LANNA ANNAL ANNEX by Sudaporn Teja

Gallery VER Project Room

Bangkok, Thailand

October - December 2023

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LANNA ANNAL ANNEX further explores the connection between Lanna Kingdom and its descendants in the contemporary world. In this continuation of its previous show in ‘LANNAANNAL’ in Chiang Mai, Sudaporn Teja delves into two stories, entangled by their homeland, of King Inthawichayanon and a hairdresser with Lanna lineage. Focusing on the act of hair extensions appearing in the video, which contrasted the act of cutting one’s own hair in her previous show, Sudaporn bridges the past of her heritage to the present. While cutting hair signifies equivocal symbolisms of either protesting or surrendering, all the while, unknowingly assimilating into the paramounted influence, the process of haircare and hair extensions untangles the overlooked consequences leading to today.

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The video investigates the remnants of her birthplace, its former empire, and the king of the late empire, believed to protect herself and her family until today. As dim light reflects golden dust from the moondial onto a sundial of a broken hairpin, and sawdust echoes the stories hidden by Siam state, the faint glint threads us back to ponder the shreds of messages left by the last king of an abdicated Kingdom. LANNA ANNAL ANNEX let us ponder the omitted history, swallowed by the centralization of Siam state.