Thai people generally seem to be very lovable and friendly, but especially so at Studio88 and Sak Homestay. Aom was always available for us and ready to support and help us. She is also a great and inspiring person to talk with and, with her international experience and local roots, a great cultural translator.
Studio 88 is a wonderful place that we were leaving with a heavy heart. It is a very quiet place – especially in the rainy season, as we have experienced it. There, you live close to nature and embedded in the cozy village life, meet chickens, water buffalos, dogs, millipedes and lots of songbirds.
Overall, we have not regretted our decision to come during the rainy season. But in some moments we did. The surrounding area is lush green at this time and especially quiet. The constantly present abundance of growth and decay is impressive. On the other hand, outdoor activities are very difficult to plan if they are to take place when it’s dry because the weather tends to be quite unpredictable. And there are a lot of mosquitos outside (the house itself is very well protected with fly screens).
We came to Studio 88 with the intention of getting some distance from our daily routine and realigning ourselves. That worked very well for us. The contact with another culture – especially the special Thai serenity and tranquility – and a foreign nature helped us enormously to question and reflect on our own everyday life.
We also planned to start looking at our upcoming project. For this purpose, among other things, we have made audio and video recordings of termites, ants, cicadas, monks, snakes, birds, mopeds, dogs, frogs, chickens, water buffalo, centipedes, from dusk, from dawn, from rain, bamboo plants, palm trees, mushrooms. We made nice recordings of the acoustic atmosphere of the night there. People there go to bed early, shops and restaurants close, but that’s when frogs, cicadas and some birds really get active. We have collected a lot of new impressions and inspirations for our upcoming artistic work, both concrete material for our next performance and more general impressions that will surely accompany us for a long time.
Aom helped us get a glimpse of Chiang Mai’s vibrant art scene and we met wonderful and interesting people there. We hope that we can continue to stay in touch. That’s why we want to try to make it possible for us to present our upcoming performance, which we will develop back in Germany, in Chiang Mai next year.
September 2022
Find out more about our residency programme here and you can apply for a residency here.
Studio 88 Artist Residency 