Re-mapping Tradition in Thailand and Southeast Asia – Embodied Knowledge: Public Forum & Performance Showcase

About the Event

How can embodied knowledge be preserved without becoming static? 

Remapping Tradition in Southeast Asia: Embodied Knowledge – Public Forum & Performance Showcase brings together artists, scholars, educators, creative technologists, cultural organisations from across Southeast Asia and beyond to explore new ways of understanding, documenting, and transmitting embodied cultural knowledge.

The event presents the outcomes of two interconnected initiatives:

  • Remapping Tradition in Thailand and Southeast Asia – Phase 1, supported by the Department of Cultural Promotion, Ministry of Culture, Thailand, which focused on research, documentation, and comparative movement analysis of traditional dance practices across Southeast Asia.
  • Phase 2 – Embodied Knowledge Laboratory (10–14 August 2026) with Public Forum & Performance Showcase (16 August 2026), supported by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC), Ministry of Culture, Thailand, where traditional dance artists from nine Southeast Asian countries collaborated with researchers, choreographers, and motion capture specialists to investigate how movement can be analysed, documented, reinterpreted, and transformed into new forms of artistic, educational, and digital knowledge.

Rather than viewing traditional dance as a static cultural heritage, the programme approaches it as a living body of knowledge—one that continues to evolve through artistic practice, research, dialogue, and technological innovation.

Featured Themes

This event explores questions including:

  • What new possibilities emerge when artists, researchers, and technologists collaborate across disciplines and cultures?
  • How can traditional dance be understood as embodied knowledge rather than simply cultural heritage?
  • What role can movement analysis and diagramming play in documenting and transmitting dance traditions?
  • How can motion capture and artificial intelligence contribute to artistic research and cultural transmission?

Organizers and Collaborators

The programme on August 16th is organized by Pichet Klunchun Dance Company (PKDC), presented in collaboration with the Cyborg Psychology research group at the MIT Media Lab, Cie Gilles Jobin / Studio 44 MocapLab, and the Department of Dramatic Arts and Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University.

Programme Schedule

09.00 – 10.00: Registration

10.00 – 10.30: Opening Remarks

Speakers:

  • Representatives of the Ministry of Culture, Thailand, Department of Cultural Promotion, and the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture Ministry of Culture
  • Pichet Klunchun

10.30 – 11.00: Project Presentation: Remapping Tradition in Thailand and Southeast Asia

An introduction to the vision, methodology, and key outcomes of the project.

Speakers: Dr. Sanchai Uaesilapa

11.00 – 12.30: Keynote Dialogue I:  AI as Ancestral Intelligence: Examining, Experimenting, and Evolving Intangible Cultural Heritage with Technology

Traditional dance is frequently discussed through the language of preservation. Yet preservation raises a more fundamental question:

“What exactly are we trying to preserve?”

Rather than understanding tradition as a fixed cultural object, this dialogue considers traditional dance as a living system of embodied knowledge that continually evolves through practice, education, and cultural exchange.

As artificial intelligence and emerging technologies transform how knowledge is documented and transmitted, the session explores how these technologies can support—not replace—the living processes through which embodied knowledge is learned, experienced, and continually recreated.

Programme

  • Opening Keynote by Dr. Pat Pataranutaporn
  • Panel Dialogue featuring Ya-Tin Lin, I-Wen Chang, Lowell Skar, and Miki Orihara
  • Moderated by Lim How Ngean
  • Audience Q&A

12.30 – 13.30 Lunch Break

13.30 – 14.30: Keynote Dialogue II “No. 60 as Remapping Tradition: From Thai Classical Dance to a Regional Knowledge Framework” 

Traditional dance has long been transmitted through observation, imitation, and embodied practice.

While these modes of transmission remain essential, they also raise an important question:

“How can embodied knowledge be shared, compared, and discussed across cultures without diminishing the uniqueness of each tradition?”

This session introduces No.60 not simply as a methodology developed from Thai classical dance, but as the analytical framework underpinning Remapping Tradition.

Through movement analysis and diagramming, No.60 proposes a shared language for investigating the structural principles of diverse Southeast Asian dance traditions while respecting their distinct cultural identities.

Programme

  • Introduction by Lim How Ngean
  • Keynote by Pichet Klunchun
  • Audience Q&A

14:30 – 15:00: : Motion capTURE – Live Demonstration: From Living Body to Living Archive 

How can embodied knowledge move beyond documentation to become a living resource for education, artistic creation, and future cultural transmission?

Drawing directly from the Embodied Knowledge Laboratory, this session demonstrates how traditional dance moves through successive forms of knowledge—from embodied practice and movement observation to diagramming, motion capture, digital visualisation, and contemporary choreographic research.

Rather than presenting motion capture simply as a recording technology, the demonstration examines its potential as a creative research methodology that expands how embodied knowledge can be understood, shared, and reactivated.

Presented by Cie Gilles Jobin / Studio 44 MocapLab

15.00 – 17.00: Performance Showcase: Embodied Knowledge in Practice & Artist Dialogue

The programme concludes with performances by the nine participating traditional dance artists from Southeast Asia alongside choreographic studies developed during the Embodied Knowledge Laboratory.

Rather than presenting tradition and contemporary practice as opposing ideas, the showcase demonstrates how traditional movement principles can generate new artistic possibilities while remaining deeply connected to their cultural origins.

The programme concludes with a moderated reflection between the artists and audience.

Who Should attend?

This event is open to:

  • Dance artists and choreographers
  • Researchers and scholars
  • Students and educators
  • Museum and cultural professionals
  • Creative technologists
  • Arts administrators and policymakers
  • Anyone interested in the future of traditional performing arts, artistic research, and emerging technologies.

Registration

Participation is free of charge, but advance registration is required as seating is limited.

Remapping Tradition 2026 Public Forum & Performance Showcase - August 16th

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