Download or read book Essential Desires written by Brian Curtin and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2020-11-12 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essential Desires: Contemporary Art in Thailand is the first major, fully illustrated survey of Thai art in thirty years. Brian Curtin shows how Thai artists negotiated their emergence on the global art stage while dealing with pan-Asian regionalism and nationalism at home. This book traces the influences on contemporary Thai artists, from the impact of consumerism in Bangkok in the 1990s to the waning legacies of tradition, and their relationship to the nation's often-volatile political stage. Curtin, in his exploration of Thailand's fascinating art scene, shows how Thai artists are generating new ideas about their country.