ช่อมาลา

The Bouquet and the Wreath

a solo exhibition by Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook

Curated by Kittima Chareeprasit and Roger Nelson

Exhibition period: 26 July 2025 - 25 May 2026 

Opening reception: 26 July 2025, 6 PM onwards

At MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai

MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum is delighted to invite you to The Bouquet and the Wreath by Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, opening on 26 July 2025 at MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Chiang Mai, and continuing until 25 May 2026. A second chapter of the exhibition will be presented at Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, opening on 5 November 2025 and continuing until 15 March 2026. 

The Bouquet and the Wreath is Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook’s first large-scale survey exhibition, and brings together artworks created over the past 45 years, as well as ambitious new commissions. Flowers, beds, and words recur throughout the exhibition, reflecting the artist’s enduring preoccupations with desire and mortality, difference and curiosity. In Araya’s playful yet somber artworks, she invites us to dwell on immense philosophical questions. What is the purpose of art? What does it mean to be human? She obliquely quips: “I don’t need to spell out everything that I feel, do I?” 

The exhibition will be accompanied by an expansive series of public programmes, with details to be announced soon. A landmark publication accompanying the exhibition will be published in late 2025, featuring contributions from artists, curators, and scholars based in Thailand, Southeast Asia, and beyond.

The Bouquet and the Wreath exhibition is made possible by generous support of Eric Booth, Jean Michel Beurdeley, 100 Tonson Foundation, Ruam Samai, DC Collection, Dib Bangkok, Silpakorn University Office of Art Culture and Creativity, National Gallery Singapore, Cozomia Performance Arts Archive, Atinuj Tantivit, Ek-Anong Phanachet, Sakda Chantanavanich and the dogs of Ban Wang Hma (dead and living)