On now at Siam Paragon:-

Young Thai Artists is an exhibition of works by several, well, young Thai artists. There are paintings, photographs, sculptures and mixed media works.

I thought the photography was particularly good. I got a really good laugh from one series of pictures parodying the modern practice of wedding photographs. Modern Thai wedding practices borrow from many cultures. From the west, they've adopted the tuxedo and elaborate white wedding dress. However, the wedding photographs have become a purely eastern fashion. Rather than pictures of the wedding ceremony itself, the 'wedding' pictures are actually taken several days before the event. The bride and groom are often carted around town in their wedding costumes to picturesque spots for a few pictures, then on to another location. Obviously, one thing they didn't pick up from the west is the superstition about the groom seeing the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding.

The 'wedding' photographs in the Young Thai Artists exhibit show a rather scruffy looking groom and an obviously pregnant bride pictured in such non-picturesque settings as the train station (posing with a group of sailors), with a couple of motorcycle taxi drivers, and in what appears to be a state hospital waiting room.

This kind of satire is somewhat rare in Thailand. Check out the exhibit if you get a chance.