Philip Cornwel-Smith

Like your culture raw and sensual? Bangkok’s first world-class art collection, Dib Bangkok, has just opened. While biennales have brought brief glimpses of works by top foreign artists, we at last have a destination art museum.  The late art aficionado Petch Osathanugrah had collected over a thousand major works by prominent artists. Their showcase occupies a quiet soi between the glitz of Ekamai and the grunge of Khlong Toey. After Petch died unexpectedly, his son Purat ‘Chang’ Osathanugrah completed the project with his father’s chosen architect and director. The result is spectacular.  Photograph: Philip Cornwel-Smith It all looks very sleek, but Dib actually means ‘raw.’ The museum’s mission seeks ‘raw authenticity.’ Its inaugural exhibition ‘(In)visible Presence’ is all about drama, texture and sparking raw response. The 81 works by 40 artists stimulate the senses, whether aromatic herbs, kinetic sculpture, sound art, spaces coloured by the weather or art you can sit on.  ‘(In)visible Presence’ also pays tribute to Petch, an impish character who used to be a pop star. Overseeing Dib from a ledge in the cafe, his startling portrait ‘statue’ is a plastic doll likeness playing guitar ‘in the raw.’   Photograph: Philip Cornwel-Smith Dib literally opens with a bang. A baseball bat lies chained to a long white wall lining the entrance. The Australian Marco Fusinato called it ‘Constellations’ due to the shattering marks made when visitors smash that bat into the pristine pl