This article was originally published in Spike Magazine in 2019.

By any account, there is an immediately palpable energy in the independent art scene in Bangkok. Depending on who you ask, in 2018, there was anywhere between 4 – 6 (or possibly more!) biennales, or large-scale exhibitions in the country all happening in the space of a few months, or overlapping: the corporate-sponsored Bangkok Art Biennale, the Ministry of Culture’s Thailand Biennale, the artist-run GHOST:2561 Festival and the Bangkok Biennial, the hybrid Khon Kaen Manifesto – the list goes on. Of course, this lack of a single consensus narrative is certainly a marker of the scene. The scene in the city, and in the country in general seem to be moving at different entangled velocities and scales all at once, and is unable (or unwilling) to agree on its own histories. As curator and scholar David Teh writes, there is yet to be written a definitive canon of contemporary Thai art. It would be wildly inaccurate to say that the Thai art scene is “finally” coming to international attention (which usually means that the roving Eye of Sauron of Western art institutions has found another ‘exotic’ location to colonize). As Teh further argues, citing such figures as Rikrit Tiruvanija, Thai contemporary art has always developed in the midst of international networks, in both Western institutional and Asian self-organized contexts (the 1990s Chiang Mai Social Installation group being a prime example of the latter). Perhaps it’s the promise of elections in 2019, signaling the return of a cautious hope; or new generations of practitioners coming into, but the last year alone has seen the number of  new project spaces in the city skyrocket, spreading particularly around the Chareon Krung and Sukhumvit areas of Bangkok. This fact may seem surprising, given the almost total lack of public funding or indeed market support, in the context of a country ruled by a military junta, (who took over in a coup in 2014) and with strict lèse-majesté laws. An exception to this lack of public support is the presently embattled Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre (BACC), helmed by Pawit Mahasarinand. Located in the new centre of the city at Siam square, the BACC continues to be a strong source of support for the local scene, with interesting exhibitions and performance program, despite its current precarious condition. Its flagship Early Years Projects showcases some of the most exciting young voices in the scene.

 The BACC aside, the current churning of the Bangkok scene is led by a fleet of independent spaces and non-profits, both the older, more established spaces, and newer ones, as well as a small handful of galleries. Possibly the most prominent non-profit institution in the city is the Jim Thompson Art Centre (JTAC), a stone’s throw away from the BACC. Located in the heritage compound of the Jim Thompson House, the Art Centre, set up by philanthropist and collector Eric Booth, who also established MAIIAM in Chiang Mai, is helmed by Gridthiya ‘Jeab’ Gaweewong (who was also one of the curators of the Gwangju Biennale in 2018). Currently set to open an extended wing later in the year, past exhibitions at the JTAC include Soil and Stones, Souls and Songs (curated by Cosmin Costinas and Inti Guerreo) and People, Money, Ghosts (curated by Roger Nelson), while MAIIAM hosted ‘Serenity of Madness’, a large-scale retrospective of the work of experimental filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, curated by Gaweewong. It is also strongly involved in research into Thai contemporary art history, recently collaborating with Afterall to produce a volume on the Chiang Mai Social Installation group. 

 In the independent scene, the N22 precinct (named after its address on Naradhiwas Soi 22) has become a hub for young and experimental practitioners. Composed of Tentacles Art Space, which also hosts the city’s only open residency program  and is directed by Henry Tan, VER Gallery (established by Rikrit Tiruvanija), Cartel Artspace (established by artist Mit Jai In), and Artist+Run (established by artist Angkrit Ajchariyasophon) and the artist studios of Takerng Pattanopas, Ruangsak Anuwatwimon and Kamol Phaosavadi. N22 shares a warehouse space with a fish-sauce factory, in the middle of an upper middle class neighbourhood. Each space at N22 has a distinct approach: VER shows mostly mid-career and established artists in the Thai scene, such as Phaosavadi, or Wantanee Siripattananuntkul in its main room, and younger, experimental artists in its project space; Tentacles is dedicated to supporting a new generation of artists in Thailand, while simultaneously maintaining an incredibly international program; Cartel acts as a platform for left-aligned politics and for projects critical of the current regime, while Artist+Run focuses on new experiments in painting. 

 Not far from N22, near Lumphini Park – once a popular protest site – is Bangkok CityCity Gallery, established by partners Akapol ‘Op’ Sudasana and Supamas ‘Luktan’ Phahulo. Named after a lyric by artist Korakrit Arunanandachoi, the gallery has increasingly taken on the role of a non-profit institution, most significantly by launching the Ghost:2561 festival, the first edition of which took place in 2018. Curated by Arunanandachoi, the festival brought together established names such as Hito Steyerl, the DIS Collective, Samson Young, Boychild with younger Thai practitioners such as Chulayarnnon Siriphol and Thanapol Virulhakul, and took place in multiple venues across the city, including N22 and the Subhashok Art Centre, was free and open to the public. Aside from its impressive roster of shows, which recently included impressive solos by Pratchaya Phinthong and Nawin Rawanchaikul, CityCity also hosts the Bangkok Art Book Fair, an important forum for self-publishing in the region, and beyond. 

 On Chareon Krung Road, in the Chinatown area, the Speedy Grandma project space, run by artist and designer Unchalee ‘Lee’ Anantawat (who also runs the independent publishing house POOP Press) is another site shaping contemporary movements in the scene, having for a long time given a space to young artists who didn’t necessarily fit into the institutional landscape. Significanly, Anantawat and small group of artists also initiated and ran the guerilla, rhizomatic Bangkok Biennial, which occurred from June – October 2018 and became a site for the release of a great deal of pent up energy among younger practitioners. Organized by open call, the Biennial had pavilions across not just the city, but beyond, including projects in Pattani, in the south of Thailand, and in spaces in Europe. Several spaces that began as ‘pavilions’ eventually became project spaces in their own right, such as Sangnual lap (run by Napat Vatanakuljaras) and CONDO Artspace, in the outskirts of the city. 

 The independent art scene has provided a significant for navigating Thailand’s complex, and often oppressive, political reality. An important example of this is the Reading Room, in Silom, headed by Narawan ‘Kyo’ Pathomvat, an art library and multidisciplinary project space whose programme brings together artists, cinephiles, activists and academics of a leftist persuasion. The Reading Room recently concluded ‘Solidarities’ a discursive and screening series aimed at connecting student movements across Southeast Asia. WTF Gallery and Café, directed by Somrak Sila, in Sukhumvit, is another important space dedicated to dissident voices, with shows that offer commentary on contemporary Thai politics, including projects such a Proxy (curated by Josef Ng) and Conflicted Visions (which included work by artists such as Miti Ruangkritiya, Pisitakun Kuantalaeng). Showing or discussing politically charged content does not come without its consequences, and both directrices have faced military surveillance and censorship. 

 With the long-promised elections finally around the corner – the first since the military junta took over in 2014 – there is a feeling of cautious optimism in the air. But as Gridthiya ‘Jeab’ Gaweewong commented, with her characteristic sense of humour, when I was interviewing her for this article, “ In Thailand, every five years, just like Germany has documenta, we have a military coup d’etat.”