Khru | rahu

As the first part of my performance at the Bangkok Biennale 2018, I visited the Wat Thephakorn Occupation Training Centre at Charan Sanitwong Soi, Bang Plad on the afternoon of the 31st of August. I went there to meet Khun Patchanee Liangsorn, daughter and protege of the master Khon mask-maker and Khun Sathaporn Liangsorn. Khun Patchnee, who was once a Khon and Likay dancer, has kept up the family tradition of Khon mask making and she is a respected teacher (Khru) in her own right. I had been trying to communicate with Khun Patchanee, prior to my departure for Bangkok, about the possibility of obtaining and ritually animating a mask for the performance but the language barrier made for uncertainty. I was delighted to find, upon my arrival that she had a Phra Hanuman Khon mask (Hua Khon) ready for me and I am honored to note that Khun Patchani saw fit to open the eyes (Boek Khaneet) of the mask and to perform a blessing for me in the presence of three generations of her family.