AFTERLIVES #3 — NOTES
Last time was really just the beginning of this work—coming from a kind of naive curiosity I had about death rituals, the afterlife, and ghosts. Back then, a lot of my thinking was shaped by Western ideas. But at the same time, the space I kept longing for was always something local—the place I come from, even though it holds some difficult memories for me.
Over the past two years, things have shifted. I’ve started to reconnect with that sense of locality in a way that isn’t tied to those painful experiences with my family anymore. Instead, I’ve found that what surrounds me—what I’ve inherited—has actually been supporting me. That’s why I’ve been going back to study these cultural practices and ways of doing things, trying to bring them into this work and reshape them.
So the rituals in this piece are something that’s still in the process of becoming—they’re being adjusted and transformed to feel more connected to me and to the place where the performance is happening. It’s still a starting point, though. I don’t think I can fully explain yet what exactly I’ve been learning, or even clearly name what kind of rituals are appearing in this work—though some people around me might already recognize them.
At the same time, some of the elements I’m experimenting with here might grow into a new artistic direction for future works.
The performance will be at the end of April, and tickets are still available.
Hope to see you there.
AFTERLIVES is a work in which we attempt to question the politics of death. Our interest began with a deeply personal experience—my mother and grandmother passed away only six months apart. In that rupture, we realized that while we are surrounded by cultural roots, they never truly felt like they belonged to us. From this, we began to explore the ideological spaces bound to death. This became the foundation of the work. The performance exists in two parallel parts because we encountered another artist who shared this interest. We applied for a German grant, received support, and were assisted by Goethe-Institut Thailand, allowing the project to take shape across two locations: Thailand and Europe.
Within this edition, we will conduct a short ritual. This will be the last time we work with my mother and grandmother—meaning, the last time they are invoked within this piece. (If the work continues touring, their presence will continue within it.) However, in the next work, I intend to move forward without returning to them. What remains now is only me, the one still living. My mother and grandmother have become stories.
Tickets are now open for reservation. Admission is free for the LGBTQ+ community:
https://forms.gle/NLNQe7FL9NeXnBNGA
For aesthetic reasons, the 21:00 performances are always special (in terms of time), though the content of all shows is the same.
Selected images from the video of my latest performance, ด้วยความอคติและเกลียดชัง (With Pessimistic and Hateful) (2025).
Performance documentation by:
Camera A: Jiraphat Vinagupta
Camera B: Phuthai Mananararuk
Edited by: Kamonlak Jirahitapat.