Week 3 – Art and Social Change, Career Planning Workshop

Art and Social Change X River City Bangkok

This week we start at a Tha Pra Chan campus. I grabbed a motorcycle taxi from my apartment all the way down to the campus which I

was quite familiar to. I forgot my GSSE T-shirt at the dorm back in Rangsit so I went with a white T-Shirt instead. I was surprised that AJ Michael had different vibes than other professors we’ve learned with in SGS witch I like they way he is. He energy reminds me of a performance artist or poet. He wore a Hawaiian shirt and some sport pants which makes me feel more comfortable talking to him. And also because I share a passion in art too.

AJ Michael’s class is about art and social change and the impact of gradually changing the culture through art. Art has many categories to me for example; fine art, performance art, literature, sculpture, street art, traditional art etc. Art speaks out the soul of humanity. The aesthetic of life is shown through message in art. It has a special place in the artist’s soul.

We also had a guest lecturer we met on Zoom. His name is Chompon Apisuk (จุมพล อภิสุข). He is also a performance artist and the co-founder of Bangkok Art and Cultural Center (BACC). He mentioned that BACC is the hub for art and social change of Bangkok and Thailand. Many protesting and festivals and student’s thesis are present here freely with low cost for decades. The impact of social awakening is tremendous throughout the years. It gradually made Thai people aware of the political and cultural issues.

BACC and the impact to my life

1

Back in May 17th 2017, I attended IDAHOT 2017 at BACC. IDAHOT stands for International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. That day I got to know many LGBT rights organization and it was the first time I met many great friends up until now. Later that year I attended a Workshop to learn about how to teach Sex Education for teenagers. That workshop changed my paradigm of thinking about Gender and Sex education. I found my calling of spreading this knowledge for all equity and justice. Later that year I started to take Testosterone injection for transitioning my body.

2

The second event at BACC that changed my life completely is when I participate a performance show about a transman life called “Now you see me, Now you don’t” in Bangkok Theatre Festival 2019 in October. After participating and organizing many workshops on gender issues, I learned that people really like entertainment. We had over 200 audience for the 3 round performance. Soft power is really impactful. Although I’m not confident with my body or acting skills at all. This is a great experience for me to raise my voice and write a show about myself and being able to let people participate.

3

The last event that also changed my life completely was Rainbowtopia in June 2022. It is when my book came out to public and I got to meet loving friends who support me on my transitioning journey. I felt special, accomplished and warm with a lot of love and hope that we share. Now I can say that Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center changed my entire life.

Career Planning Workshop

I was looking forward for this workshop because to be honest I just ended a 2-year relationship with my girlfriend just before university started and I felt off places sometime. Joining the career workshop let’s me explore more aspect in myself and helped reflected my dreams that I wish to do in the future. It’s refreshing and practice self-awareness which is my strength. I also learn the name of the 21st century skills and set the goal for the skill that I wish to develop more which are self-leadership and time management and publish speaking.

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