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Published on February 24, 2008

Art in city parks has become commonplace around the world, and Bangkok is starting to see a little more of it blooming - almost literally with the current "Artistic Flowers" exhibition in Benjasiri Park.

Since Valentine's Day and continuing until March 14, the green space next to the Emporium mall is a riot of colour with more than 200 blossoms made of various materials and perched atop steel stems. There are whimsical children's toys and drawings on ceramic blocks as well.

The "gardeners" in this case are some 100 artists and "honorary artists". The well-known Zen master Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh is among them, as are the Venerable Phra Paisal Visalo of the Sukhato forest monastry, Rapee Sakrik, Chalit Nakpawan and Patrida Prasarnthong.

 The idea is to promote the virtue of unconditional giving. 

The organisers - the Mor Mor Creative Forum and the Volunteer Spirit Network - have all of the artwork for sale online at MorMor.org, with profits being divided between them and the Chaipattana Foundation.

"Giving is a source of happiness," says Prof Emeritus Rapee, who's known as "the father of the Thai orchid".

"We live in a highly materialistic society, but giving doesn't have to be confined to material things. We can give knowledge, too. If you look at the situation more deeply, you realise that the givers are also receivers."

Rapee has done four paintings of trees, mountains, water and sky for the exhibition.

"We all are rooted in nature," he says. "Our flesh is from the soil and will return to the soil. All animals and people come from the same root."

Veteran artist Chalit Nakpawan created four ceramic works with floral motifs, with the centre of each blossom holding a symbol, like a smiling face.

"Our emotions are like flowers," explains Chalit, whose work delves into understanding the inner self. "Emotions too are transient. They bloom, wither and sometimes are crushed.

"Art can be a way to self-healing and self-understanding. One should find a way to make oneself happy in order to make others happy."

Vip Buraphadeja, the founder of Happening, the free arts-and-entertainment weekly magazine, simply wrote out the words ku hai mung jon, meaning "I wish you poverty" on a surface with gold leaf at a corner. It's a swipe at monks who sell fabrics bearing talismanic spells.

"A lot of people think they have to be rich before they can give," Vip says. "Essentially, if you're always hoping to get richer, you are in fact poor. So put that in reverse: If we're ready to give, even though we're not rich, we actually are rich.

"To be able to give, you have to have a feeling of already having enough. So why not try being poor first?"

Amateur artist Pornlert Tantipanitkoon believes that, before we can give to others, we need to give to ourselves, so he's painted a man bestowing a gift on himself.

A similar idea is found in the contribution of Silpakorn University's Jiradej Meemalai and his wife - a journal that expresses their feelings on 365 pages of acrylic drawings. Representing their emotions of every day last year, the abstract drawings incorporate parts of human organs, his dogs and plants. 

"In our daily lives we can feel both happy and unhappy. One day I hit my dog and then I felt guilty. I expressed it in a drawing as a way of talking to myself. I believe we need to go within - communicating with ourselves to forgive ourselves - before we are able to genuinely give to others."

Vichai Theachasuriyavorakul, a resident of Yaowaraj - Bangkok's Chinatown - shows his love of the country and his calligraphy skills by writing the word "love" in gold on red background.

"Love is the source of unconditioned giving," he says. "I used calligraphy because I'm second-generation Chinese-Thai. I love Thailand because it has unconditionally given so many Chinese families a happy life."

"Thailand has lately seen a great deal of conflict," says Mor Mor Forum co-founder Asst Prof Takerng Pattanopas. "This exhibition will hopefully help initiate dialogue within society, planting positive ideas about living in harmony amid diversity."

For more information, visit MorMor.org, or Jitasa.com.

Aree Chaisatien

The Nation