Reflect on social and political turmoil, and hope for better days at Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB) 2022. This year, the massive art festival returns with “CHAOS : CALM”, a theme inspired by what happened—both good and bad—in the last few years.
More than 200 captivating art pieces by 73 artistic talents from 31 countries are featured at 11 physical locations and one virtual venue. We went to four highlight spots in the line-up, namely Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Rajwaramahawihan (Wat Pho), Museum Siam, Bangkok Art and Culture Center (BACC), and the newly reopened Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC), and here’s what we saw.
Wat Pho
Popular Buddhist temple Wat Pho has been transformed into an art house for four exhibitions. One of them displays Arokhayasala (1994) by the late artist and a pioneer of contemporary Asian art Monthian Bunma. The lung-shaped piece, which is being exhibited to the public for the very first time, is a tribute to the artist’s wife who lost her life to lung cancer.
Respected British sculptor Antony Gormley also makes an appearance in BAB 2022 with two masterpieces—Contain (2022) and Connect (2022)—both of which portray the relationship between our existence and energy.
Museum Siam
Moving on to Museum Siam, this innovative institution dedicated to Thai culture and history plays host to Wall of Change (2018) by Japanese installation artist Tatsuo Miyajima. A big wall displays five digital digits that keep changing according to dice rolled by the first five visitors—an implication that nothing in our lives is certain.
BACC
This year, BAB has taken over the seventh to ninth floors of BACC. The seventh and eighth floors display various art disciplines, from paintings, to installations and sculptures, to motion pictures, alongside an interactive video game created by computer graphics group Uninspired by Current Events. Like their many other works, this piece takes a jab at many Thai social issues in a tongue-in-cheek yet critically shrewd fashion.
Don’t forget to pop onto the ninth floor to view artwork by local artists from northern Thailand, who use their thought-provoking art to shed a light on the environmental crisis.
Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC)
The newly renovated QSNCC has also contributed some of its space for exhibitions. Maitree Siriboon's larger-than-life pink buffalo sculpture dubbed Mai Roo Arai Loey (which means “know nothing” in Thai) welcomes visitors on the ground floor, who can then go on to look at more than 50 artworks scattered around B2, including Pinaree Sanpitak’s eye-popping installation Anything Can Break (2011). The artist hung countless paper cubes and breast-shaped glasses from the ceiling alongside motion sensors to render the experience more immersive.
Another highlight is The Eye of the Storm (2022) by Japanese visual artist Chiharu Shiota. The striking installation combines paper and red thread to represent a calm, unpredictable storm, supposedly a metaphor for the mental state of humans.
The Bangkok Art Biennale 2022 runs until 23 February 2023. For more information and to see the complete line-up of artists and artworks, visit its official website.
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