'Art is short, a case is long," read a banner. Students apparently hijacked the well-known motto "art is long, life is short" by Prof Silpa Bhirasri, the father of Thai modern art, in protest of Chiang Mai University's legal action against its own lecturers and a student who "trespassed" on the art centre to exhibit works, some of which might challenge those in power, last year. It is a case in point for stifling democracy in Thai art.
On Nov 10, university instructors Thasnai Sethaseree and Sorayut Aiemueayut and their student reported to a police station to acknowledge charges brought by the former dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, and then marched to their office to call for dropping the lawsuit and a probe into alleged misconduct. The prosecution should not be brought in order to uphold academic freedom, they said.
