September 2025

Bangkok Kunsthalle and Khao Yai Art Forest.

By Camilla Boemio

Tosh Basco,

It’s a new season for Bangkok as it turns into an international capital of contemporary art. The Bangkok Kunsthalle and the Khao Yai Art Forest aim to present works by contemporary artists and revitalize the relationship with nature through learning, curation, and active participation, by exploring the boundary between domestication and caring for. I had a conversation with curator Stefano Rabolli Pansera about all of these issues. Stefano worked for three years at the Herzog & de Meuron studio in Basel. In 2013, he and Paula Nascimento co-curated the Angola pavillion, a first-time exhibitor, winning the Golden Lion of La Biennale for best pavilion, with ‘Luanda, Encyclopedic City’ which occupied two floors of the Palazzo Cini.

They are “specular” not only in their geographical positioning—city versus forest—but also in their programming. Both are driven by the same philosophy: to create spaces where contemporary art can engage profoundly with its context.

Camilla Boemio: In less than a year, Bangkok Kunsthalle has established itself as one of Thailand’s leading art institutions. Bangkok Kunsthalle is located in the city centre, while Khao Yai Art Forest is set deep in the Khao Yai forest, a remarkably poetic place. They mirror each other, even in programming. Can you tell us more?

Stefano Rabolli Pansera: Khao Yai Art Co, Ltd. —which encompasses both Bangkok Kunsthalle and Khao Yai Art Forest—is, above all, a geopolitical project. Its ambition is to position Thailand as a leading cultural voice on the global stage.

Bangkok Kunsthalle and Khao Yai Art Forest are two complementary facets of the same vision. Both institutions share a fundamental ethos of healing and care, and they apply a method that subverts conventional practice. Instead of first completing an architectural framework and then placing artworks inside it, here the artworks come first. In fact, artworks are conceived as primary interventions that shape the architecture and determine the surrounding landscape.

Bangkok Kunsthalle sits within the vibrant urban fabric of the city, while Khao Yai Art Forest is immersed in the natural landscape. They are “specular” not only in their geographical positioning—city versus forest—but also in their programming. Both are driven by the same philosophy: to create spaces where contemporary art can engage profoundly with its context.

In Bangkok, this means activating the urban jungle through artist-led interventions that transform the space both physically and conceptually. In Khao Yai, it involves inviting artists to work with the forest as a living, breathing entity, allowing nature itself to become part of the creative process. Together, these two sites explore how art can heal, transform, and redefine the relationship between artwork and its environment.

Yael Bartana, Generation Ship, 2024, 3D model 410 x 410 x 700 cm, courtesy of Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam; Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv; Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milan; Petzel Gallery, New York; Capitain Petzel, Berlin and Cecilia Hillström Gallery, Stockholm, photo: Andrea Rosetti

Yael Bartana, Generation Ship, 2024, 3D model 410 x 410 x 700 cm, courtesy of Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam; Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv; Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milan; Petzel Gallery, New York; Capitain Petzel, Berlin and Cecilia Hillström Gallery, Stockholm, photo: Andrea Rosetti

CB: What does it mean to make contemporary art in Thailand today and to create a new ecosystem? What sets Bangkok Kunsthalle apart from other institutions?

SRP: Making contemporary art in Thailand today means inventing new institutional models capable of engaging with a rapidly evolving cultural, social, and political landscape. Conventional Western models—whether museums or sculpture parks—often fall short of capturing the complexities of Thai reality. The challenge lies in honouring the country’s layered histories while creating new spaces for experimentation and dialogue. The goal is not merely to display art, but to build a genuine ecosystem: supporting artists, fostering critical discourse, and connecting the local scene with the global art world.

What sets Bangkok Kunsthalle apart is its radical artist-first philosophy. It is not simply a showcase but a site of production. Artists are not merely invited to exhibit; they are entrusted with the freedom—and the responsibility—to transform the architecture, the atmosphere, and even the identity of the space. The Kunsthalle functions as a fluid platform rather than a fixed institution, enabling installations that redefine both the physical and conceptual boundaries of the building.

Moreover, Bangkok Kunsthalle consciously positions itself as a bridge between Thai and international artists, fostering exchange and collaboration. It is more than an art venue—it is an incubator for new cultural narratives. In many ways, the Kunsthalle is a gift for the rebels: a space where artists can challenge conventions, re-imagine possibilities, and shape the future of contemporary art in Thailand.

Yael Bartana, Zamach (Assassination), 2011, video still, courtesy of Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam; Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv; Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milan; Petzel Gallery, New York; Capitain Petzel, Berlin and Cecilia Hillström Gallery, Stockholm

CB: How much does the architecture of Bangkok Kunsthalle embody a specific way of thinking about architecture?

