Wilfried Eckstein
Goethe-Institute Bangkok



The title of the exhibition harks back to the project’s origins as well as the motivations of the seven artists. The process of getting to know each other, of intro-ducing oneself through one’s art, is both path and destination. „Coming Closer“ is no slogan for the art market, nor does it usher a commercial hit onto the art market. On the contrary: it is a completely unpretentious statement of what the German and Thai artists are interested in, that is, approaching one another and coming closer.

For the German artists, Christine Falk, Dorine Crass, Doris Hinzen-Röhrig and Hermann Valentin Schmitt, Thailand has proved an important station on their lifelong quest to expand artistic boundaries, sometimes even becoming central to their lives at times.

For the Thai artists, their friendship with the four Germans has brought Germany closer to them. Wasinburee Supanichvoraparch actually knows Germany quite well at first hand. He spent ten years studying art in the “dokumenta” city of Kassel. It is thanks to him and his family, also at home in both cultures, that Thailand became a second, artistically-inspiring home for his four German colleagues. With his meetings, discussions and diverse forms of cooperation, he also built bridges that involved Panchalie Sathirasas and the poet Chamongsri Rutnin in this project. Every sojourn in another, foreign culture can be thrilling, but it also bring moments of dismaying selfunderstanding. The experience that everything can be different than what one is accustomed to leaves a mark of profound unsettlement. This kind of shock is what art makes use of. It impels the artist to seek authentic forms with which to express his experience. For me, the viewer, this is revealed through colors, forms, themes, and ultimately through a fresh understanding of beauty and aesthetics.

Life in another country is a challenge, both in a positive and a threatening sense. Life in Germany, in a country of four seasons, can be an inspiration in terms of colors and atmosphere. But no doubt it is also a shock, with its estrangement from all that is so important to the Thai, family, friends and Thai food.

Existential experience takes extremely condensed form in a solitary life abroad, though a foreign country is not required. However, the stance of the artist is open toward foreignness and prepared to plumb its depths. Art is really the result of the strong subjective will to experience deeply and lend adequate expression to this experience. At this same time, this project showed that there are commonalities, despite the different conceptions of life and culture – the Buddhist tradition in the Thai context as opposed to the Christian-Enlightenment tradition.

There as well as here, the creative process is a subjective one. The seven creative artists share the strong will to create freely. Each independently presents their view of the world, develops their artistic vocabulary, their own aesthetic. One who creates subjectively measures the degree of a work’s perfection against the true expression of their own inner vision. Of course it is not a matter of trends and fashion, but of the human capacity for empathy and conscious perception. This also forms the foundation upon which artists are able to communicate with one another, conducting a dialogue on emotion and sensation through the medium of art. In the Thai context, the reflection which we know as prayer or as the spirit of critical examination takes on meditative traits. At the same time, the turn to artistic expression results in a wide range of different individual positions.

Coming Closer is a successful rapprochement. It has been going on for a long time and will hopefully continue for a long time to come. The aspiration to present a joint exhibition arises from the realization that communication succeeds when it takes place gradually and with respect for the other and the other’s culture.