Thais pay respect to albino buffalo sculpture toppled by drunken Englishman
The atmosphere is sombre outside Samyan Mitrtown in Bangkok where buffalo enthusiasts and art lovers laid bouquets of flowers to pay their respects to the toppled albino buffalo sculpture which was ruined by a drunk English tourist who attempted to mount it on the weekend.
“Kwai: Calm” (buffalo: calm) the fibreglass albino buffalo remains in a sorry state on its side enclosed by red barriers to protect it from further damage.
Rather than remove the sculpture from the Bangkok Art Biennale 2022 art exhibition, or bring it back to its feet, Kwai: Calm has been left on the ground – a stark reminder of the brazen tourist’s boozy blunder.
Under a close-up shot of the toppled albino’s face posted on Facebook by Samyan Mitrtown, one netizen commented, “It looks like it’s crying.”
Talented artist Maitree Siriboon created Kwai Calm, an albino buffalo with a topless passenger, to reflect Isaan’s (northeast Thailand) identity through the bond between man and buffalo.
The exhibition, featuring 200 pieces of work from 73 Thai artists and foreign artists from 31 countries will be displayed until January 23. The theme is “Chaos: Calm.”
One of the organisers of the event, Apinan Poshyananda, posted the following message on Facebook on Saturday…
“Bangkok Art Biennale. BAB 2022. CHAOS: CALM. A sad day to report that Kwai Calm by Maitree Siriboon whose albino water buffalo placed at Samyan Midtown so much loved and appreciated by passerby and art visitors have been destroyed.
“Last night around 2am a group of English and German tourists were having a great time. Joshua Antoni Burgoyne, 34, a drunken English lad who was especially energetic tried to climb on the sculpture. He failed in his first attempt then he tried again causing the artwork to collapse into pieces.”
Apinan alleged that the drunk Englishman did not show any remorse for destroying the exhibition and refused to pay for the damages when police marched him and his friends to the police station.
“Today, many people have been surprised and upset to see this marvellous work destroyed. The remains of Kwai Calm will be left on site over a few days for those who want to say goodbye to the artwork that brought so much warmth and smile over the past months. RIP Kwai Calm.”
