Bulit amongst islands at the end of Nopparat Thara beach, did you leave your island invites visitors to step inside a blue wooden house, where voices are heard, from speakers placed around the space. Speaking in Thai, English and Norwegian, their accents echo diverse origins, the difficulty in pronunciation suggests, for some, that the language is not their own. The voices interlace multiple reflections, on why they left, what was risked, sacrificed and hoped for in the new place they live now (including the artist’s own experiences, of leaving a place, an ‘island’). Looking out from inside the house, through four windows facing Krabi, our experience of the surroundings is filtered through the personal memories of others.
A K Dolven
did you leave your island
Wooden house, solar-powered sound system, voices
New commission, 2018
In collaboration with architect Bancha Ma [บัญชา มะ], builder Bang Nu [บังนุ] and Jorma Saarikko
Supported by OCA, Office of Contemporary Art Norway
