The director
“People have been misunderstood in the role of director of BACC. If your realization of BACC were the exhibitions, then the spearheader of BACC would be the head of the exhibition department, who has been showcasing great art over the years. But that’s not what BACC is all about. It’s like a body with many organs— from exhibition halls to shops to event spaces to parking lots to a water purification facility— and my role is to unite them and connect them together. Art exhibitions alone could never drive BACC to achieve its goal as a social cultural center. Last year, BACC received 1.7 million visitors, which sounds spectacular, right? But when you compare the figure to Bangkok’s population of 10 million (5.6 million, exclusive of those who reside in the city for work purposes), I could imply that most of Bangkokians have never been to BACC—and bringing them here is my goal.”
Pawit Mahasarinand (right)is the director of BACC. He’s currently in the hot seat due to an argument between the art center and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).
The former director
“It’s been 10 years for BACC, but if it were a human, it would only be a kid. It needs more time to become established. We have to understand that art appreciation isn’t something that’s born within us, nor does it lie on rigid ground like the sciences. So besides being a platform, BACC also educates people. BACC serves many purposes. While we’ve been serving as a recreation space, we also create human resources in art fields. BACC was born from the ground up—the model of an arts center that we’d never had in Thailand. It was born from the needs of artists and civil society. So the question is, do we deserve support? I do expect support from the community, if they see the same thing we do, if they see what we have been trying to do these past years, if we repay them well—because I think we do. I do wish society would be more active on the subject, to push forward in saving the center. On our side, we also need to work harder to make the people feel the same, then encourage them to stand for our existence.”
Lakana Kunavichayanont (left) spent six years with BACC as the center’s longest-serving director. She was the force behind various initiatives that shaped BACC into what it is today. Lakana is now one of the curators of Bangkok’s very first upcoming biennale.
Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok