Jakkai Siributr. (Im)material Culture and The Antinomy of Ornamentation

This paper identifies a specific practice of inclusion of minority communities in contemporary art, particularly in relational aesthetics, focusing on the analysis of Jakkai Siributr’s (Bangkok, 1969) practice. Jakkai works with textiles through an iconic use of embroidery, sewing, and quilting. Siributr often works collectively with primarily female and vulnerable communities throughout sewing sessions. He started this practice in 2017 in Indianapolis (USA) with a group of young Burmese immigrants and refugee children. He then proceeded with the stateless community of Khuong Jor refugee camp in Pattani (TH), which subsequently became the environmental installation There’s no Place (2019-ongoing), consisting of about a hundred embroidered fabric pieces, expanded with young Shan exiles from Myanmar. The communities Jakkai reaches are typically overlooked by the press, despite experiencing extremely traumatic situations related to violence, abuse, and migration. During the sewing sessions, these individuals are invited to share their past experiences, their present, and their dreams for the future. For the artist in fact, sewing is both meditative and therapeutic, and also a tool to give voice to minor or hidden narratives. The embroideries that capture these stories, later becoming works of art exhibited internationally, aim to raise public awareness of these untold issues. At the same time, the inclusion proposed by Jakkai allows these figures to feel less isolated, to find a new sense of belonging through a dimension of exchange and participation, both material and immaterial, identity-based and spiritual. This paper will therefore analyse the issues at stake, including identity, censorship, migration, culture, aesthetics, and strategies in Jakkai Siributr’s collective works with Southeast Asian fragile communities.