GALLERY ETHER is pleased to announce This is Thonglor, a new solo-exhibition by world renowned Thai street artist MUEBON, to be held from Saturday, August 5th through Saturday, August 26th.
In This is Thonglor, internationally lauded Thai street artist MUEBON reexamines the area and cultural relationships within the 2020’s “Internet of Place” era. With the advent of the future “Web 3” internet, or “Metaverse”, and other future technologies such as decentralized blockchains, AI, big data, and digital assets like cryptocurrencies and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), the integration of the “Real World” and the “Virtual World” will become more and more possible. We now live in the digital age, where we can see the physical and virtual worlds pouring over into one another, blurring the line between them until it eventually fades away altogether.
Soi Thonglor, aka Sukhumvit 55, is a crucial district in the heart of Thailand’s capital, spanning between the major throughways of Petchaburi Road and Sukhumvit Road. Soi Thonglor takes its name from Lt. Thonglor Khamhiran, who owned land in the area and was a naval officer as well as an active member of the Khana Ratsadon (People’s Party) during the 1932 Siamese Revolution. Later, during World War II, the area came to be occupied by the Japanese military, establishing the area as a hub for Japanese culture and influence.
These days Thonglor is a trendy and bustling neighborhood with a significant Japanese expat community. Over the past 100 years the cultures of Thailand and Japan have poured over and mixed into each other over and over through food, literature, cartoons, movies, music, and all other aspects of daily life.
This is Thonglor will be MUEBON’s second solo-exhibition to be held in Tokyo, and will be held at GALLERY ETHER in Nishiazabu. The artist invites all to visit and experience a strange world where cultures continue to take new roots and grow, intermixing and displacing one another as they pervade everywhere ISPs travel. This is Thonglor, a world where the pop-cultures of Japan and Siam stay connected from a distance of 4,622 kilometers away.
