Internationally recognized and a familiar face on the world biennale/triennale circuit, Arahmaiani, one of Indonesia’s foremost contemporary visual and performance artists, was in Bangkok in June 2006 to stage a new project in collaboration with Jim Thompson.

Arahmaiani’s Bangkok project Stitching the Wound, actively involved young women from the Baan Krua weaving community located across the canal from the Jim Thompson House, focuses on Muslim issues as a basis for a broader exploration of marginalization, identity and communication.

Through interactive performance organized in close proximity with members of the Muslim Baan Krua enclave, Arahmaiani takes aim at the assumptions and stereotypes that are often responsible for fanning the flames of misunderstanding and fear at the heart of contemporary Muslim/non-Muslim relations in our region and beyond. The artist, a Javanese Muslim, is also concerned with the weight given to symbols associated with religion that are read and mis-read in such a way as to distort the essence of faith both for its practitioners and those outside its tenets. Arahmaiani’s Bangkok project, Stitching the Wound, was curated by Singapore-based Southeast Asian-art specialist Iola Lenzi, and included site-specific performance, installation and video conceptualized by Arahmaiani. The project also presented a diverse selection of recent work by artists of international origin investigating the theme from alternate view-points.