First Bangkok Art Biennale Announces Artists

*Last updated September 20, 2018.

Led by chief executive and artistic director Apinan Poshyananda, the inaugural edition of the Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB) announced its 75 participating artists from 33 countries at a press conference in Hong Kong on March 26. The list comprises well-known Thai artists Sakarin Krue-on and Chumpon Apisuk; famous figures from the Asia region, including Huang Yong Ping, Yoshitomo Nara, Ho Tzu Nyen, Heri Dono and Choi Jeong Hwa; as well as big names from Europe, such as performance artist Marina Abramović, and the artist duo Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset.

Opening on October 19, BAB is titled “Beyond Bliss,” and will be held at 20 venues across the city including the Bangkok Art and Culture Center (BACC), Suan Lumpini Park, and three ancient temples along the Chao Phraya River. It will be curated by Apinan along with two colleagues from BACC, Sansern Milindasuta and Luckana Kunavichayanont; Patrick Flores, curator of the Vargas Museum in Manila; and Adele Tan, curator at the National Gallery Singapore. Apinan stated that the curators had invited artists “to comment on the lack of bliss due to political clashes, diseases, pollution and migration.” Highlights will include site-specific works mounted at major tourist attractions, such as Chinese artist Huang Yong Ping’s installation at UNESCO World Heritage site Wat Pho (Temple of Reclining Buddha) and Elmgreen & Dragset’s works housed at the East Asiatic Building. Serbian performance artist Marina Abramović will also create a new long-durational performance titled The Method at the BACC.

BAB opens amid a season of mega-exhibitions. The first Thailand Biennale launches on November 2 in Krabi province and is organized by the Thai Ministry of Culture’s Office of Contemporary Art and Culture. The Bangkok Biennale, which begins July 7, will be a loose confederation of projects and events held by underground and independent spaces around the capital.

The Bangkok Art Biennale Foundation was co-founded by Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi—CEO and president of ThaiBev corporation, which has committed to sponsoring the first three editions of the show—and Apinan, the former permanent secretary of Thailand’s Ministry of Culture. Apinan is a renowned scholar of Thai art, and a noted curator and writer on contemporary Asian art. The BAB artists were selected by a committee, which comprised Guggenheim senior curator Alexandra Munroe; independent curator David Elliott; director of the National Gallery Singapore Eugene Tan; Mori Art Museum director Fumio Nanjo; Artsonje and Gwangju Biennale director Sunjung Kim; Saatchi gallery CEO Nigel Hurst; and Buenos Aires-born artist Rirkrit Tiravanija.

The participating artists are:

Marina Abramović and Marina Abramović Institute (Serbia/USA)

AES+F (Russia)

Chumpon Apisuk (Thailand)

Art Labor (Vietnam)

Aurèle (France)

Jean-Michel Basquiat (USA)

Montien Boonma (Thailand)

CANAN (Turkey)

Paolo Canevari (Italy)

Patipat Chaiwitesh (Thailand)

Anupong Charoenmitr (Thailand)

Kray Chen Kerui (Singapore)

Choi Jeong Hwa (South Korea)

Francesco Clemente (Italy)

Heri Dono (Indonesia)

Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset (Denmark/Norway)

Sara Favriau (France)

Gauri Gill (India)

Fiona Hall (Australia)

Tul Hirunyalawan (Thailand)

Ho Tzu Nyen (Singapore)

Hooptam Laos-Thai (Laos/Thailand)

Huang Yong Ping (China/France)

Tao Hui (China)

Sriwan Janehattakankit (Thailand)

Eisa Jocson (Philippines)

Mark Justiniani (Philippines)

Shigeyuki Kihara (New Zealand)

Pichet Klunchun (Thailand)

Latthapon Korkiatrakul (Thailand)

Samak Kosem (Thailand)

Sakarin Krue-On (Thailand)

Yayoi Kusama (Japan)

Torlarp Larpjaroensook (Thailand)

Nge Lay (Myanmar)

Lee Bul (South Korea)

Firoz Mahmud (Bangladesh)

Moelyono (Indonesia)

Musalimah (Thailand)

Yoshitomo Nara (Japan)

Krit Ngamsom (Thailand)

Arnont Nongyao (Thailand)

Numen/For Use Design Collective (Austria/Croatia)

Anneè Olofsson (Sweden)

Sherman Ong (Malaysia)

Sunanta Phasomwong (Thailand)

Kamol Phaosavasdi (Thailand)

Sornchai Phongsa (Thailand)

Wisut Ponnimit (Thailand)

Jittima Ponsawek (Thailand)

Sanitas Pradittasnee (Thailand)

Tawatchai Puntusawasdi (Thailand)

Angki Purbandono (Indonesia)

Kata Sangkhae (Thailand)

Nino Sarabutra (Thailand)

Marc Schmitz (Germany)

Jakkai Siributr (Thailand)

Lim Sokchalina (Cambodia)

Jitsing Somboon (Thailand)

Souled Out Studios (Thailand/UK/Japan)

Andrew Stahl (UK)

Joscha Steffens (Germany)

Phaptawan Suwannakudt (Thailand)

Imhathai Suwatthanasilp (Thailand)

Komkrit Tepthian (Thailand)

Ralf Tooten (Germany)

Nopchai Ungkavatanapong (Thailand)

Natee Utarit (Thailand)

Dujdao Vadhanapakorn (Thailand)

Joana Vasconcelos (Portugal)

Kawita Vatanajyankur (Thailand)

Dow Wasiksiri (Thailand)

Yan Pei Ming (China)

Pannapan Yodmanee (Thailand)

Yuan Goang-Ming (China)

The Bangkok Art Biennale will run from October 19, 2018 to February 3, 2019.

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