Paradise of the Blind, 2016/2025
Installation: 360 bullet-shells size 5.56 x 45 mm, copper wires No. 38, banned/restricted books in Asia and Oceania, a paper shredder, strip-cut photocopy paper shreds (Greenleaf and white papers), handwriting catalog cards, and a wooden box. Dimension variable
Additional materials for the edition in 2025-2026 at the Jim Thompson Art Center:
The propaganda books and magazines: Seri Phap Magazines and a collection of translated “Seri Phap” books, produced by the United States Information Service (USIS).
“Paradise of the Blind” is the title of a banned book in Vietnam, which is included in the list of banned and restricted books in the Asia Pacific region.
In Paradise of the Blind, Som will explore the issue of books and censorship, reproduction and destruction, abuse of law and power, and systematic elimination of the other through an installation of banned books, both shredded and whole. The artist has been creating artworks addressing the issue of banned books since
October 2015.
Examples of banned books in the exhibition are All That Is Gone by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, banned in Indonesia; Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, once banned in China, a children’s book about same-sex penguin parents; and And Tango Makes Three, temporarily restricted in Singapore; The Satanic Verse by Salman Rushdie, still banned in many countries, and his entire oeuvre is banned in Malaysia; and even South Korea has lists of forbidden books for its army, including Year 501: The Conquest Continues by Noam Chomsky.
REVIEWS
“A reworked version of Paradise of the Blind (2016/2025) is part of her ongoing Banned Book Series, which examines censorship across Asia and Oceania. By juxtaposing previously banned and “non-banned” books, the artist reveals how power operates not only through prohibition but also through selective permission. Together, these works invite audiences to reflect on how knowledge, ideology, and landscape shape—and obscure—collective memory today.”
Gridthiya Gaweewong, Curator
- PRŌTOCOLLUM 2016_17 (2016), Berlin, Germany: DICKERSBACH KUNSTVERLAG. (PDF]
- Napat Charitbutra, Sleepover #1 Paradise of the Blind The reading Room X Sutthirat Supaparinya, Art4d (Update), No. 237, p. 28, download PDF file
- Monruedee Jansuttipan, Burn the Books, BK Magazine (Upfront), No. 641, Friday, May 27, 2016, p. 4 (Interview) and p. 25 (Art Highlight), download PDF1 and PDF2.
- Phatarawadee Phataranawik, Where books meet bullets, The Nation, 12 May 2016, p.12B, download PDF scanned paper, web version PDF
- Apipar Norapoompipat, Defying authority with creativity, Bangkok Post, 11 May 2016, Life section, p. 10, download PDF file
- ‘Paradise of the Blind‘: ความต้องห้ามที่เย้ายวน, Matichon, 8 May 2016, download PDF file
- Pawornpon Rungrodchana ปวรพล รุ่งรจนา), กรุณาอย่าอ่านหนังสือเล่ม Paradise of the Blind, Fine Arts Magazine, 1 June 2016, download PDF file 1
- Monruedee Jansuttipan, Exhibition of banned books shines spotlight on censorship, BK Magazine, 23 May 2016 [PDF]
- Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Paradise of the Blind: Prohibited Prints Under Assault at ‘Reading Room,’ Khaosod English, 11 May 2016, download PDF file 1 or PDF file 2 (digital news)
- Mami Kataoka, Research: Thailand 01 [Bangkok, Chiang Mai 2016.05.06 – 05.13], SEA Project, May 5, 2016
