After “Beat Around the Bush,” which dealt with a sensitive piece of Thai contemporary history unmentionable in public for over 70 years , was asked to be put on hold due to the passing of King Rama IX , Sina negotiated to instead exhibit the cancellation conversation itself in “This Show Is Canceled”. He initially anticipated re-exhibiting the original “Beat Around the Bush” artworks at Cartel Artspace the following year. However, as months passed, his feelings towards these unexhibited works transformed drastically. He stated, “The long wait had a total opposite effect. The artworks that sat waiting to be re-exhibited, they felt foreign to me. Every time I looked at them, I no longer had any passion or desire left for these works. I wanted to tear them to pieces, I did not want anyone to witness or possess them, even myself. I hated them.”

This intense aversion led to the core act of “The Last Exhibition”: the deliberate destruction by burning of all the artworks originally intended for “Beat Around the Bush“. The exhibition, therefore, showcased not the original pieces, but “the scrap and ash of what is left of pieces of art”. The visitor’s review details the specific remnants displayed: a “ปิ๊บขนมขาไก่” (a metal biscuit tin often used for snacks like “chicken leg” biscuits) placed on a stand at eye level, containing ashes; a corner of the room with more debris from the burnt art objects; a framed canvas on the wall with its central part cut out; a video installation placed near the floor, showing the actual process of Sina burning his artworks; a neon sign across another wall stating, “thereisonlyonetruth”; and a small zine with a gloomy sky image on its cover, hung from the ceiling at eye level, containing Sina’s written explanation of his feelings. The review also notes a performative act on the opening night (Saturday, September 9th, 2017, reportedly at 9:09 pm), where Sina cut a frame that was part of the exhibition and burned it in the biscuit tin, the ashes of which then became part of the display.

Conceptually, the exhibition was a profound statement on multiple levels. Sina himself declared it as “my last exhibition as an artist” and signed off his statement as “Sina Wittayawiroj (no longer an artist)”. This act of “retiring” was a form of ultimate self-censorship, as described by Kamollaka Jittrutha, the project manager, who noted, “Sina also censors his own work on another level through ‘destruction’” and “has censored himself as an artist as well”. The exhibition explored the question, “If something exists but is not seen or acknowledged, how is its existence different from non-existence?”. The “traces”—the scraps and ashes—became new artworks, verifying the existence of the originals while embodying a complex and intense story of their destruction. The review suggests these remnants powerfully communicated “hatred, furious emotions, and concealed secrets” from the destroyed pieces.

Kamollaka Jittrutha also highlighted the significance of “(Temporary Name)” in the exhibition title, suggesting it left open the possibility of Sina’s return: “It is about leaving a trace that, if not forever removed from within, we could perhaps see Sina Wittayawiroj as an artist once again…”. Thus, “The Last Exhibition (Temporary Name)” was not just an endpoint but a deeply layered commentary on censorship, artistic agency, the value and existence of art, and the artist’s own fraught relationship with his creations and his role in the art world, all set against a backdrop of societal mourning and constraint.