Stefano Rabolli Pansera on Building Thailand’s Next Big Art Destinations

Within less than a year, Bangkok Kunsthalle has cemented itself as one of Thailand’s leading art institutions. Bangkok-based art patron Marisa Chearavanont opened the multidisciplinary space in January, taking over an abandoned printing house in Chinatown. Besides mounting experimental exhibitions, the space hosts artist residency program as well as residencies for curators. The Kunsthalle is part of an ambitious not-for-profit enterprise Khao Yai Art, helmed by Founding Director Stefano Rabolli Pansera. We spoke with Pansera to learn more about the organisation's activities in Thailand and the film program he is curating for ART SG.

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Interview by Payal Uttam

Bangkok Kunsthalle, External View. Courtesy of Khao Yai Art.

Can you introduce Khao Yai Art?

Stefano Rabolli Pansera (SRP): It is a new paradigm of an institution with two expressions: Bangkok Kunsthalle in the city center and Khao Yai Art Forest in the middle of the forest of Khao Yai, which will open in February 2025. The area is three hours north of Bangkok. It’s one of Thailand’s largest national parks and has incredible biodiversity. It is a paradise. The idea is to experiment with artworks in a natural setting.

The Art Forest and Bangkok Kunsthalle respond to a specific brief about healing as a curatorial mandate. Healing is also a spatial and architectural mandate. In the forest, we are taking care of nature. We are replanting trees, dealing directly with nature, and following directions set by artists. In Bangkok, we are restoring the building floor by floor by engaging with artists [and inviting them to stage exhibitions]. Installing each of their works allows us to care for a different area or floor of the building. The domestication of the building is happening gradually. Growth finds its own form. We are using the building as a canvas.

The Engineers, 2024, by Cole Lu, Installation View, Courtesy of Khao Yai Art.

What sets Bangkok Kunsthalle apart from other institutions?

SRP: The fact that the curatorial program is the architectural project—we are using the space to challenge artists to make something completely new. We hope that embracing the unique conditions of the Kunsthalle or the Khao Yoi Art Forest opens up a new trajectory in artists’ production.

Could you share an example?

SRP: Yoko Ono’s [performance] work Mend Piece, where visitors are invited to sit to mend and heal broken fragments of ceramics. The work is originally from 1966, and it was generally staged with a table for six to eight people, but when I spoke with Yoko Ono’s studio, I explained that a small table would be irrelevant in this context. I suggested we try a long table for 80 people, and they accepted. When you see this extraordinary table in our space, it’s not a table anymore. When we have 80 people sitting and working, you have the impression that this is like a public square. It has never been done at this scale. In this sense, the artwork almost changes its DNA and evolves because of the context of the Kunsthalle and Bangkok.

Stefano Rabolli Pansera

Why are initiatives like Khao Yai Art important in the context of Thailand’s art ecosystem?

SRP: It is important because we want to invite international artists who have never really exhibited in Thailand before or in the region of Southeast Asia. We want to invite Thai artists to produce work they could not make in other institutions. We want Bangkok Kunsthalle to [enrich] Bangkok’s dynamic art scene. There are extraordinary artists with whom we hope to collaborate. Some new museums and institutions are about to open in the city. Every institution contributes to the life of the country’s cultural scene.

Thailand is incredibly rich in creativity, artists and historical legacy but still suffers from some insularity. This is partly due to the language and the alphabet, which makes it difficult to even Google [information about artists and shows]. By offering a platform for visibility by inviting international curators to come here for our residency program and inviting foreign institutions to support Thai artists, we hope to create more opportunities to reveal more about this beautiful culture.

You have a background as an architect and you have worked all over the world, why is it an exciting time to be helming an art institution in Southeast Asia?

SRP: What is fascinating is the margin of growth I see in the region and Thailand, especially in Bangkok. I have the impression that the best is yet to come. This feeling percolates throughout all the aspects of the program. It is visible in the enthusiasm of visitors. When we opened the Korakrit Arunanondchai exhibition, we had around 1000 visitors a day for two months, a completely staggering figure, which we were not even prepared to welcome. It was an incredible response. This type of energy makes me confident that Southeast Asia is the next big thing.

Madrid Circle, 1988, by Richard Long, Aerial View. Courtesy of Khao Yai Art.

You are passionate about video art and also serve as the artistic director of the St. Moritz Art Film Festival. Why do you think it’s important to highlight the genre of moving image at this fair in Southeast Asia?

SRP: I think video art is one of the most relevant mediums today. Southeast Asia has some extraordinary schools, like what is happening in Thailand with Apichatpong Weerasethakul and what is happening in the Philippines, which is an interesting laboratory of new aesthetics. I am positive that [ video art from these regions ] could be appreciated more. Some of the content, ideas and intuitions that [artists are exploring] through moving image works couldn’t be expressed in any other form, which is so inspiring and powerful.

Fog Forest, 2024, by Fujiko Nakaya, Panoramic View. Courtesy of Khao Yai Art.

Can you introduce the film program ‘By Artists, On Artists,’ which you curated for ART SG?

SRP: For ART SG, I really wanted to work on a program which focuses on education. Instead of just showing films by artists, I wanted to have a hybrid program of films on artists and films by artists. Film and moving image are very challenging mediums at the fair because people do not have the time to sit and enjoy. Visitors who come to the fair want to see as many booths as possible in one day. The idea of sitting for 20 minutes to watch a film is challenging. Yet showing films on artists with a [strong] narrative makes it easier to watch. They are poetic movies that could be inspiring. For example, we will show a film on [Swiss artist] Not Vital, produced in 2023, which explores the practice of an artist who works in countries all over the world. His studio is the planet. We are also showing a work by [the late Korean artist] Nam June Paik, who explores the idea of a studio in the digital realm.

In addition, we will show more technical films by artists that are closer to the theme of video art. The dialog [between the two genres] could spark new ideas and attract a larger audience.

ART SG’s 2025 FILM Program, By Artists, On Artists, curated by Stefano Rabolli Pansera will be screened daily at the ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands, from 17 to 19 January 2025. View the full program here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: PAYAL UTTAM

Payal Uttam is a freelance journalist who has been covering art and design across the globe for more than a decade. Her work has appeared in publications including: CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Quartz, Artsy and The Art Newspaper among other titles. She divides her time between Hong Kong and Singapore.