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House of Hope
1996-97; steel, herbal medicine, wood; 400 x 300 x 600 cm. Collection of Estate of Montien Boonma, Bangkok.

In his installation House of Hope, Boonma suggests an invitation to step into the house/temple through thousands of prayer beads to experience walking in meditation. In traditional Thai iconography, the walking Buddha offers freedom from fear to his followers. The thousands of lines of prayer beads made of herbal medicinal balls are like chants beseeching the Buddhist ideal of no-soul (anatta) which can lead us to transcend suffering. The painted walls simulate the stains from candle and smoke in temples.