua-Pa District Chief Chalorsak Wanitcharoen. ''Phangnga was worst hit by the tsunami. The loss and damage is hard to estimate. To have artwork installed here is to have a symbol to remind us of what we lost as well as what we have gained from the thoughtfulness and generosity of all people.''
Artist Udon Jiraksa is enthusiastic about the project. ''I feel an absolute honour to be able to contribute my effort and my work to this project,'' Udon said. The concept of his sculpture, named Jit Jakawan (Heart of the Universe), is based on the coexistence of everything in the universe and the idea of the survival of the fittest.
The design is based on geometric shapes - circles and ellipses - with an interrelated line that runs from the outer to inner structures of the sculpture. The ellipse at the centre of the artwork represents the core of the earth that revolves around itself as well as around the sun. Inside the circular-shaped outer structure are interconnected circles which represent the interrelation of things in the universe.
''Each line and each circle represents reason - I believe there are causes and effects in everything that happens. The tsunami disaster was no exception. We lost a lot of lives and property. But losing something also marks the beginning of something new too,'' Mr Udon said.
The OCAC extended its art-for-healing attempts beyond the traditional scope of painting, sculpture and art camps to include the making of short films, literature and puppetry.
Independent writer and artist Prabda Yoon volunteered to journey to the South to meet and spend time with people affected by the disaster. As a traveller, Mr Prabda will share his own experiences with people he meets. He will eventually publish a ''memory book'' to explain how literature can help relieve the pain and heal the wounds of tsunami victims.
Unicef representative Juha Laukkanen is willing to contribute his gift as a puppeteer to provide psychological support for tsunami victims. His plan is to travel to once devastated locations along the Andaman coast such as Ban Nam Kem, Ban Bang Niang and Ban Bang Muang in Phangnga to stage puppet shows for children on the theme of water.
Prof Apinan noted that many other art-related projects and campaigns had been held during the latter half of the year that brought out unique aspects of the South, such as the Sino-Portuguese architecture in Phuket, among other things.
These campaigns are mostly on-going as it will take a long time to ease pain on this scale. It will also require a considerable amount of effort from both the public and private sectors, he said.
''The consequences of the tsunami are worse than we expected. Many people have become hydrophobic. Some never want to travel by boat again. We hope that through art, these stresses and depressions can be relieved, more or less, and that people will be able to shift their focus from something negative to something creative and hopeful,'' Prof Apinan said.
Although he was confident in the power of art as a balm for the hurt soul and as a refuge from despair, the professor was not eager to overestimate its ability to heal all wounds.
''What forensic specialists did after a disaster was to analyse the bodies and identify the cause of death. They couldn't bring them back to life. Neither can artists. What they can do is give victims relief and support. Bad memories can't be completely erased, of course, but we hope that art will be able to brighten up their circumstances and restore some of their confidence.''
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