SRP: Bangkok Kunsthalle embodies a new architectural epistemology—an approach not founded on imposing form onto a passive, pre-existing structure but on dwelling within and adapting the building, exhibition by exhibition, floor by floor, through the work of artists.

Here, architecture grows organically, unfolding in tandem with the curatorial programme. The architect’s role shifts fundamentally: rather than designing fixed forms, the architect creates the conditions and space for events and artistic interventions to emerge. “Making room” is, in essence, what I find myself doing, both as curator and as architect.

The architecture of Bangkok Kunsthalle is conceived not as a neutral container but as an active participant in the artistic process. It reflects the idea of “domestication” rather than restoration or preservation. Rather than enforcing a pristine, static aesthetic, the building evolves through artists’ interventions. Walls become canvases for installations, floors are domesticated by artworks, and architectural elements are transformed or revealed through creative acts. This approach embraces the notion that architecture is not fixed but dynamic—a living space open to continuous reinvention. It’s a model that challenges traditional hierarchies between art and architecture, placing the artist at the very centre of the building’s ongoing transformation.

Erika Blumenfeld, 336 drawings from Encyclopedia of Trajectories, 2017-ongoing, finely ground 23.75 karat gold in gum Arabic on Arches Aquarelle Watercolor Hot Pressed 140lb paper, 10.25 x 14.25 inches each; Installation view at the Rauschenberg Residency, Captiva, FL, February 2018; Courtesy of the artist and Inman Gallery, Houston. Photo: Erika Blumenfeld

CB: Upcoming events (from September onwards)?

SRP: From September onwards, Bangkok Kunsthalle and Khao Yai Art Forest will continue to expand their ambitious programming.

At Bangkok Kunsthalle, the focus will be on the concepts of production and dwelling, with four special exhibitions:

Spencer Sweeney will spend three months working inside the Kunsthalle, transforming an entire floor into his studio, which will be open to the public. Here, the exhibition becomes a performance—a living process of creation.
“Description Without a Place” will feature Absalon’s Six Cells, exploring notions of territory without land and the relationship between body, space, and freedom.
“Mapping the Studio” by Bruce Nauman offers a radical reflection on the studio as a site of experimentation, proposing that art can occur even in the absence of the artist—a powerful metaphor for the Kunsthalle’s architectural philosophy, where space itself becomes active and generative.
An exhibition dedicated to Hans Josephsohn, highlighting his sculptural language and distinctive approach to the human figure.

At Khao Yai Art Forest, the Land Art 2.0 trajectory continues to evolve. Following the installation by Fujiko Nakaya, the next major commission will be Delcy Morelos, who will create a 300-metre-long table transforming an existing excavation into a rock garden, further exploring the forest as an active, nurturing entity rather than a passive backdrop.

Additionally, there will be:

A series of film screenings and talks as part of the St. Moritz Art Film Festival’s satellite events in Bangkok, centred on the theme “Emerging Virtualities.”
Collaborative projects with international institutions, aiming to foster dialogue and partnerships between Thai artists and the global art scene.

These upcoming projects reflect our ongoing commitment to experimentation, dialogue, and redefining the relationship between art and architecture, and between exhibition and production.

Stefano Rabolli Pansera, Bangkok Kunsthalle

Stefano Rabolli Pansera, currently the Director of Bangkok Kunsthalle and Khao Yai Art Forest; founder and director of St. Moritz Art Film Festival, is an architect and curator. After working with Herzog de Meuron in Basel from 2005 to 2007, he taught at the Architectural Association School of Architecture as Unit Master for six years. In 2013, Stefano Rabolli Pansera founded Beyond Entropy Ltd, a curatorial agency operating in Africa and Asia. In 2013, he was the recipient of the Golden Lion for best national participation at the Angola Pavilion at the Venice Biennial. In 2015, he designed the Mangiabarche open-air gallery and directed the exhibition program for the MACC Museum in Sardinia. From 2017 until 2022, Stefano Rabolli Pansera worked as director for Hauser & Wirth Gallery in London and St. Moritz.

Camilla Boemio is an internationally published author, curator, and member of the AICA (International Arts Critics) based in Rome. In 2013, Boemio was the co-associate curator of PORTABLE NATION: Disappearance as Work in Progress – Approaches to Ecological Romanticism, the Maldives Pavilion at the 55th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia. In 2016, Boemio curated Diminished Capacity, the First Nigerian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Her recent curatorial projects include her role as co-associate curator at Pera + Flora + Fauna. The Story of Indigenousness and The Ownership of History, an official collateral event at the 59th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia, 2022. Invitations to speak include the Tate Liverpool, MUSE Science Museum, and the Cambridge Festival 2021 at Crassh, in the UK.