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Belle Phromchanya

Documentair, Design, Audiovisueel, Artistiek onderzoek

Belle Phromchanya (นวลขนิษฐ์ พรหมจรรยา) is a Thai artist, filmmaker, and cultural worker based in Rotterdam. Since earning her MA in Design from the Sandberg Instituut in 2013, she has developed her artistic practice between Thailand and the Netherlands until today. Her work explores themes such as political memeification, marginalized transborder identities, and digital legacies — many of which stem from the unsettled relationship between herself and the globalized world. Phromchanya uses visual archives, (auto)biographical narration, and audiovisual production to investigate and narrate contemporary realities. She is currently a tutor at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam and co-founder of NON NATIVE NATIVE, an independent platform aiming to extend international, non-Western discourses within the cultural landscape, operating in collaboration with diverse disciplines to celebrate the art of reclaiming the unclaimed.

NON NATIVE NATIVE FAIR 2023 — PRO$PERITY NOW!
NON NATIVE NATIVE FAIR 2023 — PRO$PERITY NOW! - 2023, Project Organizer, Framer Framed (Amsterdam) Through this year’s theme of PRO$PERITY NOW!, we invite you to explore with us the intricate relationship between magic and monetary value, where non-western spirituality and materiality intersect, and socio-political issues emerge. We seek to examine the transformation of intangible value to tangible value in artistic production and spark discussions on the seemingly contradictory concepts of magic and money.
NON NATIVE NATIVE FAIR 2021— GREATER THAN THE OLYMPICS
NON NATIVE NATIVE FAIR 2021— GREATER THAN THE OLYMPICS - 2021, Project Organizer, a hybrid event. NNNFAIR is an online event that brings together cultural practitioners from various backgrounds and disciplines to participate in an experimental trade fair environment. Through the combination of a teleshopping-inspired live symposium and an online market, the fair aims to cross the boundaries between reality and fiction, appreciation and appropriation, and labor and play.
I WAS HERE THE WHOLE TIME (80+) - 2022, 6-channel video installation, 16:9, sound, color, 107 min. W139, Amsterdam. I was here the whole time (-3,653) is a research collection produced as part of Phromchanya's ongoing audiovisual project which explores the construction of one's legacy through the tracing and reappropriating of found digital materials. The project questions how much control and ownership we do have, not just about our own data, but about our memories of others and vice-versa.
I WAS HERE THE WHOLE TIME (-3,653) - 2022, 6-channel video installation, 16:9, sound, color. River City Gallery, Bangkok. Ten years prior to his passing, Chavalit Soemprungsuk (1939–2020) has submitted his lifetime collection to a social media platform; publishing more than ten thousand materials in a digitalized format, this includes scanned written manuscripts, scanned films, digital photographs, tagged locations, videos, live-streams, artworks, and personal commentaries. Leaving behind an immense amount of self-presented materials accessible to the public. This action is comparable to any regular social media users during years of their lives online, the only difference is that Chavalit began this process while preparing towards his own death. He believed the collection was for eternity.
LANDS WITH NO VOLCANOES
LANDS WITH NO VOLCANOES - 2021, single-channel video, 16:9, sound, color, 7:50 min. Majhi International Art Residency Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Portals into the heart of the earth, there are burned bottomless cauldrons fueled by an ancient wrath bubbling and boiling thousands of miles beneath. Storing pressure underneath, any change in the surface could be a sign of a possible eruption that can trigger climate chaos. 'Lands with no Volcanoes' is a collaboration between NON NATIVE NATIVE together with Thai artists based in The Netherlands, Belle Phromchanya, Anon Chaisansook and Sankrit Kulmanochawong. The audio-visual installation narrates through the re-appropriation of found digital materials, displaying the current socio-political tensions that exist underneath the tranquil facade of the two regions.
WHETHER ART IS LIFE OR NOT
