17 August 2005 – The Philippine Embassy in Bangkok reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that prominent Thai artists are set to visit the Philippines from 17 to 30 September 2005 as part of a cultural exchange program between the Philippine National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCAA) and the Thai Culture Ministry.

“The visit of these Thai artists is an opportunity to strengthen the cultural ties between the Philippines and Thailand and I hope that the visit will lead to art technique-sharing between the Filipino and Thai artists,” Ambassador Antonio V. Rodriguez said.

The Thai artists who will come to Manila to hold an art exhibition at the NCAA Gallery in Intramuros are Sumeth Putpuang (academic artists), Surattakit Peeraphongsil (painter), Kirasak Jariwatanasirinont (architect), Charoen Marboot (painter), and Jarmlong Suwanchat (academic artist).

The undertaking reciprocates the visit to Thailand of a group of acclaimed Filipino painters in July this year. The four Filipino painters – Rene Robles, Emmanuel Garibay, Jojo Austria and Samuel Penasi --  conducted week-long workshops with Thai artists at the Ministry’s Office of Architecture and Traditional Arts in Nakhompathom province.

The workshop was an opportunity to display the Filipino artists’ individual techniques and provide a perspective on the Filipino cultural psyche. They also held two group exhibitions for Thai and Filipino audiences. END
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