Mahasarakham Mid-field Arts Space Pavillion

Artist: Mahasarakham Mid-field Artspace (MMFA)
Adisak Phupa / Chittiphan Phonchan/ Phumtrakan Kanjanapat / Parinya Sankan

The way of life of most ISAN people relies heavily on nature, until situations get distorted. The migration phenomenon then occurs, out of struggles to find an opportunity in a big city to work and earn money to support a family. Amongst displacement, carrying food and supplies around as well as raising fighting cocks as a hobby has become a common occurrence of ISAN workers. Local wisdom is applied to adapt available supplies as commodities, to reduce daily expenses.

Amidst unfamiliar places, urban sounds cause displaced workers to recall the sound of crowing cocks waking them up among nature in hometowns. Importance of cocks also appears in ISAN beliefs, especially during ancestor-worship ceremonies. According to legend, they can eat small animals only, while large animals like cows and buffalo could be killed for food only during merit making ceremonies. Eating cocks is possible only if there’s a ritual, or when special guests visit.

Mahasarakham Mid-field Artspace (MMFA) artists queries about the issue of such movement, circulation and transition of displaced ISAN workers who face the struggles to survive, while cradling familiarity for mind soothing and reminiscing about nature sounds. This is no different from the Mahasarakham Mid-field Artspace artists, who
always move away from their hometowns in order to cultivate and vegetate.

Fighting cock or some called captive cock —the breed that is mixed between fighting cock and domestic chicken, is thus fetched to represent traces of the displaced workers’ struggle between ‘being a prisoner’ and ‘fighting at the cost of life’. However, the often cited classic quote from the legend of cock fight between King Naresuan and Prince Maha Phra Uparaja, “Not only my cock can win in this palace, but worth to bet on it with my country”, hasn’t been proven to exist.