In the shadowed folds of Bangkok’s Rama 3, just behind the neat lines of KingSquare Community, there’s TEA Art Hub, a warehouse that becomes something else. TEA Art Weekend arrives without fanfare, unfolding across two afternoons on August 23-24. It is free, yes, but more importantly, it is magnetic in the way good art exhibitions often are.
This event was featured on our ‘things to do’ list last week, and what sets TEA Art Weekend apart is its devotion to East Asian art. It’s not simply a collection; it’s an invitation to listen – to see how culture travels through brushstrokes, clay, fabric and film, and how these expressions ripple quietly beyond borders.
Half the warehouse is given over to a hybrid cinema-performance space. Open-air-style screenings, live shows and music, with food and drinks scattered around, encourage slow engagement rather than rush. Films can end, songs can start and you can drift through both without feeling you have to choose.
Featured artists include Ken Yutdanai, Hup.Ceramic, Studio Garage and Sauce Harrison, while ic.lab.bangkok transforms old clothing into imaginative fashion objects – shirts become tote bags, each stitch a gentle reminder of reinvention.
Film highlights are just as considered. Saturday presents four short animated pieces before the Oscar-winning Drive My Car. Sunday screens Mori, The Artist’s Habitat, a biopic of Japanese painter Morikazu Kumaga, alongside the visionary animated cult classic Paprika.
TEA Art Weekend is not about spectacle or urgency. It’s a weekend to move slowly, let films, music and visual art intersect, and allow the city’s noise to fade for a while. It’s a space where attention itself becomes the most rewarding form of participation.