Vacharanont Sinvaravatn
Countryside Before Memory
'Countryside Before Memory' provokes questions of the origin of conventional landscape images. Sinvaravatn tries to connect his personal memories to social contexts, tracing back to the American Era in Thailand. The First National Economic Development Plan declaration caused a drastic change in rural areas and the emergence of infrastructure funded by the American government, making steel rods and concrete no longer just construction materials. They represented a stream of world capitalism that infiltrated rural areas of Thailand, thus creating a dialogue between various political ideologies that enforced the belief that people’s lives would be peaceful.
Sinvaravatn was born in 1997 amidst the rise of globalization. He believes the variation of capitalism plays a part in the perception of rural areas. His fascination and skepticism with landscape painting returned to question his familiar rural images and a recompiled memory imparted through his essay film.
