Candle Festival

Samrit Residency, Thailand 02.07-15.07.2025

For several years, my artistic practice has focused on exploring the interdependence between bees and humans. I am fascinated by behaviors based on cooperation—how individuals, when devoted to a common purpose, can form a single organism. While observing the work of bees in my family apiary, I realized how deeply Western culture has drifted away from the idea of collective collaboration, favoring instead the dominance of individualism. Following this line of thought, I went on an art residency in Thailand to take part in a unique and, from a European perspective, highly exotic Buddhist candle procession (phonetically in Thai: Hae Thien Phansa).

The festival turned out to be a beautiful event, but what was most significant to me, in the context of collective activity, happened beforehand, during the intense process of preparation. I had the opportunity to participate in creating a monumental wax sculpture together with a team of Thai. The installation, built on a mobile platform, departed from the workshop grounds of the Wat Mai Pratu Chai temple and set out through the streets of Phimai. The presented series of photographs documents this creative process – the group’s effort, dedication, and intricate craftsmanship – resembling the diligent labor of bees within a hive.

During the festival, the wax candles symbolize the light of the Buddha’s teachings. Their melting and reuse continue the traditional devotional practice of wax carving (particularly in the Ubon Ratchathani province). They recall the practical offering of candles to monks for the Vassa (Phansa) period—the time of intense spiritual practice and monastic retreat during the rainy season. At the same time, they embody the faith of the community, its creativity, and the idea of gaining merit through elaborate sculptural forms and ceremonial processions.

In the traditions of Southeast Asia, the mythical serpent Naga, with its shimmering scales, is an object of veneration in the cultures of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. It represents both a Buddhist and folk symbol of nature’s power and sacred protection. In Buddhism, Naga personifies strength, fertility, water and rain. Often depicted with an odd number of heads, it is commonly sculpted on temple staircases and roofs as a guardian of sacred places. As one of many symbolic figures carved in wax on the moving platform, Naga served as a protector and source of spiritual power for the people watching the procession.
I returned home transformed, smelling of beeswax. Now bees gently land on my hand.

Participation supported by the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice.
Special thanks to: Lindsay Sales, Sumalee Kung