Biography

Eda Phanlert SRIPROM (1985, Thai, She) is a multi-dimensional trans artist and designer based in Berlin, Germany. After graduating in fashion from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, she worked for over 10 years as a fashion designer. In 2015, she moved to Paris and graduated from the Image Program at Institut Francais de la Mode.

Her manifestation earns her several awards including the International Talent Support ITS2018 in Italy, which turns out to be essential. She uses clothes as a nonlinear medium to tell her personal yet intimate stories and keeps shaping her vision between art and fashion in different narratives by collective vintage handkerchiefs entirely composed of spiritual uniforms. Eda also participated in the Group Exhibition at the Photographic Exploration Project at PEP in 2019 entitled New Talent with the series JESUISEDA. The exhibition took place at the gallery Tête in Berlin.

In 2020, Eda gathered with 12 female artists to present their works at a month-long exhibition known as A Room Full of Women at ATT19 Gallery in Bangkok, Thailand with its Buddhist faith and relaxed outlook on life that does not make it a ground free of sexism. Weaving the narrative from 12 different points of view, the exhibition pinpoints issues of gender and equality often overlooked. Later in 2022, Eda was curated for The Crossing the Line Exhibition weaves together stories of marginalized laborers, demarcated by different constructed ‘lines’ by 6 Thai women and queer contemporary artists at SAC Gallery Bangkok, Thailand.

Womanifestation

As a commentary on the gender limitation in Buddhism, Eda, a Buddhist Thai transwoman, reincarnated her ritual of ordination into a spiritual uniform, made entirely out of the collective handkerchiefs, to resemble the Buddhist monk robe. She arranged the unknown ceremonial ordination ritual in a rural temple somewhere in Thailand. These documented photography series by John Tods raise questions about the roles Buddhists could achieve when they are on a spiritual journey in today’s ever-changing gender identity society. The reimagined visual manifestation has documented the consistent spiritual transformation.

Currently, Eda is working on the Happy Buddha project. Turning the discarded Buddhist monk textile into a large-scale public Installation at Museum der Kulturen Basel, Switzerland. The artist’s initial vision is to offer visitors an intimate experience with the Buddha. From this particular artistic approach, Art and Religious will be singular. The Happy Buddha reflects the symbol of Happiness.

Eda continues her curatorial and artistic practices, aiming to draw the bridge between archives of social movements and creative expressions. Eda is currently working on a personal project as a Creative Director of a creative art/fashion company, EdaEditions, based in Berlin. Specialize in experimental design projects, conceptual ideas, and critical thinking. Focus on inventing new vocabularies, defining new visual languages, and redefining them into new stories while collaborating with various designers/artists.

Yordtao Chuaiprasit © 2020