18/28: The Singhaseni Tapestries 2017-18

Jakkai Siributr’s fascination with textiles and embroidery began as a child in Bangkok, and led to studies in textile design in the United States before returning to Thailand. His work 18/28: The Singhaseni Tapestries 2017-18 explores the connections between the artist’s family and Thailand’s political history. At the heart of the project is a homage to Siributr’s mother, whose five dresses are embroidered with scenes from news and family photographs. These scenes connect with passages from her diaries that can be heard on a recording in the centre of the installation of suspended tapestries - works that are made from hand-stitched fabrics acquired from seven aunts on the artist’s maternal side. Siributr’s mother was from the ancient Thai house of Singhaseni and '18/28' is the address of the compound where Siributr’s great grandmother took in the wife and seven daughters of Chit Singhaseni, a royal page executed over the mysterious death in 1946 of the Thai monarch King Rama VIII. Siributr’s art advocates for recognising the complexities underlying official narratives, as well as the personal lives involved in these accounts that often go unacknowledged.