XIX: Bending without breaking
Part 19 of an international solo on ”Lanna“ by Lim Siang Jin. This online exhibition, comprising 20 parts, is from May 6 to June 5, 2025
DARWIN once observed it isn’t the strongest species that survive, but those most responsive to change. The Lanna spirit embodies this wisdom—resilience through adaptation rather than resistance. Where others may see threats in transformation, the Thai cultural ethos perceives possibility. Where some build walls against the unfamiliar, Lanna is likely to construct bridges. This isn’t mere flexibility but profound cultural intelligence—understanding that survival depends on synthesis rather than segregation. The bamboo that bends outlasts the rigid oak. This adaptive wisdom reflects a deeper cultural genius: growth happens at thresholds, in spaces between what was and what might be.
Keyholes as portals
I GAZED at Wattana Wattanapun’s charred keyholes on saa paper, emblems of adaptation shaped by fire and time. Like Darwin’s evolving species, these symbols speak of transformation—not just about keys but about adapting to unlock new possibilities. Peering through a keyhole means embracing the unknown, just as Lanna’s cultural ethos perceives doorways where others see walls. The burned edges hint at resilience—proof that encounters with change may mark us but need not break us. Yesterday’s keys, like rigid oaks, may not survive tomorrow’s storms. Wattana’s work invites reflection on our capacity to bend without breaking.
Embracing the shadows
PEERING through keyholes reveals only fragments, limited by the aperture of our perception. What lies in our blind spots—the shadows beyond our vision—may hold Lanna’s most vital futures. These unilluminated spaces may contain forgotten wisdoms and untested possibilities, stories waiting for narrators brave enough to tell them. Our challenge isn’t merely to adapt to what we can see, but to acknowledge the boundaries of our sight. The greatest innovations often emerge from overlooked corners, from questions unsurfaced, from contradictions unresolved. Lanna’s most profound potential may reside precisely in what we haven’t yet learned to perceive.
Visionaries as compass
PERHAPS Lanna’s future might be illuminated by those who glimpse beyond keyholes—not leaders with fixed answers, but seekers who transform fragments of possibility into questions worth asking. Maybe where some see only isolated moments of change, others might sense emerging patterns, like constellations not yet named. Could it be that resilience requires not just flexibility but a provisional sense of direction—not merely bending with every wind but leaning, tentatively, toward horizons still taking shape? These pathfinders might embody something of the bamboo and something of the oak—yielding yet somehow steadfast.
For more information, click on links: Stephen Menon, O Art Space Gallery, Lim Siang Jin and his art, here and here. For a detailed acknowledgment, click here