Best of the week

 Stand-up comedian Udom "Nose" Taepanich returns to the stage for a new show that starts today and runs until March 2 at the Scala Theatre in Siam Square.

"Nose Udom No 7" will feature funny anecdotes from his life over the past five years. Showtimes are at 7pm Tuesday to Sunday with matinees at 2pm on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets range from Bt500 to Bt2,500.

For more information, call (02) 262 3456 or visit www.thaiticketmajor.com.

Operatic delight

The Bangkok Opera presents "Mediterranean Magic", a recital featuring Spanish tenor Israel Lozano and Thai pianist Trisdee na Phatthalung at 8pm on February 7 at the Pridi Banomyong Institute on Soi Thonglor.

Spanish tenor Israel Lozano will sing songs and arias by de Falla, Puccini and Verdi, as well as scenes from various Spanish-language "zarzuela".

Trisdee is the resident conductor of the Bangkok Opera. He has worked extensively as a conductor, composer and pianist in Europe and Asia, at the Concertgebouw and the Opera Studio Nederland in Amsterdam, the Hanoi Opera House and the Bangkok Opera.

Tickets are Bt800 for VIP, Bt500 and Bt200 (students).

For more information, call (02) 663 3236.

Enduring the Khmer Rouge

Cambodian artist Vann Nath, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge's S-21 (Tuol Sleng) torture centre, will display his work in "Endurance," at the Foreign Correspondents Club. The show opens at 7 tonight.

On display are a series of paintings and sketches depicting his own story of capture, interrogation, imprisonment by the Khmer Rouge, and his ultimate survival of the notorious S-21. 

More than 14,000 men, women and children were sent to S-21, which is today preserved as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh. Only seven people survived, and Vann Nath is one of just three who are still alive.

With the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia expected to try former S-21 chief Khang Khek Ieu, or "Duch", and the surviving senior Khmer Rouge leaders, this exhibit has profound historical significance.

Vann Nath's art is not angry, but it shouts the truth about human suffering and death under the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, and it is a stark reminder of actual and potential human rights abuses in contemporary societies that act in secret without checks.  It is also a testament to Vann Nath's and the Cambodian people's endurance that enabled them to prevail over tragedy and pain and continue to embrace life.

The show runs until February 27, at the FCCT in the penthouse of the Maneeya Centre on Phloenchit Road (BTS: Chidlom).

For more details, call (02) 652 0580-1 or see www.fccthai.com.

Human display

Japanese photographer Masato Seto has his first solo show "Binran+Picnic" opening at 6pm tomorrow at H Gallery in Sathon Soi 12.

On show are two series of photographs dealing with human role-playing and public spaces. The "Binran" series explores the world of those women who sell cigarettes from roadside booths on Taipei's outskirts - "display cases for humans", in Seto's view. His award-winning "Picnic" series, shot in Tokyo's public parks, is a meditation on 19th-century European paintings of picnics fused with a uniquely modern, Asian sensibility. The show runs until March 29. The gallery is open Thursday to Saturday from noon to 6pm.

For more information, call

(081) 310 4428 or visit hgallerybkk.com.