Thai arts scene - what happens once the initial spark fades?

Bangkok does not yet have its own biennial. However, next week the Land of Smiles will roar onto the scene in the same spirit as its fellow Asian cities with its own first-ever international arts festival, which will be held at the newly opened Bangkok Art and Culture Centre at the Pathumwan intersection. The Bangkok show was timed to coincide with the other Asian festivals currently taking place.

Serving as a soft launch for Bangkok's own eventual biennial, the show, "Traces of the Siamese Smile: Art+Faith+Politics+Love", will feature 300 works by 80 Thai artists and 20 foreign ones. Kicking off on Tuesday, the three-month show will cost the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and the Contemporary Art and Culture Office (OCAC) Bt20 million. The organisers hope that international curators, art critics and media outlets will put the Bangkok festival on their itineraries due to it being timed around other big Asian festivals and that they will take the opportunity to promote Thai art globally.

OCAC director Apinan Poshyananda is wearing two hats as chairman of the board at the centre and artistic director for the show. As is the norm with biennials, Apinan teamed up with local curators to select artwork to be featured on the 3,500 square-metres of exhibition space on floors seven to nine of the centre, which have been set aside for the show. The curators who selected the artists and their works being shown include Sansern Milindasuta of Bangkok University, Sutee Kunavichayanont of Silpakorn University and Songwit Pimpakan of Khon Kaen University.

Blending the modern and the traditional, the festival will feature contemporary paintings, sculptures, installation art, photography, multimedia exhibits and treasures of the Kingdom from the National Museum, such as Ayutthaya-period statues of the Buddha. There will also be innovative works created specifically for the exhibition. All works will be interconnected and tell the story of the "Siamese Smile" through art, faith, politics and love, tracking the country's history through an artistic lens.

Thai heavyweight artists whose work will be on display include Thawan Duchanee, Chalood Nimsamer, Chalermchai Kositpipat, Chatchai Puipia, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Kamol Phaosawasdi, Surasi Kusolwong, Navin Rawanchaikul, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook and Manit Sriwanichpoom. Established juniors to be featured include Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Montri Toemsombat, Wit Pimkanjanapong and Yuree Kensaku.

International artists whose work will be on display at the exhibition include Louise Bourgeois, Nobuyoshi Araki, Marina Abramovic, Yoshitomo Nara, David Mach and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The three-month exhibition will also feature educational activities, including artist talks, workshops and seminars. Apinan spent millions of baht to bring artists like Choi Jeong-Hwa, Mette Tronvoll and Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba to town especially for this show.

Most of the featured works by local artists were not created specifically for the exhibition, although some site-specific works have been created by Rirkrit Tiravanija and Surasi Kusolwong.

While many art critics contend that the hosting of international arts festivals is just part of the political games that take place in the art world, many international curators say they are looking forward to seeing what Bangkok does with its event. Surely they want to see some of the work produced by top Thai artists who are currently hopping around international fests like Rirkrit, Navin, Surasi, Araya, Manit, Wit and Apichatpong. They want to see how these internationally acclaimed Thais are going to do back in their homeland. They also are searching for emerging artists. Moreover, international art critics and curators want to see how Apinan and his team have interpreted the duties of a curator in the Thai context.

Thailand does indeed have its own "Thai style". While art scenes in Europe, the US, Japan, China, Korea and Singapore have been strongly supported by their respective governments, the Thai contemporary art scene has just started to lay down its foundation. Rather than being supported by the government, the scene here began just about 11 years ago and it was shaped by a loose-knit bunch of non-profit organisations and artist-run-space groups. Despite those humble roots, the scene has gone on to excite both international curators and critics alike.

It wasn't until the founding of the Culture Ministry in 2002 that the Kingdom really started to have an arts institution. At least we now have the new arts centre in Pathuman, which took 11 years of pressure from artists, art lovers and cultural experts along with Bt500 million to complete.

The local arts scene promises to be so exciting during the three months of the "Siamese Smile" show. Many Thais, however, wonder what will happen next, as the centre opened without permanent staff.

After opening its doors in late July, the centre has slowly run a few exhibitions, including that featured at the centre's opening - a photography exhibition by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, plus photo competitions. The mini-auditorium's debut event, the 12th annual Short Films and Video Festival hosted by the Thai Film Foundation, was a success.

The 11-storey centre is still mostly empty. According to acting director Chatvichai Promadhattavedi, other than the exhibition space on the seventh, eighth and ninth floors, other facilities including a library, cafes and shops will soon be finished. The process of searching for permanent staff to take care of the centre's administration will be the next major task. Finding financial support to augment the funds provided by the BMA has also become a major concern.

Once the beautiful storm that is the "Siamese Smile" passes, we may not be smiling unless we can see a clear vision of the future for our long-awaited arts centre.