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Published on October 7, 2007

Sculptor Watchara Prayoonkum has convened a United Nations at the Ardel Gallery of Modern Art on Bangkok's fringe. He's summoned 19 powerful politicians and wants to talk about world peace.

Stalin is there with Hitler. Ho Chi Minh sidles up to Mao. In varying degrees of negotiation are Gandhi, George W Bush, Osama Bin Laden and, lo and behold, Surayud Chulanont, Sonthi Boonyaratglin and Thaksin Shinawatra!

Each man, tellingly, is a puppet - a metre-tall hun lakhon lek, as this country's traditional smaller-scale puppets are called. This feisty general assembly is an exhibition entitled "Body Mind Peace", and it's all about global conflicts - and how we might get out of them by thinking about our own legacy.

Bush and Bin Laden are engaged in battle in mid-air above a circular pedestal that's covered in delicate white sand combed into a peace symbol.

Holding them aloft are life-size puppeteers made of fibreglass - their features are masked with moulds of the artist's own face.

Hanging helplessly on a nearby wall is UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, a mere spectator, in art as in life.

In corners of the room, North Korea's Kim Jong-Il and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are held by their own squads of puppeteers - two in evil black and one in angelic white. One of the black manipulators has his grip on a nuke-happy leader, while the white puppeteer holds a black one's waist as if calling for restraint.

"The puppeteers with my face represent the body, but the minds belong to the fighting leaders," says Watchara, 41. "They're the ones who shape the world. Moral or immoral - you choose!"

In a third corner, as if awaiting their next move, are Prime Minister Surayud and coup leader Sonthi (still in his Army uniform) and, directly opposite them, former premier Thaksin, wearing a broad smile.

And on one wall a film is being projected, showing a seven-minute performance by the Joe Louis puppet troupe. White and black Hanuman figures  struggle for supremacy in the Ramayana, man's kindness wrestling with ill intent.

Watchara fell in love with puppetry two decades ago when he saw a Joe Louis show. He even signed up for lessons with the late puppet master Sakorn Yangkeawsot.

"I was stunned by the way he brought the puppets to life," he says.

The all-white arena of war in Watchara's exhibition is offset by another, smaller room - painted black to represent death and the past - and here are found Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Mikhail Gorbachev, Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh, Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein. 

All of the puppets' eyes are closed, and only Hitler has a puppeteer, looming behind him and clad in black. In the middle of the room is a long black chest with a hole in the top through which visitors can see their own reflection in a mirror.

"The box represents death - the truth of the earth, that all things are impermanent," Watchara says.

"When we die, why don't we leave behind only good memories for those who remain? Hitler is manipulated here by a black puppeteer because he left behind only the misery of war."

There is also a narrow stairway to the second floor and, in Watchara's conception, to heaven. On the way up you encounter Gandhi, Einstein and Sadako Sasaki - the 12-year-old girl behind the "Thousand Paper Cranes" peace project.

"All three are icons of peace," says the artist. "Einstein made many contributions to physics, even though people turned his discoveries in the wrong direction. Gandhi's fight for Indian independence based on ahimsa - non-violence - inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The story of Sadako, a victim of the Hiroshima atom bomb, continues to inspire millions to hope for lasting peace in the world."

Watchara has earned praise for his own talent in bringing sculpture to life. His acclaimed 2005 show at Silpakorn University featured super-realistic life-size sculptures of Van Gogh, Picasso, Dali, Rodin and Thailand's Silpa Bhirasri and Sakorn Yangkeawsot, all "reincarnated" to help save the "oriental spirit" of art from being lost in the digital era.

Van Gogh, for example, seemed to be shown painting "Starry Night", but the cypresses of his famous canvas were in fact Wat Arun's Phra Prang. Rodin, rather than forming "The Thinker", was sculpting a Buddha statue.

Inspired by Sanan Silakorn (1919-1986), who created such important statues as those of Thao Thep Krasattri and Thao Si Sunthon in Phuket, Watchara joined the government's Fine Arts Department after graduation at Silpakorn University.

Two years later he assisted the late Kaimook Xuto in producing works including the famed Phra Sri Suriyothai monument.

In 1996 Watchara set out on his own, creating the monuments to King Rama V outside the Finance Ministry and King Rama VII at the Sukhothai Palace. He's currently planning to open his own private museum.

"Realistic sculpture is the right track for me," he says, "and now I'm trying to incorporate this skill into current social issues."

"Body Mind Peace" continues until October 21. The Ardel Gallery is at 99/45 Belle Ville, Boromracha-chonnanee Road km 10.5, Thawee Wattana, Bangkok. It's open daily except Monday from 10am to 6.30pm. Call (02) 422 2092 or visit ArdelGallery.com.

Khetsirin Pholdhampalit

The Nation