16albermarle is pleased to present แผ่นดิน/Tanah/Land, an exhibition of recent work by Surajate Tongchua and Maryanto, two southeast Asian artists whose work critically engages with landscape, the environment and political authority in the region. The works in แผ่นดิน/Tanah/Land show how those in power–government, monarchy, corporations –can be abusive to land. But they also raise important questions: who owns the land? Individual land is owned by individuals, but public land, or land in general? How can it be protected, how can it be cared for, how can it be useful to people equally? Visually, these works convey positive and negative responses. They heighten the collective sense of burden and heaviness, but speak with imagery and language which somehow enriches and empowers the viewer. Surajate Tongchua, Lying Mountain no 18 (detail) 2023 Maryanto, Sand Miner Bivouac 2021, scratching, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 200 cm