mobanmarketBangkok: Hardline Buddhists in Thailand called Thursday for the destruction of paintings depicting Buddha as Japanese superhero Ultraman, provoking fevered debate about using sacred imagery in art.
###
The majority of Thais are Buddhist and a law on insulting religion carries a maximum sentence of seven years in jail even if prosecutions are rare.
###
The student artwork went viral on social media last week after it was shown in an exhibition three hours outside Bangkok.
###
The artist, whose name has been withheld by her university over safety concerns, offered a tearful apology to monks for the four paintings, some of which had a backdrop with Louis Vuitton logos.
######
But fringe group Buddhist Power of the Land filed a police complaint against her and four supporters for “hurting Buddha’s feelings.”
###
“It’s up to the court but we want (the paintings) to be destroyed,” representative Jaroon Wannakasin told AFP Thursday.
###
During her apology the student said she meant to portray Buddha as a hero who protects the world like Ultraman, and that the Louis Vuitton logos represented worldly “temptations.”
###
As the scandal hit headlines and talk shows, a collector swooped in to buy one of the controversial works showing six Buddhas as the fictional character shooting lasers from their palms for 4,500 baht (around $150).
###
###
The artwork quickly soared in price during a bidding war on Facebook and Pakorn Porncheewangkul resold it Thursday for 600,000 baht ($19,000).
###
“This picture brings controversy. I thought I should resell it and donate the money to benefit society,” he told AFP, explaining that 90 percent of the proceeds will go to a local hospital.
###
The remaining amount will go to the student in a gesture of support.
###
“Otherwise no one will dare to create new art.”
###
Buddhist nationalism in Thailand is not as politically powerful as it is in neighbouring Myanmar but a prominent case in 2017 saw a firebrand Thai monk detained for suggesting mosques be burned down.
###
It is not the first time that imagery and art has stirred controversy in Thailand.
###
Last year, the governor of Thailand’s second-largest city Chiang Mai sued a local magazine for posting a “blasphemous” painting depicting ancient kings wearing pollution masks.
###
It was meant to urge authorities to tackle a crisis that has turned the city into one of the most polluted in the world.
###