The social production of art in Thailand : patronage and commoditisation, 1980-1998

Abstract

To investigate in what ways and to what extent the agents in the network of art production support/enable or restrict/confine the art that is produced in Thailand, and to study the projections of culturall identity in Thai art in the 1980s and 1990s. The work of art is viewed as a cultural experience and thereby a complex product of economic, social and ideological factors, mediated through the formal structures and owing its existence to a socially located individual i.e. is not autonomous but historical, situated, and produced. The study considers the process of production, distribution and reception of art in Thailand; the interactions, mechanisms and practices; the specific forms of patronage or sponsorship of art; and the decline and growth of institutions, classes, groups, and individuals and their agendas. Theories of cultural reproduction, world-systems development, western art patronage, commoditisation and exchange, aesthetics, taste and value are considered. The Thai cultural identity is considered with particular reference to the Thai 'pillars' of monarchy, religion, and nation-state. Cultural revival campaigns, neo-traditional promotion and tourism in the 1980s and 1990s are outlined, along with art's new spaces, customers, media interest, meaning, role and position. The contexts and messages/ideas/politics are interpreted with regard to symbolism; the use of traditional and new symbols are related to the image of Thailand.