The young artists, comprising 24 painters, writers, plus 12 seven-member musical bands, are also displaying their artworks from the August 24 artist contest "The Artistic Genius of His Majesty the King" held at Mahidol University's College of Music.

The exhibition, which runs until November 30, is the final product of the Contemporary Art and Culture Department's "Artistic Development Skills Camp" project, held from November 9 to 12.

The department's director, Vimolluck Chuchad, said it was a good opportunity for the youngsters to practise with well-known Thai artists - including music master Sukree Charoensuk and writers from the Ban Burapha Group - even in a short period, and to learn both theory and technique to develop their own works in the future.

"Viewers will see the young artists' best results from this exhibition, which is the training camp's main purpose," she said.

The August contest's first award-winning painter Saree Keawvichien, a fourth-year student at Lop Buri's Thepsatri Rajabhat University, humbly said that his abstract painting was made under pressure, with only three hours working time, so he had not had much of a chance to express his creativity.

The 22-year-old painter explained that his painting's musical scores represented HM the King's musical talent, and the rousing bright red and yellow colours were to show HM the King's great benevolence to Thais throughout his reign.

Having undergone the camp training, Saree said his techniques remained pretty much the same but he could express his inner creativity more, as seen from his latest morality-theme work - hot-coloured circles resembling a storm of virtue coming out of a person's heart.

Apart from paintings, short stories on computer screens and video recordings of musical performances are displayed at the exhibition. The contest's first award-winning "Pip Kham" band, from Chiang Mai's Rajamangala University Technology Lanna Northern Campus, has used both northern musical instruments and modern ones (guitar and piano) to produce a musical score similar to the "Fon Jerng" traditional northern dance, which was often performed to honour kings.

Seventeen-year-old writer Linda Naimpro, from Suphan Buri's Bangli Wittaya School, talked about the contest's second prize-winning short story, called "Moon Klab" (Swing Back). She said the work emphasised the idea of giving without requesting a reward in return - a virtue promoted by HM the King.

For those interested in seeing the young artists' works, you can drop by the Queen's Gallery on Bangkok's Rajdamnoen Klang Road near the Phan Fah Bridge. The gallery is open daily from 10am to 7pm, except Wednesday.

Ninnete Surarat

The Nation