iKunsthal CharlottenborgIndre By
Thai artist Som Supaparinya's first Scandinavian solo show: two video installations tracing how roads, dams and wartime alliances shaped Thailand's collective memory.
In Mo num en ts, the Bhumibol and Pak Mun dams stand in for statues. Som Supaparinya treats them as Cold War monuments: built in the name of development, costly to the environment, poor at making power, and still standing. She cuts US Information Service propaganda material against her own footage of Thailand today.
Her first Scandinavian solo show is two video installations. The kunsthal presents Mo num en ts as a synchronised four-channel work. Beside it, Melted Stars (2026) turns to Thailand's part in Japan's military campaigns in World War II, a history the national memory has kept quiet. You hear older Chiang Mai residents' stories as the film retraces the Japanese army's route toward Burma, Nagaland and Manipur.
No critic has reviewed the Copenhagen show yet. When Mo num en ts showed at Museion in Bolzano, Exibart called the approach almost archaeological and timed the film at about 30 minutes. Tickets are 95 DKK, under-16s are free, and entry is free on Wednesdays after 17:00.
The Bhumibol and Pak Mun dams
Look for the two dams in Mo num en ts, filmed as monuments to development even though they cost the environment dearly and make little power.
US propaganda against today's Thailand
Cold War material from the United States Information Service runs alongside the artist's present-day footage of the same landscapes.
Fishermen on the Mekong
Scenes of fishermen and farmland along the river are cut against aerial views of military bases and new infrastructure.
Chiang Mai's older residents
In Melted Stars, stories from elderly Chiang Mai locals guide the retracing of the Japanese army's wartime route toward Burma and India.
You want objects to look at: the whole show is two video installations.
Under-16s get in free. The show is two documentary-style video works about war and Cold War politics, with nothing hands-on.