| EXHIBITION |
Solo
The Bouquet and the Wreath a solo exhibition by Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook
Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook
The Bouquet and the Wreath
a solo exhibition by Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook
Curated by Kittima Chareeprasit and Roger Nelson
Exhibition period: 26 July 2025 - 25 May 2026
Opening reception: 26 July 2025, 6 PM onwards
At MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai
MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum is delighted to invite you to The Bouquet and the Wreath by Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, opening on 26 July 2025 at MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Chiang Mai, and continuing until 25 May 2026. A second chapter of the exhibition will be presented at Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, opening on 5 November 2025 and continuing until 15 March 2026.
The Bouquet and the Wreath is Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook’s first large-scale survey exhibition, and brings together artworks created over the past 45 years, as well as ambitious new commissions. Flowers, beds, and words recur throughout the exhibition, reflecting the artist’s enduring preoccupations with desire and mortality, difference and curiosity. In Araya’s playful yet somber artworks, she invites us to dwell on immense philosophical questions. What is the purpose of art? What does it mean to be human? She obliquely quips: “I don’t need to spell out everything that I feel, do I?”
The exhibition will be accompanied by an expansive series of public programmes, with details to be announced soon. A landmark publication accompanying the exhibition will be published in late 2025, featuring contributions from artists, curators, and scholars based in Thailand, Southeast Asia, and beyond.
The Bouquet and the Wreath exhibition is made possible by generous support of Eric Booth, Jean Michel Beurdeley, 100 Tonson Foundation, Ruam Samai, DC Collection, Dib Bangkok, Silpakorn University Office of Art Culture and Creativity, National Gallery Singapore, Cozomia Performance Arts Archive, Atinuj Tantivit, Ek-Anong Phanachet, Sakda Chantanavanich and the dogs of Ban Wang Hma (dead and living)
About the artist
Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook (b. 1957, Thailand; based Chiang Mai) is an artist, writer, and professor, and one of Southeast Asia’s most respected contemporary practitioners. She has been exhibiting internationally for 45 years, including at documenta, the Carnegie International, and biennales in Venice, Johannesburg, Sydney, Istanbul, Bangkok, Jakarta, Gwangju, Singapore, and beyond. Her works are held in collections including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; M+, Hong Kong; and major museums in Singapore, Australia, Japan, Finland, the Netherlands, the United States, Thailand, and beyond. Important smaller surveys of her work have been presented at SculptureCenter, New York (2015) and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney (2014). Araya has also played a major role innovating arts education in Thailand, where she established the country’s first interdisciplinary art school curricula. At her home and studio in Chiang Mai, she cares for dozens of stray dogs, who often appear in her artworks.
About MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai
MAIIAM is a private museum of contemporary art in Northern Thailand, initiated by Jean Michel Beurdeley and his late wife Patrsi Bunnag, together with their son Eric Bunnag Booth. Built in memory of Eric Bunnag Booth's Great Great Aunt Chao Chom Iam, a royal consort to King Rama V, the museum houses the family's private collection, gathered together over the last 30 years.
About Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai
Art Jameel supports artists and creative communities. The independent organisation works globally, based at Hayy Jameel, Jeddah's home for creativity and the arts, and at Jameel Arts Centre, an innovative contemporary hub in Dubai.
