Bangkok Art Biennale 2024: your ultimate guide

Why go? The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre is the main venue for the Biennale, featuring the largest collection of artworks. Spanning the seventh to ninth floors, the exhibition presents 142 pieces and seven artefacts, offering a dynamic range of sculptures, paintings and video installations.

The venue sheds light on 33 artists including Singaporean Amanda Heng, best known for her groundbreaking performances that confront gender stereotypes and explore Asian femininity and Thai surrealist-fantastic artist princess Marsi Paribatra, renowned for her paintings reflecting the universal truth of life and death.

Don’t miss: You Are Mine, a work by Italian artist Daniela Comani, who plays with the language of media and news, altering words and images to explore themes of gender and patriarchy. For the Bangkok Art Biennale, Comani has created a special piece that flips the genders in news reports about femicide, encouraging everyone to think about the issue of domestic violence – something that’s still a concern in Thailand.

Get there: Take the BTS Skytrain to the National Stadium station, where you can access the venue via the skywalk on the third floor.

Why go? The G floor has been transformed into an art space displaying 15 artworks by 10 artists. Most notably on show are works by French artist Adel Abdessemed, known for transforming everyday materials into commentaries on identity and conflict; Isaac Chong Wei, whose performances and installations explore collective memory and social justice; and Prasong Luemuang, whose intricate works reflect on Thai culture and spirituality.

Don’t miss: Telle mère, tel fils (Like Mother, Like Son) by Adel Abdessemed, featuring three airplanes with cockpits and tails crafted from inflated felt. Their twisted forms recall the artist's mother's pastry-making technique, creating a comforting maternal connection. By reimagining the phrase ‘like father, like son’ as ‘like mother, like son,’ Abdessemed transforms metal debris into a personal and meaningful experience, placing the mother at the heart of the artwork.

Get there: Take the MRT to Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre station. 

Why go? This new lifestyle hub brings art into city life with seven works, including installations by renowned artists like Sir Tony Cragg, a British sculptor known for his exploration of form and material in large-scale sculptures and Anish Kapoor, a British-Indian artist famous for monumental, reflective works that challenge perception and engage with the void.

Don’t miss: S-Curve by Anish Kapoor, a public sculpture in the Art Loop at One Bangkok. Crafted from mirror-polished stainless steel, its concave and convex shapes distort and magnify the surrounding environment. As you move around it, S-Curve creates optical illusions, drawing you into a world where humans, nature and architecture intertwine in a poetic dance.

Get there: Take the MRT to Lumphini station.

Why go? The National Museum has been enlivened with 34 contemporary artworks alongside 89 items from its central storage. The curators have intentionally placed replicas among the genuine pieces, inviting visitors to uncover which are real and which are not. Amongst them is an adorable sculpture of Moo Deng, the celebrity baby pygmy hippo.

Don’t miss: Fish, Fire, Fallout, an installation by Thai artist Nakrob Moonmanas. He creates contemporary artworks from segments of history and literature entangled with narratives and world history. In this piece, Nakrob combines the museum's history with doomsday themes from the ancient Thai literature Traibhumikatha and the environmental crises of the Anthropocene era. Using fish sculptures, ancient artefacts and mixed media, his work offers an alternative narrative that invites you to re-examine the past in a new light. 

Get there: Take the Chao Phraya Express Boat to Maharaj, Chang or Banglamphu Pier and walk for 20 minutes.

Why go? Housed in the former Royal Thai Mint on Chao Fa Road, this historical building showcases 54 artworks and four artefacts. 13 artists contributed work to this venue including Agnes Arellano, a Filipino sculptor who challenges traditional representations of the human form and its symbolic connections to the divine and the earthly and WISHULADA a Thai artist and social activist who creates art from many kinds of waste materials. 

Don’t miss:

Project Pleiades, an installation by Agnes Arellano. In this art piece, she interprets the theme of ‘Nurture Gaia’ through four goddesses – Inanna, Dakini, Kali and Magdalene. While you may be familiar with these goddesses, Arellano reimagines them in unfamiliar forms, inviting everyone to explore the rich and diverse nature of feminine divinity across cultures. Drawing inspiration from mythology, world religions, archaeological evidence, surrealism and science fiction, she encourages contemplation on their shared strengths and complexities.

Get there: Take the Chao Phraya Express Boat to Phra Arthit Pier and walk for 10 minutes.

Why go? Central World is home to an installation by Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa, whose pieces draw inspiration from the harmony and chaos of urban life. His playful artistic approach brings a touch of creativity to the casual setting of this mega-shopping complex. 

