The House of the Raja

The House of the Raja : Splendour and Desolation in the Deep South of Thailand 

Xavier Comas160 pages, 310 x 310 mm, hardback
100 black and white photographs
ISBN 978 616 7339 17 7
Price $ 27.50
Narathiwat, Thailand’s Southern province bordering Malaysia was once a part of Patani Darussalam, the ancient Islamic Sultanate that paid tribute to the Thai kingdoms of Sukhothai and Ayudhaya until the 17th. Century. The province only became integrated fully into Thailand (then called Siam) after the Anglo-Siam treaty of 1909. Nowadays it is a place that is readily identified with the ongoing conflict between the Thai government and the Muslim separatists.
On a journey that took him to Narathiwat town Xavi Comas was led by some locals to a huge rambling wooden and brick structure, once the magnificent palace of Tengu Shamsuddin the Raja of Legeh. Invited to stay by a shaman he became involved with the family who now inhabit the building as well as local characters who are an integral part of its peculiar history, including a researcher, an archeologist, and a collector. Through them and the building itself he glimpses another world – one that represents the splendour and desolation of South Thailand. It is this world he embraces with his camera.
In an atmosphere of dignified solitude delivered through a penumbra of shadow and light, Comas’s photographs trace memory and identity across generations, looking behind the clouded veil of conflict and demonization to celebrate one of Thailand’s most historic regions.
About the Photographer
Xavier Comas, a fine arts graduate of the University of Barcelona, is a Bangkok-based Spanish artist who developed a career as visual artist in Spain and moved to Asia to broaden his creative horizons.
Inspired by the layered cultures of Asia, Xavier Comas, relies on chance to evolve projects, using the photographic lens not only to witness the elusiveness of the moment but also to be an integral part of it.
Comas’ work has been published worldwide as well as exhibited in Europe and Asia. The Singapore Art Museum hosted his ‘Pasajero’ installation in Transport Asian 2009 and acquired his ‘Jiutamai’ series as Museum collection. His work has been featured by prominent magazines such as the Spanish La Vanguardia, the Japanese art Magazine Quotation, the international journal Asia Literary Review, and Time in the USA. ‘The House of the Raja’ was exhibited in Bangkok by H Gallery in 2011.

Ref: http://www.riverbooksbk.com/book/the-house-of-the-raja