Bangkok Art Biennale at Wat Arun
I had thought of the lack of material culture in Buddhism, compared with other religions, as a ‘lack’. Buddhist music, dance and visual art, what there is of it, is pretty meager. But now I see it as an opportunity, a wide open space to create whatever we want, contemporary, radical art, even the avant garde. Indeed, because of the (dare I say it) ‘conceptual’ nature of Buddhist thought, I expect Buddhist art to champion ‘conceptual’ art, what we normally think of as modern or abstract art.
The Bangkok Art Biennale festival in Thailand does precisely that, and with stunning results. Bangkok Art Biennale brings contemporary art to Bangkok’s Buddhist Temples and other public spaces in the City. “Taking place from October 19 [2018] until February 3 of next year[2019], guests can expect a showcase of over 200 masterpieces by 75 Thai and international artists. The Bangkok Art Biennale follows the theme ‘Beyond Bliss’.” (Asia Tatler)
The BAB Foundation’s mission is to engage and inspire diverse Thai, ASEAN and international audiences by actively fostering recognition and appreciation of contemporary art exhibitions know as Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB). Foundation in 2017, this non-profit foundation :
I was particularly intrigued by the work of Sanitas Pradittasnee, a landscape architect whose whose environmental installation, ‘Across the Universe and Beyond’, was arranged on the grounds of the Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn in Bangkok.
Engage! 
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