Don’t miss: Breathing, a vibrant installation of fruits, vegetables and a blooming lotus. It acts like a temple, inviting visitors to be mindful of their inhalations and exhalations. It embodies the concept that ‘I am your mother, you are my mother, I am your child and you are my child.’ This installation is a perfect fit for the hectic lifestyle of the city as it offers a moment of calm for those who pass by.

Get there: Take the BTS to Siam Station and walk for 10 minutes via the skywalk that connects to Central World.

Why go? At Museum Siam you can explore the national identity of Thailand while appreciating four artworks by five artists such as Bruce Asbestos, a British artist whose work blends painting, sculpture, popular culture and folklore.

Don’t miss:  Eye of Newt, an installation by Bruce Asbestos featuring large eyeballs that evoke the playful vibe of a kids' theme park. Inspired by frogspawn and the idea of change, these wobbly, touchable eyeballs invite you to interact with them. Asbestos believes this helps connect with the basic forms from which nature evolves. 

Get there: Take the MRT to Sanam Chai Station and walk for five minutes or take the Chao Phraya Express Boat to Tha Tian Pier and walk for seven minutes.

Why go? The oldest temple in Bangkok hosts three artworks by three artists, each subtly placed within the temple to encourage reflection amidst the ancient architecture. Featured is the legendary Louise Bourgeois, one of the most celebrated sculptors of the 20th century. You might recognise her iconic Maman sculpture, a towering 30-foot-high spider made of bronze, steel and marble.

Don’t miss: Eyes (1995) by Louise Bourgeois presents a pair of carved granite spheres that invite introspection. Often called the 'windows to the soul,' the Eyes face the temple’s famous giant golden Reclining Buddha, which is partially visible through the temple’s window. While Eyes can suggest themes of seduction and voyeurism, it also offers a deeper connection to insight and Dhamma. The nearby bodhi tree, in the peaceful sanctuary, adds to the serene atmosphere, making it a space for quiet reflection.

Get there: Take the MRT to Sanam Chai Station and walk for eight minutes or take the Chao Phraya Express Boat to Tha Tian Pier and walk for three minutes.

Why go? Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn, invites everyone to appreciate Bangkok’s rich culture, architecture and history. Enhancing this experience, Thai artist Haritorn Akarapat brings his deep Buddhist background to life with an installation designed specifically for the Biennale. The works interact with natural light, complementing the temple’s iconic white tones and adding a contemporary layer to this sacred space.

Don’t miss: The Horde, a group of 15 fibreglass sculptures, ranging from two to five metres high, arranged in a mob-like formation that invites visitors to step inside and stroll. Inspired by primitive and sacred arts, the phallic shapes of the sculptures could be associated with the Lingam, a symbol of divine generative energy. However, Akarapat leaves the shapes open to interpretation, encouraging everyone to feel the work and form their own ideas rather than focus on its symbolism.

Get there: Take the Chao Phraya Express Boat to Tha Tien Pier, which is near Wat Pho and take a short walk to the ferry that crosses to Wat Arun.

Why go? Known for its peaceful gardens and white chedi, this temple showcases two pieces by two artists – Lello Esposito, an Italian sculptor who explores the relationship between contemporary art and tradition, often reinterpreting symbols from Neapolitan culture and Jessica Segall, an American artist whose work explores environmental and social issues through immersive installations that engage with the natural world. 

Don’t miss: (un)common intimacy, a two-channel video installation by Jessica Segall, set in a temple hall. In the video, the artist interacts with large predators like tigers and alligators in various US states. With her hyper-feminine style, Segall evokes a gentle, contemplative bond between humans and animals, offering a contrast to the usual spectacle of control and entertainment that these creatures often face.

Get there:Take the Chao Phraya Express Boat to Yodpiman Pier and walk for 10 minutes.

Why go? Wat Bowon, a temple known for its blend of Thai, Chinese, and European architectural influences, is the site of an installation by Taiwanese artist Cole Lu who combines historical and literary references with personal experiences in his work.

Don’t miss: The Engineers, an installation that challenges the idea of engineers as the creators of humanity and delves into the origins of social hierarchies. The work features two large, arched gateways made from Neem wood and linen, reflecting the temple's original architecture. By using fire to mark his gestures, Lu draws from historical texts, myths and ancient artefacts, encouraging us to think about time, history, memory and the concept of home.

Get there:

Take the MRT to Sam Yot Station and walk for 10 minutes.