Bangkok Art Biennale 2024: where ancient temples meet modern art
The fourth edition of the event at the Thai capital runs until February 25, 2025, and features over 240 works by 76 artists across 11 venues
When it comes to Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, the namesake giant statue, and the surrounding chedis inlaid with kaleidoscopic mosaics, are some of the standard sights. What aren’t typical are the sounds of Italian opera wafting from within the high ceilings of the chapel, part of an installation by Thai artist Nakrob Moonmanas. The work is part of the 2024 Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB), which opened on October 24 and runs until February 25, with more than 240 works by 76 artists on display in 11 venues across the Thai capital.
As the first winter breezes drift through the city, it is the perfect season to explore the fourth iteration of BAB, with attendance set to surpass the inaugural 2018 edition, which clocked more than two million visitors. The second biennale, in 2020, was plagued by Covid-19, with numbers dropping to 500,000, and the third, in 2022, was still suffering from a pandemic hangover.
“This year has started off really buzzy, like the first edition, signalling that Covid is completely gone and tourism can resume,” says Pojai Akratanakul, one of the four curators of BAB 2024. “We had 100,000 visitors in just the first 10 days.”
BAB artistic director Dr Apinan Poshyananda says, “Compared to five years ago, the art scene in Thailand has grown to where there is enough talent and knowledge to support our art ecosystem. The fact that we have held BAB every two years continuously keeps galleries, museums and art spaces on their toes.”
Given the world’s current preoccupation with climate change, BAB’s theme, “Nurture Gaia”, comes at an opportune time. Referring to the Greek goddess of Earth, the etymology has evolved into many forms, and with participating artists representing 39 countries, the theme encapsulates everything from mythology and ecology to feminism, healing and self-care, all striving to achieve harmony with nature.
“It’s not a new subject, we’ve been talking about this over the past 20 years – that the world is in crisis,” says Apinan. “We’re at a point where nature, society and politics are deteriorating, so we chose this theme to reflect the state of the world. Not all art is beautiful, but it makes you reflect on things and provides intellectual stimulation. The question always goes back to whether art heals, and the answer is yes, it does.”