WHETHER ART IS LIFE OR NOT - 2019, documentary, single channel video, 16:9, sound, color, 80:08 min. A Documentary on the Life, Thoughts, and Works of Chavalit Soemprungsuk (80 mins), co-directed with Jakkarin Thepvong. The documentary is based on the original short Whether it is Art or Not (2016, 35 mins). The film projects the alienated lives of contemporary art makers through the eyes of Amsterdam-based Thai artist Chavalit Soemprungsuk, who has been living in so-called perpetual, in-between worlds for the past 60 years.
WHETHER IT IS ART OR NOT - 2016, single channel video, 16:9, sound, color, 31:47 min. premiered at Bangkok CityCity Gallery and NeverNeverLand Amsterdam. This project is a tribute to Amsterdam-based Thai artist, Chavalit Soemprungsuk (1939), through the eyes of three young designers who are fascinated by his life and works, including: a short documentary film by Belle Phromchanya and printed publication by Pat Laddapan and Piyakorn Chaiverapundech (studio 150) which examined his recent digital work and transformed them onto physical pages.
CAPITAL OF MAE LA - 2019, single channel video, 16:9, sound, color, 38:09 min. premiered at Pakhuis de Zwijger. This short film tells the story of Mae La camp, one of the largest refugee camps along the Thailand-Myanmar border, and of the people who live there. The film is a semi-longitudinal work in the Mae La camp filmed over a 4-year (2014–2019) timespan, taking place against the backdrop of the camp's impending closure and preparation for repatriation. The film is developed with a kind support of Voordekunst crowdfunding platform, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK), and Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR).
THOUGH THE MOUNTAINS DIVIDE, AND THE OCEANS ARE WIDE
THOUGH THE MOUNTAINS DIVIDE, AND THE OCEANS ARE WIDE - 2020, 4:3 single-channel, sound, color, 11:30 min. Though the mountains divide, And the oceans are wide is a short video essay on the interrelation between childhood encounters and current realities through a personal story of the artist - Belle Phromchanya - who has moved from Thailand to the Netherlands in her adulthood. The video compiles home video footage of family trips during the 1990s taken by her father, along with video materials of a senior Thai artist living in Amsterdam taken by Phromchanya herself. The senior artist, who is around the same age as her father, has been a subject of Phromchanya's work until his sudden passing in 2020. By layering these early years' memories with the struggles of dealing with the uncertainty of daily life, the video shares attempts of capturing the temporarily of the moment - and both beauty and unsettling experience of being elsewhere. Translated by Jeanne Penjan Lassus The work was presented at the open studio of Majhi International Art Residency Program's 2020 edition during Berlin Art Week.
TIGER EYES - 2020, documentary, 16:9 single-channel, sound, color, 30 min. Tiger Eyes, presenting at Tiger City exhibition during Bangkok Design Week 2020, is a short film presenting the human side of UNDP Tiger Project. It is a short narrative on the invisible value of nature, through the eyes of people who are at the frontline of the conservation at the largest intact seasonal tropical forest complex in Mainland Southeast Asia, Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary. The project is made possible with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Thailand.
THE RISE OF THE MOON - 2013, installation, single-channel video, 7 panels (180 x 90 cm.) inkjet on backlit films, lenticular prints (various sizes), newspaper. The Rise of the Moon is a fictional story about an ordinary girl named Sia who moves to the West in search of a better life. Despite the new standard of living and freedom that she gains, there is a trade-off, a disconnection from her origins. One day, in the shift towards the new world order, Sia adopts the role of the new superpower, designated by the universal force that rotates every century. By 2050, she is predicted to rule the world. With surprise and confusion, she realises her dream has come true – a chance of turning this place into a place where she belongs. But will this turn out to be a good dream or a nightmare? – this is not preordained. Global shifts are infused with fiction, captured through metaphors, imagined characters and supernatural powers. As reality becomes the script for a fantastical story, fiction becomes a necessary means of dealing with the real. A speculation for the 21st century, The Rise of the Moon is told through the eyes of the new Asian superpower, who just happens to have blue eyes and blond hair.

