Published on July 23, 2005

The announcement by Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin early this month that the ambitious Bangkok Art and Culture Centre at the Pathumwan intersection would open by the end of 2006 signalled a new start and a chance for the local art community and the city government to bury the hatchet and start working together.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will launch the Bt438-million centre on Thursday, at Benjasiri Park on Sukhumvit Road, with a series of activities to promote art and culture in this metropolis.

The plan to create a city art centre at the bustling Pathumwan intersection, where contemporary art, popular culture and consumerism converge, has been long in the making. The art centre project was initiated back in 1996 when Bhichit Rattakul was governor. The project received strong support from Kraisak Chonhavan, Bhichit’s adviser at the time. A group of artists led by Chumpol Apisuk, Manit Sriwanichpoom and Vasan Sitthiket, along with academics, proposed building an arts centre.

The project, which has been on and off for the past several years, will finally be completed next year thanks to the persistent lobbying of a group of artists and impresarios. They have made effective use of public pressure through public hearings, public awareness campaigns, demonstrations, schmoozing politicians in the corridors of power and forming partnerships with the mass media.

The art advocates’ well-organised campaign to secure a commitment from the Bangkok governor is a rare phenomenon. Despite sharing common interests, members of different sectors of Thai society rarely unite to push for their demands.

The project is a good example of a civil movement that has taken part in helping to build a cultural foundation in our society, instead of leaving it all to government bureaucrats to do as they please without listening to what the public really wants. That type of attitude has led to a difference in what the people want and what the government delivers. This new emerging civic-mindedness will make sure that the government is more accountable to the public.

“This art centre is a pioneer project in which the community, artists, and government will work together,” Apirak said.

To avoid potential management problems when the current governor finishes his term, the centre will run by a non-profit organisation, the Art & Culture Foundation of Bangkok. Members of the organisation include artists, culture experts and administrators. While the BMA will also partly fund the centre, the non-profit administration team will raise funds for its operation. Last week, the Bangkok governor and his team sat down with a group of artists at a meeting room in city hall. Led by Kraisak, the Art & Culture Foundation and city hall officials produced a memorandum related to the role of arts and culture in Thai society that covered four topics.

The first item discussed in the memorandum was the mission of the art centre as an institution to promote and support art and culture. The second point outlined in the memorandum focused on the Constitution as it relates to art and culture, while the third focused on relevant sections of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Act (1985). Finally the memorandum outlined the international commitment of the United Nations to promoting the arts.

Yuttapan Meechai, the secretary for the foundation, added: “While construction is under way on the nearly three-rai plot of land at Pathumwan intersection, the BMA has already prepared outreach programmes to educate the general public.”

The outreach programmes will include films, music, communal activities and performing-arts festivals held between October and December of this year and the International Arts Expo scheduled for January 2006.

This long movement has proven that the city has a strong base of support for arts and culture. Prior to the opening of the arts centre next year, there will be many more discussion between the government and relevant parties. As taxpayers we should keep an eye on this phenomena. Let’s shape our society together.

Phatarawadee Phataranawik

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