The art exhibition entitled ‘The Spirits of Maritime Crossing’, which is part of this year’s Venice Biennale, includes works from over a dozen Southeast Asian talents, six of whom hail from Thailand. The curator of this compelling group show is Prof. Dr. Apinan Poshyananda, who talks with Prestige about the art, and the artists, that are going to really get people talking.
On April 20, the 60th edition of the Biennale Di Venezia will open to the public and continue until November 24. The theme of this year’s Venice Biennale is ‘Stranieri Ovunque’ – or ‘Foreigners Everywhere’ – and it’s a concept that certainly reflects the artworks being presented here by the Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB) Foundation, in a unique group art exhibition called ‘The Spirits of Maritime Crossing’.
Curated by Prof. Dr. Apinan Poshyananda, who also happens to be the Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the BAB, the show highlights themes of displacement, diaspora, colonialism, and hybrids of diverse cultures across Southeast Asia. Of the 15 artists taking part, six are from Thailand and eight are from the greater ASEAN region (one each representing Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, The Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Malaysia). The 15th, mean while – hailing from Serbia – is the captivating performance artist extraordinaire Marina Abramović, who stars in the film The Spirits of Maritime Crossing (which began filming in Thailand during BAB 2022). In conversation with Prestige, Dr. Apinan discusses both how this exhibition came about, and which artists are bound to get people talking.
