As part of the exhibition "Photopsia" by Nat Setthana, curated by Suphon Niamkamnoet,

License to Breathe is a participatory performance — rooted in reflection and emotion that emerged while reading Family Comes First, the 2023 S.E.A. Write Award–winning book by Narisapongse Rakwattananont. The story, set within a Thai-Chinese family, resonated deeply with the artist as the first daughter of a second-generation overseas Chinese family living in Thailand. From that resonance grew a strong visual and emotional symbol, the round dining table, and the politics that surround it. More than furniture, the table becomes a stage of negotiation, sharing, silence, and repetition. The turning of the Lazy Susan at its center becomes a rhythm she grew up with as a language of movement, offering, and subtle power.

Through this familiar domestic ritual, License to Breathe transforms the everyday into a meditative act of reflection. Repetition lies at its core: gestures rise, fade, and reappear, forming an intimate rhythm of breath and movement. Each cycle of turning, offering, and pausing becomes an act of remembering and questioning. What are the unspoken rules that shape our behavior? Are they there, or are they not? Who creates them? What are we allowed to do, and what not?

The minimalist setup contrasts with projected text and live video, as a camera attached to the turning table captures continuous motion and shifting perspectives. As images and words revolve together, moments of tension, intimacy, and rhythm emerge, echoing a family meal where emotions circulate quietly beneath the surface. Through this circular motion of table, image, and breath, the work exposes how visible and invisible systems shape belonging, regulation, and the act of breathing itself.

By tracing the tension between the felt and the imposed, License to Breathe opens a contemplative space to consider how patterns of family, culture, and care are inherited, negotiated, and possibly reconfigured.

Disclaimer: The performance is based on Chapter 10: “My Older Sister” from the book. The artist has extracted and recontextualized elements from the text, offering a distinct theme and perspective separate from the original context. Non-verbal performance with Thai and English subtitles.

Concept and performance: Tangmo Ladapha S.

Edited and proofread text:  Vichapon Diloksambandh

Production Manager: Sita W.

Scenography: Prapatsorn Sukkaset, Kittipon Akarachat, Wiyada Sasawatphan (Scenography Department Bangkok)

Costume designer: Pin Nicha 

Video documentation: Poomin Wongsing

Photo documentation: Preecha Pattaraumpornchai

Video subtitle: Nat Setthana 

Curator: Suphon Niamkamnoet

- Special Thanks:

100Tonson Foundation

Family Comes First by Narisapongse Rakwattananont

Salmon Books

Rumba Bor