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Bangkok Art & Culture Centre

The Bangkok Art & Culture Centre’s rotunda’s walls display paintings by emerging Thai artists.

One of Bangkok’s not so hidden gems is the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC). It’s across the street from the Mah Boon Krong shopping mall (MBK), with an entrance from the BTS walkway, so it is easy to find and easy to get to. I’m not a big patron of the arts. But am, obviously, a fan of acronyms. Which ever of the two rocks your boat, a visit to the BACC is a great way to spend a few hours in Bangkok.

A contemporary art museum, the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre does not offer a staid display of historical bits and pieces but rather a series of galleries showcasing the talent of emerging local artists, many of who are students. The museum’s exhibits, spread through nine floors, change frequently as do the smaller displays contained within a series of rooms on each floor.

Even for those who are not major art lovers there is always something there that will delight. You’d think it would get more traffic as accessible as it is, but most touri seem to want to spend their time praying to the gods of consumerism instead. Shame. Their loss.

I discovered the place several years ago during a day accomplishing nothing with Noom, my bar boy friend and current love of my life. We’d spent the day challenging each other to take the other guy somewhere in Bangkok he’d not been. The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre was one of my choices. It has since become one of the spots in town we visit over and over again. The art displayed there is engaging, many of the major exhibits are interactive. The Centre’s goal is to bring art to the masses. Visit with a Thai, and all exhibits are interactive.

On our first visit, a series of painting hung along the rotunda’s walls. Noom decided part of the viewing experience included touching. More used to visiting art galleries and museums in the Western world my first instinct was to screech, “Don’t touch that!” But I quickly got a hold of myself and considered since no alarms were blaring and no guards were running in our direction, maybe in Thailand art can be touched. Maybe the locals realize for some, art appreciation requires physical contact. So Noom petted the paintings tracing brush strokes across their surface. And then proceeded to feel-up every painting and statue we came across. Part of my enjoyment of visiting the museum with Noom now is watching him experience the art.

Bangkok Art & Culture Centre

The Bangkok Art & Culture Centre’s spiral staircase and escalators conveniently lead visitors to appreciate the works that are exhibited on each of the nine floors open to the public.

On one trip one of the smaller exhibit rooms, which frequently change, had a few large people-sized paintings displayed, done if vivid acrylics and oils; a mass of colors and movement competing for attention and yet seamlessly blending into a whole. One was of Ganesha, the elephant god, Noom’s personal savior. To say he was excited is an understatement. To say we spent an hour gazing at that painting doesn’t quite cover it either. Considering his usual enjoyment of whatever is on display by touching and fondling, I was a bit worried. The boy was so excited I thought he might start humping the piece. But instead, he folded his arms, tucking his hands away as he stared in wonder. Art may be touched, a god deserves more respect.

The first time we visited, there was a large exhibit on the upper floor that consisted of paintings and sculpture depicting the modern world of Bangkok. Many of the pieces were whimsical, all played on the idea of the technology of today meeting the Thai capital city of the past. The exhibit was a fun experience, an excellent attempt to encourage among the uninitiated an interest in art.

On our first visit, most of the smaller rooms on the lower floors were empty; a few had small exhibits, mostly paintings from a few local artists. Now, more of the smaller rooms contain exhibits, a cafe has opened in one room, and an art supply store in another. It’s nice to see that not only do the exhibits change frequently, but that the museum is growing and responding to the interests of the local artist community.

Bangkok Art & Culture Centre

A large acylic and oil painting of Ganesha still ranks as Noom’s favorite piece of art.

It seems the museum has reached out to college-age artists and has become a gathering spot offering a place for them to meet. And occasionally sell some of their art. I’ve even seen a few tables set up around the rotunda where local artists sell craftwork; not the ‘crafts’ for sale at every street market in town but unusual and contemporary pieces that truly are unique. I’ve marked the place down as a good spot to do lots of my Christmas shopping.

I dropped in one afternoon on my own, without Noom. It just wasn’t the same. Sure I got to spend more time looking at the art that interested me and did not have to stand patiently looking at something that held no interest. But is just wasn’t the same. Noom is expressive. His energy infuses a visit with a degree of wonder. A piece of sculpture that would only earn a momentary glance from me will fascinate him for hours. Watching his enjoyment adds to the experience. He doesn’t realize it, but he’s a piece of performance art in his own right.

