‘Demonic’ 

 

An Exhibition of Photography by

Akkara Naktamna

 

6 July – 31 August 2019

[Opening party Sat 6 Jul, 6.30 – 9.00 pm.]

 

How is horror achieved with such kindergarten props?
 

Akkara Naktamna’s camera has the supernatural capacity to capture crystal clear portraits of ghostly beings. With the aid of a powerful flashbulb, he’s made visible the full variety of demonic infestation, all the hidden fiends that lurk beneath the hallowed monk’s saffron robe, exploiting faith for selfish gains; who with dirty black hands grab all their hearts’ desire: gold, status, every worldly pleasure.

A productive young photographer with a marked sense of humour, Akkara Naktamna makes fun of the ecclesiastical world which in recent years has fallen far from grace, continually shocking the public with corruption scandals like the epic Temple Fund Fraud over taxpayers’ money that sent many high-ranking monks to jail while others fled abroad. The saffron robe – ‘the Cloth of Yellow’ – is no longer the uniform of those seeking liberation from suffering, but a cash cow costume that any Thai man, even those not of sound mind, could put on to make an easy score. ‘Demonic’ is therefore reflecting contemporary Thai society by posing the riddle: “So how can we tell them apart? Which is which, ‘monk’ or ‘demon’?

Curator Manit Sriwanichpoom: “Akkara’s work is evolving in a fascinating way. He started with street photography then gradually turned conceptual. In ‘Demonic’, his daring criticism is armed with irreverence and humour. We can’t help but laugh at the po-faced simplicity of props like a saffron robe with girly dolls or electric fly-swotter, that he is using in his satire. Instead of being simple, however, the resulting images have the potency to make us jump out of our skin. They give us pause and we begin to dread the potential consequences of such criticism upon both the artist and his viewer.”

Akkara Naktamna (b. 1979) a software engineer and self-taught photographer, is a member of Street Photo Thailand. His work has been shown in many international photography festivals such as Miami Street Photography Festival 2013, Singapore Photo Festival 2016 and Photo Bangkok Festival 2015 and 2018. ‘Demonic’ is his second solo exhibition at Kathmandu Photo Gallery.