Fragmente einer Einheit Vol.1
Parallel II: Interzone
Plein Air Malerei
Twisted Part
DELIVERY
Boom Ball
FALLING INTO PLACE
Amuse - Guele
Upstairs Downstairs
in all der Enge
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Parallel II: Interzone

Panachai Chaijirarat, Chanasorn Chaikitiporn, Niwat Manatpiyalert & Sahapon Chootinan, Xuân Hạ, Surasit Mankhong, Kosuke Nagata, Komtouch Dew Napattaloong & Shahar Shoham, Thanawat Numcharoen, Nipan Oranniwesna, Punyisa Sinraparatsamee, Marisa Srijunpleang, Supachai Suriyut, Rudee Tancharoen, Supawich Weesapen

Initiative Project by NOIR ROW ART SPACE
18 October – 30 November 2025

Venues:

  • Noir Row Art Space
  • Ramasun Historical Museum, Unnamed Road, Non Sung, Mueang Udon Thani District, Udon Thani 41330, Thailand
  • Vista Rama Udon Thani
  • Udon Thani City Church, 148/49 ซ.สมิตรโยธิน ถ.เทพบุรี ชุมชนสร้างแก้ว Sub District Mak Khaeng , District Muang Udon Thani , Province Udon Thani , Thailand

The exhibition “PARALLEL II: INTERZONE” emerges as a continuation of the project PARALLEL: The Ramasun Station Art Trail (2019) at the Ramasun Historical Museum, which previously explored contemporary art as a means to generate alternative meanings for the remnants of the radio research station left by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.

Returning now, PARALLEL II seeks to explore Udon Thani, a place where powers overlap and meanings are ceaselessly contested. The arrival of the U.S. military did not merely establish bases; it inscribed within the city the imprint of development policy or “Plan Pattana”, a crucial mechanism of control exercised through infrastructures: the building of highways, airports, dams, as well as cultural frameworks. These interventions gave rise to new businesses that became sites of leisure for G.I. soldiers; entertainment complexes such as bars, nightclubs, hotels, and cinemas, transforming the economy of Udon Thani beyond recognition.

The legacies of development policies in Isan were not only inscribed in physical infrastructures, but also in the fabric of society: the establishment of orphanages, the migration of Isan laborers to the Middle East, and other transformations that remain publicly invisible, yet persist in the memories and lived experiences of people. These legacies leave pervasive economic and cultural imprints and continue beyond the fall of Saigon, perhaps lingering vaguely in memory, on the verge of being forgotten. Udon Thani’s cultural complexities and unspoken memories position the city as a space where the boundaries of culture and identity remain ambiguous, creating a hybrid condition that allows meanings to emerge anew, beyond the control of any single authority.

Through artistic acts, this project explores dispersed data, clues, and personal recollections, which are possibly mixtures of facts and fiction from the fabric of the city, which once hosted clandestine operations and is presently one of the hubs for sending migrant workers transglobally.

Therefore, the proposed concept “Interzone” is employed to describe the existence of Udon Thani, pointing to a place that belongs to no single entity but functions as an in-between zone, filled with the collisions and negotiations of differing identities, and carrying the potential to disrupt and dismantle hegemonic narratives. Ultimately, “Interzone” need not refer strictly to Udon Thani as a city or a physical location; it can also describe a fluid, psychological landscape, free from linear time or historical constraints.

PARALLEL II: INTERZONE does not position itself as providing answers or conclusions. Rather, it opens a space for stories at risk of vanishing to reappear through artistic praxis that acts as a catalyst, awakening overlooked histories and bringing them into motion once again.

The exhibition cordially invites viewers to witness, challenge, and interrogate the fractured and cracked traces of history, refusing to bow to any single explanation.

18 October 2025: Exhibition Tour and Opening Ceremony
11:00 - 17:00

Opening Ceremony at Vista Rama
17:30 - Performance
19:00 - Screening Program

19 October 2025: Talk and Screening Program
Venue: Vista Rama
13:00 - 17:30

Panelists: Talk Program on 19 Oct 25

  • Ariko S. Ikehara (Okinawa, Japan), Director of Koza X MiXtopia Research Center in Okinawa
  • Arata Hasegawa (Japan), Independent Curator
  • Asst.Prof.Morragotwong Phumplab, Assistant Director for Research and Academic Service Affairs, Institute of East Asian Studies, Thammasat University
  • Moderated by Vipash Purichanont, an independent curator and lecturer at the Department of Art History, Faculty of Archaeology, Silpakorn University

Visiting schedule: After the opening day for each location

  • NOIR ROW ART SPACE
    10:30 - 19:00 / Open daily

  • Udon Thani City Church
    10:00 - 17:30 / Closed on Sundays

  • Ramasun Historical Museum
    09:00 - 16:00 / Open daily

  • Vista Rama *18 Oct - 16 Nov 25
    10:30 - 19:00 / Open daily

Curation:
NOIR ROW ART SPACE (Panachai Chaijirarat, Punyisa Sinraparatsamee)
Phiraya Ardwichai

With Major Support from:
The James H.W. Thompson Foundation
Office of Contemporary Art, Ministry of Culture
Japan Foundation Bangkok
Sinthai Aluminium Expert co., ltd.
Ramasun Historical Museum, Udon Thani
Udon Thani City Church
Vista Rama, Udon Thani