The Collector | Is Bangkok Art and Culture Centre’s funding cut politically motivated?
A year after the Bangkok city government stopped granting funds set aside for the centre, it’s fate hangs in the balance
In an era of state cutbacks in culture, it is not unusual for a public art institute to be short of money. But the situation that Thailand’s biggest public art gallery finds itself in is unusual, and extreme.
On September 26, the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre’s director, Pawit Mahasarinand, received a “final demand” from the water department that said the BACC had two months of unpaid bills and was about to have its supply cut off.
“Coincidentally, that was the day we were holding a press conference about how the sudden withdrawal of government funding was putting our future in jeopardy,” Pawit says. “A lot of people’s reaction was that it was ridiculous. How can a government-owned building get its water cut off?”
It should have been a good year for the BACC, often described as Thailand’s Guggenheim Museum because of the dramatic spiral walkway connecting the upper floors. The nine-storey art centre, which includes galleries, performance spaces and a library, is celebrating its 10th anniversary – it drew a record 1.8 million visitors over the past year – and it is playing host to Bangkok’s first major international art biennale.
On October 17, a huge crowd gathered at the centre for the Bangkok Art Biennale’s opening ceremony, which featured performance artist Marina Abramovic, with works by 25 out of the 75 artists taking part in the multivenue biennale on display around them. Choi Jeong-hwa’s giant Basket Tower (2018) hung all the way down the central atrium.
“People may come in now and think the situation is normal. It’s my job to make them think so,” Pawit says in his office, away from the hubbub of the VIP opening. “But without the [Bangkok Art Biennale], I wouldn’t have had the money to create any exhibitions here and people wouldn’t be coming.”
