In the past two weeks, regulars to one of Chinatown's most iconic street food stalls, Khao Gaeng Jek Pui (Jek Pui Curry), may have noticed something a little different. In the usually impenetrable line of red stools, where hungry locals sit to eat their curry-topped-rice sans table, there is a gap. The perpetually closed green wooden doors of the Eah Seng building -- in front of which Jek Pui's stall has been operating for seven decades and which is a common representation of Chinatown in street photography -- is now open.
Stepping into the dark entrance, time seems to stop. You're transported into another world, a world connected to the Chinese stories of Thailand's past and yet also a world conjured up by up-and-coming Thai-French artist Jeanne Penjan Lassus in her first solo exhibition "The House Of Flowing Reflections", staged as part of the ongoing Bangkok Biennial.
On each of the three floors of the old but mesmerising building, fragmented shots of the familiarity of everyday life are projected onto the stained cement walls. There's a window of a train with lush green jungles whizzing by; water hyacinths bobbing up and down Chao Phraya's brown waves (accompanied with Thai, Chinese and English text reading "water traveller"); boats zooming past to and fro; and a young boy splashing and swimming in a pool of water underneath the blazing Sun. Sparsely decorated on each floor are domestic elements like old wooden Chinese stools, and even a Chinese tea set.
Estelle Pandao Lassus, left, and Jeanne Penjan Lassus.
"The concept that I imagined, which is 'The House Of Flowing Reflections', is an imaginary entity that once in a while appears somewhere," said the Paris-based 27 year-old artist, who has a knack for drawing a certain beauty and strength from the apparently banal.
"It is a house of images and reflections of past, or of surrounding things. Usually my work isn't narrative or long, constructed videos. Most would be photo, video and text fragments, which I dispose in space, which creates a dialogue together. I kind of try to imagine them as constellations of small fragments to create something like an overall experience."
Projecting her quiet and reflective footage onto the walls of the 85-year-old building, Jeanne, who is part of the Moom Mong curatorial collective with her twin sister Estelle Pandao Lassus and cousin Palin Ansusinha, awakens the stories of Central Thailand's past, especially those of Chinese immigrants who have a profound connection with Bangkok's riverbanks.
The "water traveller" text, for example, refers to the early period of Chinese immigration when those delivering letters from Southeast Asia to mainland China were literally called water travellers. The tea set links back to moments of exchange and conviviality in Chinese culture, and the other videos also evoke a sense of nostalgia, certainly among older generations.
"There's the video that's kind of recreating a very simple act of sitting by the canal and watching water pass and being in a very contemplative state of mind," said Jeanne.
"Some people will take those moments to recall a lot of things. My grandmother lived by the river as well, and it links to central Thai culture in a way, as water used to be everywhere. The other video, of today's riverside where you see a lot of busy boats coming and going -- it could also be a meditative state, but maybe it brings back some experience of 'Oh, when I immigrated from China, I came on this route as well'."
Eah Seng's rooftop — where you can see the hustle and bustle of Chinatown's community in full view.
Thus the location of the exhibition, in one of the most recognisable spots in Chinatown, is integral to the story. "The House Of Flowing Reflections" also exemplifies a revival of interest in Sino-Siamese heritage among Thai artists who grew up a generation or two removed from their immigrant grandparents, who arrived here from China in the middle of the 20th century.
Mangkon Road, on which the Eah Seng building is located, used to be a bustling canal in the past. Jeanne, with her videos, brings the waterside back to the area, though only for a brief period in time. Built in 1933 by the great-grandfather of its current owner, the Eah Seng building, used both as a home and a shopfront, was designed to encapsulate a Chinese junk, reminiscent of Chinese trading ships that exported goods around the world.
The patriarch's room, for example, is metaphorically the captain's cabin, placed right in the corner of the shophouse, and everything in the building is given movement as if it were a ship at sea. The floor patterns are diamond-shaped creating an optical illusion of movement, certain elements are constructed in a way to suggest circulation and flow -- not only of air, but of energy and money.
"There are a lot of small details [about the building]," said Jeanne, whose collective has opened the space to the public for the first time. "It's all about flow. We wanted [an exhibition space] that was significant and had its own history and characteristic. And if it was also part of a community, it would be even better. This space was awarded a conservation award by the Association of Siamese Architects. It's little known to the public, so when we asked [the owner] if he'd be interested to use the space for an exhibition, he was totally OK with it. He's lending us the space for free and we're very lucky. When you walk into this shop, nothing has really changed."
Blending the old with the new and threading through multiple layers of stories and experiences, "The House Of Flowing Reflections" ends up being a reflective, educational and anthropological apparition in the heart of Chinatown.
'Flow'
The entrance to 'The House Of Flowing Reflections' sits behind the famous Jek Pui Curry stall.
