“We are a young biennale,” he says. “To postpone it will mean missing the rhythm of holding it every two years. We want to give assurance and confidence that Bangkok is a place to come when the pandemic is over.”

As for the protests raging on the streets, Poshyananda says they “add more spice” to the biennale’s theme, “Escape Route”.

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Thai protesters turn Bangkok street into catwalk to mock princess’s fashion show

Thai protesters turn Bangkok street into catwalk to mock princess’s fashion show

“There are often protests just outside the main venue, the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, where Yoko Ono’s symbols of peace and activism are displayed,” he says, referring to the Japanese artist’s video recordings of her performances of Cut Piece in 1965 and 2003, in which she invites members of the audience to cut off and keep pieces of the clothes she had on. “So outside the centre, people are expressing themselves in a way that sometimes becomes art actions. Inside the art space, they can reflect on what’s going on outside.”

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HIDDEN AGENDA?

Its stated mission is unapologetically pragmatic: to attract high-quality, cultural tourists to Thailand. The 2018 biennale “stimulated” 4.5 billion baht (US$144 million) of tourist spending, according to the organisers, and drew more than 3 million local and international visitors. The BAB does receive government support, which allows it to place art within some of Thailand’s most venerated Buddhist temples and to arrange for overseas artists such as Indonesian performance artist Melati Suryodarmo to attend in person despite strict restrictions on foreigners entering the country.

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However, it is the sidestepping of direct confrontation with authorities – such as Poshyananda’s promise to the Chinese contingent – that makes the artistic integrity of the BAB suspect in the eyes of its critics.

There has been a lot of debate on social media among Thai artists about whether they should participate in an event that is seen as bringing prestige and legitimacy to the institutions that stand in the way of change in Thailand, says Bart Wissink, associate professor in urban studies and urban policy at City University of Hong Kong.

Wissink, the co-writer of a critical academic paper about the BAB with independent art historian Lara van Meeteren, says Poshyananda cynically manipulates public opinion to conceal the event’s hidden agenda.

“He projects an image of being critical. He knows that that is crucial for the biennale’s image,” he says. “But the BAB is in fact an example of the dramatic appropriation of art by corporates and the state to maintain the status quo.”

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“He is pretending the BAB does not show allegiance to the monarchy, but that is nonsense,” he says. “The princess did the ribbon-cutting with soldiers giving the military salute in the background. She could not have done that in a private capacity.”

The BAB may seem relatively tame compared with other art exhibitions being held in the Thai capital at the same time. The grass roots, decentralised Bangkok Biennial, also in its second edition, uses as its logo the pro-democracy plaque that protesters installed in a public square in September before it was removed.

At the Tang Contemporary Art Bangkok gallery, a solo exhibition of Chinese artist Ai’s works includes The Defacing Marks of Colored Pigment Thrown onto Mao Zedong’s Portrait in May 1989, Tiananmen Square (2019), which represents a lot more risk-taking by the curator than Ai’s Law of the Journey (2016), the sculpture of an overcrowded lifeboat full of refugees picked for the BAB.

‘BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS’

Thongchai says it was a hard decision given that she had worked since last year on putting together Dear Family, a taboo-breaking video installation about sex workers that is being shown in the Wat Prayoon temple complex.

“When I agreed to take part in the BAB, nobody imagined that we would be having these protests today,” she says. “At the same time, it is an opportunity for a female artist like myself to speak freely. My work also forms a small part of what we are protesting for. It is about bringing secret discussions into the open and breaking down the barriers of Thailand’s social fabric.”

The footage of former sex workers – including the artist’s own sister – speaking frankly about their stories to friends and families is all the more powerful because they are shown in the temple’s prayer hall, which Thongchai hopes can help “normalise” the conversation about prostitution.

“As one of the participating artists, I think it’s even stronger when we use our position in order to criticise the system we are working in or living in and be aware of it all the time,” she says.

However, Thongchai is aware the BAB has been criticised as government propaganda, and she adds that in the future, she will have to think about whether to take part in a similar event.

The debate over the BAB raises the fundamental question of what an international art exhibition is for, apart from attracting tourists and projecting a nation’s soft power.

Jane, a 22-year-old Bangkok university student majoring in business who asked to be identified only by her first name, was inspired to visit the Ai solo exhibition at the Tang Contemporary Art Gallery after seeing his work at the BAB on Sunday.

At the end of the day, Jane thinks the BAB fulfils the local demand to see contemporary art, but she also hopes that political change will happen and that greater freedom will allow the arts to thrive in the country.

“The protesters take to the street calling for a better political environment. I think that if Thailand’s politics were better, we can have more room for art,” she says.

Additional reporting by Jitsiree Thongnoi