Kamin Lertchaiprasert

Kamin Lertchaiprasert (b. 1964, in Lop Buri, Thailand) completed a BFA in printmaking at Silpakorn University, Bangkok, and earned the institution's Young Artist of the Year award in 1987. That year, he moved to New York, and from 1989 to 1990, attended the city's Art Students League. During a visit to Bangkok in 1990, he became, briefly, a Buddhist monk, and remains a committed Buddhist to this day. Lertchaiprasert returned to live in Bangkok in 1992 and moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 1996. Two years later, he co-founded, with Rirkrit Tiravanija, The Land Project (now The Land Foundation). 

This involved the conversion of rice fields into a destination for site-specific art and architectural projects, creative residencies, and agricultural and artisanal workshops. Lertchaiprasert's interest in collaborative art led to the establishment of the 31st Century Museum of Contemporary Spirit in 2008 - an initiative inspired by his participation in the Stimulating Cities with Art symposium at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan. The 31st Century Museum has since collaborated with a variety of organisations and individuals, 31st Century Museum of Contemporary Spirit has presented a number of workshops, including 31st Century Museum of Contemporary Spirit in Bangkok (Land of Smiles), Poh-Chang Academy of Art, Bangkok (2018); Inner World, 31st Century Museum of Contemporary Spirit, Chiang Mai, Thailand (2013); Non-Being by Itself, The Art Center, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok (2013); Around the World, 31st Century Museum of Contemporary Spirit, Chiang Mai (2012); Water and Land, Niigata Art Festival, Niigata, Japan (2012); Kamin Lertchaiprasert—31st Century Museum of Contemporary Spirit (A Laboratory), Sullivan Galleries, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2011); Container of Cultural Station, 31st Century Museum of Contemporary Spirit, Chiang Mai (2009) and 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan (2008).

For Lertchaiprasert, art is a ritualistic practice aimed at the achievement of a greater understanding of oneself, nature, and the world as a whole.