It is difficult to visit Thailand often without being aware of the royal family. The King’s picture is everywhere. The royals’ numerous appearances are covered daily on TV, usually being handed offerings by men in uniform or groups of Thais wearing matching attire. Noom translates the event, not so much about what is happening as much as which royal it is and how she (as it is almost always one of the princesses) is viewed by the Thai people. That always starts with, “The Thai people lub the King.” Then it progresses to the amount of love, or lack thereof, the people hold for that specific member of the royal family.

So the Thai people are not so much in love with the King’s son, but then he rarely gets TV time. The princesses, on the other hand, gets lots of lub. Evidently, the fat one, the dyke, is highly favored, The thin one who weighs in at about 80 lbs, with 40 lbs of that being lip, is also lubbed a lot. But not quite as much as the chubby dyke. When the one who isn’t officially a princess anymore makes an appearance, Noom’s lub talk is more about her lub than the Thai people’s, as he tries to explain her current standing in the country and in the hearts of the locals. Evidently she gave up her crown to marry the man she loved and move to America but has since divorced him and returned to Thailand. She’s the more attractive of the three daughters.

Bangkok Art & Culture Centre

Princess Nariratana’s ‘Soft Power” photography exhibition showcased her ‘innerwear’ collection.

There’s also the ex-wife as well as the current wife of the crown prince to throw into the mix of princesses. And a young and happening princess, the King’s granddaughter. Lots of princesses in Thailand, even before you step into a ladyboy bar. And they all have long multi-syllable names with a confusing mix of too many consonants. So I know them by looks, more than by name. Which caused a bit of confusion the last time Noom and I visited the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.

The main exhibit was a retrospective display of work by Princess Sirindhorn (aka the dyke). A gifted photographer, the exhibit was supposed to be of her many pictures under the banner of ‘The Colors of Life’, or so I believed. But the exhibit we entered, proudly presented by the princess, was not a photographical review. It was all about underwear. Women’s underwear. On scantily dressed models. I had a difficult time equating the fat princess with the interactive multi-room exhibit, other than her rumored love of women. But such an obvious bit of proof seemed unlikely, kinda like if Tom Cruise agreed to be the cover model on The Advocate.

The exhibit was well done, a path led through a number of rooms, each done in a different theme, each gorgeously lit to highlight some of the princesses’ work. One room was done all in reds and rose petals, another a dark eerie cavern of hellish looking blossoms. One of the areas between rooms used lights and video to simulate a body of water with photographs flowing across the floor.

Only one part of the exhibit really played up the underwear line, the others paid tribute through artistic representations of women. In bras. It was beautiful and fascinating and both Noom and I enjoyed it greatly. But still, I was confused. So when we left I tried to make some sense out of it through Noom.

“I don’t understand, Princess Sirindhorn makes underwear?”

Noom laughed uproariously. Stupid farang! “Not Princess Sirindhorn, Princess Nariratana!” he crowed.

As much as I like to see my boy enjoying himself, even when it is at my expense, the confusing names failed to clarify why the suspected dyke was putting on an exhibit about her love of women.

Noom figured out I couldn’t tell one princess from the other, at least by name. “Not like women,” he explained. “Granddaughter.”

Seems the museum was honored with not one but two princess exhibits that day. Both were billed as photography exhibits. Princess Sirindhorn’s exhibit was still another two floor above us. And no where as near as fascinating as the underwear one.

performance art

Performance art is not overlooked at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. This piece involved a woman stuffing sheets of paper rolled into tubes, and roses, into a seated man’s mouth. I‘m sure it had some deep meaning, but to me and the group of locals watching it was more about how many she’d be able to cram in.

Now whenever one of the princesses appears on TV, Noom starts giggling, which quickly tuns into a braying laugh, “Not dyke!” he giggles if the princess is any other one than the dyke I can easy recognize by her girth. Noom lubs the royal family and like most Thais usually shows a great deal of respect. But sometimes, it’s more important to razz a farang than display the proper amount of decorum to a royal princess.

(The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre is open 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. every day but Monday. There is no admission fee, though donations are accepted. The 3rd floor entrance is connected to the BTS train platform at the National Stadium station, just across from the entrance to Tokyu.)

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