January 11.2011 Start to a 3 month journey. I`m thinking about the phenomen of travelling, especially for a long term journey. It is so much to do to manage and prepair all daily live connected things and prepair the journey and the time in a foreign country at the same time.It is like to live in two worlds, get lost in between. Crazy time, again and again. Before I leave my view gets in distance to my daily life, I have to say good bye, knowing I will not see and feel this for a long time. In the same moment I look forward to the destination especially when I know the upcoming place. And this time I know very well what I can expect: Bangkok, town of the angels, hell and heaven. I can imagine how it feels to arrive: warm air like a touch of silk, special smell of tropic climate, mixed with air polution, the sound of a special, beloved bird… .and all the big and small buildings along the streets, on the way to a wellknown guesthouse in a taxi.
On the highway in Bangkok
January 12.2011 After midnight at Doha Airport. Time stocks. Together with my friend and collegue Doris Hinzen-Röhrig, the initiator and organisator of the exhibition project „Pattern & Signs“ I´m going to Bangkok with a 10 hours stop over in Qatar. It was the cheapest flight…. Doris is still sleeping but I cannot find a way to sleep in this noisy „quiet room“ for overnight stays with 36 chears: to much movements, to much loudspeakers outside, to much speaking people, crackles plastic bags, snorring…. An airport is a crazy place, people are waiting to go somewhere, time between life.
8.30 am, the airplane to Bangkok just started.
Doha from the airplane
7 pm, just arrived in Bangkok, i am very happy. We take a public taxi, the taxidriver gets 100 baht extra for the express highway, we dont like to be in trafic jam. Almost all Thai words I know come back imediately like switched on (in Germany I couldn´t remember). On the way to our guesthouse we pass a new camp of people from the red movement (the sdtate of emergency was canceled one week ago). I explain our way to the taxidriver, the guesthouse is not easy to find. After 5 weeks seperation I meet my life-partner Alfred again. Happyness. Together with Doris we go and have something to eat. It is an touristic area, overcrowded with white people, two years ago it was very empty when we arrived with one of the first airplains, after the yellow movement occupied the airport for a while in november / december 2008.
January 13.2011 Meeting in the German Embassy with Mr. Merten and his crew. We had a good lunch together (thai food is always great). In the afternoon we had an appointment in the Jamjuree Art Gallery, part of Chulalongkorn University, with the gallery directors Khun Joy and Khun Surachai and with three artists involeved in the upcoming exhibition „Pattern & Signs“, Khun Surachai, Varsha Nair and Jerome Ming. Many questions around the exhibition and about organizational details could be cleared.
14.- 17. 1.2011 Doris, Alfred and I went to an island to overcome the jetlag and have a rest after a long period of working. It is definitely important, my health is weak in the moment, every time when I had a break in the last months, I got sick. In the first night I can sleep very well after 3 nights in jetlag. We can send some emails about exhibition details over the satelite connection of the neighbour ressort. In a simple hut near the beach we enjoy the quiet natur, marine life and good food for some days.
On a small island
January 18-20. 2011 Back in Bangkok. We all have a lot to do to prepair the exhibition. We share the tasks. Another artist, Petra Jung, arrived on January 18. Yesterday I went to an opening event in the Toot Yung Gallery. The Gallery exist since 7 month and is operated by a French woman, Myrtille Tibayrenc. We saw photos from Tada Hengsakpul, a very young artist from Bangkok. After a long time I met some of my friends and we had good talks.
