JAKKAI SIRIBUTR

Early life and Education of Jakkai Siributr

Jakkai Siributr was born in 1969 in Bangkok, Thailand. At the age of 15, he received a scholarship to attend The United World College in New Mexico, United States, where his interest in art developed under the encouragement of a teacher who prioritised individual style over technical draughtsmanship.

Siributr went on to earn a BA in Textile/Fine Arts from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1992, followed by an M.S. in Printed Textile Design from Philadelphia University in 1996 . He returned to Bangkok in 1996 to teach at Thammasat University, where he helped build its new fashion and textile department, lecturing there until 2006. He maintains studios in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

Jakkai Siributr Artworks and style

Jakkai Siributr’s artworks combine textile craft traditions with contemporary art practice, translating Thai social realities into works that move between personal testimony and collective historical record.

Early works and developments, 1990s—2000s

Siributr’s first solo exhibition, Jakkai On Line, was held in Bangkok in 1998, inaugurating a series of annual exhibitions in the Thai capital. His early practice focused on abstract textile pieces and representational paintings, as he explored how to merge fine art with textile craft. Political upheaval in Thailand during 2007—2008 proved a turning point; Siributr began creating textile installations that made direct social and political statements, leading to exhibitions at Tyler Rollins Fine Art in New York, including Temple Fair (2008) and Karma Cash & Carry (2010).

Mature practice and key series, 2010s—2020s

From the 2010s, Siributr developed large-scale, immersive installations addressing themes of displacement, ethnic identity, and religious friction. His 2017 solo exhibition Displaced: The Politics of Ethnicity and Religion in the Art of Jakkai Siributr at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre was a landmark survey of these concerns. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he created the Outworn and Airborne series—tapestries assembled from disused tourism-industry uniforms, adorned with Buddhist symbols, beads, and artificial marigold flowers. He also initiated the Phayao-à-Porter project, commissioning one-of-a-kind jackets to support studio assistants and women artisans in northern Thailand’s Phayao province who had been economically affected by lockdowns.

Major projects and ongoing themes, 2020s—

Siributr’s ongoing collaborative project There’s no Place brings together embroidered works made with the community of Koung Jor Shan Refugee Camp, exploring ideas of home and belonging. The project was shown at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, in 2024, and featured as an Official Collateral Event of the Bangkok Art Biennale at the 2024 Venice Biennale. His Matrilineal series (2023) draws on personal narratives of family and grief, incorporating his late mother’s clothing into embroidered works that speak to healing through handcraft. In 2025, Siributr’s work was included in All Directions: Art That Moves You, the inaugural exhibition of FENIX museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as well as the 2025 Setouchi Triennale in Japan.

Awards and honours of Jakkai Siributr

• 2024 — Silpathorn Award (Thailand)
• 2013 — Fondation La Roche Jacquelin
• 2001 — Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Grant

Public collections holding work by Jakkai Siributr

Jakkai Siributr’s artworks are held in prominent public collections worldwide, including:

• Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane, Australia
• FENIX, Rotterdam, Netherlands
• Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, California, United States
• National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art, Taiwan
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, United States
• Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore
• Vehbi Koç Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey
• The Gerrig-Peterson Collection, Yale University, New Haven, United States
• Sun Pride Foundation, Taiwan

Exhibitions of Jakkai Siributr

Jakkai Siributr has exhibited extensively across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, with presentations at major biennials, museums, and contemporary art galleries.

Select solo exhibitions

• 2025 — Jakkai Siributr, Flowers Gallery, London, United Kingdom
• 2024 — There’s no Place, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, United Kingdom
• 2023 — Matrilineal, 100 Tonson Foundation, Bangkok, Thailand
• 2023 — Everyone Wanna Be Happy, CHAT/The Mills, Hong Kong
• 2017 — Displaced: The Politics of Ethnicity and Religion in the Art of Jakkai Siributr, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Bangkok, Thailand
• 2014 — Transient Shelter, Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York, United States
• 2010 — Karma Cash & Carry, Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York, United States
• 2008 — Temple Fair, Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York, United States

Select group exhibitions

• 2024 — The Composition of Unknown Melodies, 15th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea
• 2024 — The Spirits of Maritime Crossing, Official Collateral Event, Venice Biennale, Italy
• 2024 — State of Fashion Biennale 2024: Ties that Bind, Arnhem, Netherlands
• 2022 — Garmenting: Costume as Contemporary Art, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, United States
• 2019 — Spectrosynthesis II, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Bangkok, Thailand
• 2018 — The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, QAGOMA, Brisbane, Australia
• 2018 — Bangkok Art Biennale, Bangkok, Thailand
• 2012 — Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, United States

Website, Instagram, and further reading

• Website: jakkais.com
• Instagram: @jakkais
• Flowers Gallery artist page: Jakkai Siributr at Flowers Gallery
• View exhibitions featuring Jakkai Siributr on Ocula.

Jakkai Siributr FAQs

Ocula | 2026