An Expanded Approach: Navigating the Contemporary Art Eco-System in Bangkok
This panel explores the intricacies of expanding the contemporary Thai art eco-system beyond Bangkok. Speakers discuss how soft power, collaboration and partnerships play vital roles within this narrative. The discussion will also explore Prof Dr. Apinan Poshyananda’s film, The Spirits of Maritime Crossing, featuring Marina Abramović and Pichet Klunchun, which premiered at the St Moritz Art Film Festival 2023, directed by Stefano Rabolli-Pansera.
Speakers
Dr Apinan Poshyananda – Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Bangkok Art Biennale
Stefano Rabolli-Pansera – Director, Bangkok Kunsthalle
Moderated by:
Tan Siuli – Independent Curator
Dr Apinan Poshyananda – Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Bangkok Art Biennale
Professor Dr. Apinan Poshyananda was born in 1956. He received his Bachelor and Master Degree in Fine Arts from Edinburgh University and Ph.D. in History of Art from Cornell University. As an artist, he won 3 medals at the National Exhibition of Art, Thailand. Poshyananda is the author of several books on Thai and Asian art. He became professor at the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. Poshyananda served as Director-General, Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Director-General of Cultural Promotion Department and, the Permanent Secretary and Acting Minister, Ministry of Culture, Thailand when he was to commission and curate the first Thai Pavilion at 50th Venice Biennale in 2003.
He has curated and directed international art exhibitions in Asia, Europe, USA and Australia including Contemporary Art from Asia: Traditions/Tensions (1996, Grey Art Gallery, Queen Museum of Art, and Asia Society Galleries, New York); Traces of Siamese Smile: Art + Faith + Politic + Love (2008, the inaugural exhibition of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC)); Thailand Eye (2015, Saatchi Gallery, London and BACC). He is a committee member of the Asian Cultural Council, New York; Asian Art Council, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Board of National Gallery, Singapore; and Advisor to President and CEO, Thai Beverage Plc.
He was conferred Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant, Thailand; Knight First Class of Royal Order of the Polar Star, Sweden; Knight, Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, Italy and Officer of the French Arts and Letters Order, France.
Stefano Rabolli-Pansera – Director, Bangkok Kunsthalle
Stefano Rabolli Pansera is the director of Bangkok Kunsthalle.
He is an architect and curator. After graduating with Honours at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London in 2005, he worked with Herzog de Meuron in Basel from 2005 to 2007 and he taught at the AA as Unit Master from 2007 to 2011. In 2013, he founded Beyond Entropy Ltd, a curatorial agency operating at the threshold of art, architecture and geopolitics and developing projects in Africa, Europe and the Mediterranean coastline.
He curated several national pavilions at La Biennale di Venezia and, in 2013, he was the recipient of the Golden Lion for best national participation for the Angola Pavilion. In 2015, he designed Mangiabarche open-air gallery and directed the exhibition programme for the MACC, a non-for-profit space in the South West of Sardinia. From 2017 until 2022, Stefano worked as director for Hauser & Wirth Gallery in London and opened the Hauser & Wirth Gallery in St. Moritz, while developing institutional projects with Christoph Büchel and with the Panza Collection.
He is the founder and Artistic Director of the St.Moritz Art Film Festival.
Tan Siuli – Independent Curator
Tan Siuli is an independent curator with over a decade of experience encompassing the research, presentation and commissioning of contemporary art from Southeast Asia. Major exhibition projects include two editions of the Singapore Biennale (2013 and 2016), inter-institutional traveling exhibitions, as well as mentoring and commissioning platforms such as the President’s Young Talents exhibition series. She has also lectured on Museum-based learning and Southeast Asian art history at institutes of higher learning in Singapore. Her recent speaking engagements include presentations on Southeast Asian contemporary art at Frieze Academy London and Bloomberg’s Brilliant Ideas series.