I was here the whole time (80+)

Datum:
Locatie: W139 (Amsterdam), River City Bangkok (Bangkok)
In samenwerking met: CBK Rotterdam, Mondriaan Fund, and Stimuleringsfonds Creative Industries fund The Netherlands

I was here the whole time (+80) is a presentation of a research collection produced as part of Phromchanya's ongoing audiovisual project which explores the construction of one's legacy through the tracing and reappropriating of found digital materials. The project questions how much control and ownership we do have, not just about our own data, but about our memories of others and vice-versa.

Objectifs' Women in Film and Photography

Datum:
Locatie: The Projector
In samenwerking met: Objectifs Centre of Photogaphy and Film

The theme for the sixth edition of Women in Film and Photography is Inheritance. Exploring notions of inherited identities and traditions, familial connections and stories, intergenerational memories and scars, public and private histories — Inheritance seeks to understand who we are. The screening is part of Objectifs' annual Women in Film and Photography showcase. This year's program presents a selection of five short films curated by Leong Puiyee.

https://www.objectifs.com.sg/opencall-recap/

Lands with no Volcanoes at Majhi International Art Residency Program's 2021

Datum:
In samenwerking met: Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation (DBF)

Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation (DBF) is delighted to announce the launch of the third edition of Majhi International Art Residency in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Ten international artists and art collectives from Bangladesh, Indonesia, the UK, the Netherlands, and Italy will meet and work at the historic Steentjeskerk Church in Eindhoven from October 10, culminating in an exhibition opening on October 21, 2021.

https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/423356/third-majhi-international-art-residency/

Drifting Lands, Leiden Shorts 2021

Datum:

We stand simultaneously in the unsettling and the homeland, trying to start a dialogue between them. Where can we find a connection? How can we make a balance, what are the rewards? The boundary is between the self and the other. Drifting Land reflects on the existing systems of power and questions the notion of identities. It proposes a dialogue between emotions and rationality, duality and non-duality, the wandering and the settlement. Curated by Minhong Yu.

https://leidenshorts.nl/session/drifting-lands/

Kunstfort intervention at World of Earth and Microbial Oasis

Datum:
Locatie: Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen

Video installation of Though the Mountains Divide, and the Oceans are Wide, as part of an exhibition World of Earth and Microbial Oasis curated by Zippora Elders.

https://vimeo.com/590954689

NON NATIVE NATIVE FAIR 2021

Datum:
Locatie: WORM Rotterdam

The NON NATIVE NATIVE FAIR is an experimental hybrid event that brings together Asian creative cultural practitioners from various backgrounds and disciplines to present their work and products in an online trade fair environment. By repurposing the concept of an “Asian cultural fair” - a collage of elements which represent Asian culture - the NNN Fair examines the positions and relationships of Aliens within the Dutch cultural landscape by blurring the boundaries between reality and fiction, ap

www.nnnfair.com

Whether it is Art or Not, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Bangkok

Datum:
Locatie: Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)

Whether it is Art or Not (2016) installation at the main hall, as part of Massege Exhibition tributing to Chavalit Soemprungsuk

Capital of Mae La, official selection, The Society for Visual Anthropology (SVA) Film and Media Festival 2020

Datum:
In samenwerking met: American Anthropological Association, USA

The Society for Visual Anthropology Film and Media Festival screens the best ethnographic films and video productions at our annual SVA Film & Media Festival, held in conjunction with the American Anthropological Association (AAA) Annual Meeting. This gives independent filmmakers as well as distributors broad access to a market of several thousand anthropologists and educators.

Majhi International Art Residency Program's 2020

Datum:
Locatie: Der Bogen
In samenwerking met: The Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation (DBF), Berlin Art Week

Majhi International Art Residency takes place between August 24th and September 12 th in Berlin, wherewith eight international artists we will reflect upon the question "How to shape a society of care? On kinship and multiple homes", conceived by this edition's curator Zippora Elders.

https://majhi.org/

Impartial Spectrum: Porto Design Biennale

Datum:
Locatie: São Bento Station Porto, Portugal
In samenwerking met: ACED

The installation of 80 prints in the main hall of São Bento metro station contains a collection of images and headlines from multiple international media sources, covering the selected cases. Design by Belle Phromchanya & Noortje van Eekelen (ACED) is part of Design Systems curated by Francisco Laranjo.

Capital of Mae La: Dutch Premiere

Datum:
Locatie: Pakhuis de Zwijger
In samenwerking met: Voordekunst crowdfunding platform, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK), and Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR)

Film screening and discussion with Belle Phromchanya: Director 'Capital of Mae La', Designer and Filmmaker, Jiraporn Oil Laocharoenwong: Researcher 'Capital of Mae La' and lecturer at faculty of Political Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Dr. CH (Tina) Harris - Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences University of Amsterdam

https://prachatai.com/english/node/8109

Nomination for best short documentary, Bangkok Critics Assembly Awards 2020

Capital of Mae La, Nomination for best short documentary, Bangkok Critics Assembly Awards 2020

https://youtu.be/8S1rxK4_Cjo

Something News: Deliberating news creation today and alternative approaches to journalism

In samenwerking met: BOOKMARK MAGAZINE

Something News is an online conversation (in Thai) with journalist Pawee Sirimai on the intersection of Art and Journalism. [BOOKMARK MAGAZINE] is an online monthly publication that publishes the in-depth discussion from multidisciplinary practitioners on the topics that emerge in the conversation within the BOOKSHOP LIBRARY. These in-depth discussions open the stage for critical debate on the contemporary

https://bookshoplibrary.com/bookmark/bookmark-magazine/something-news/
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