Bangkok – The New International Artists’ Colony

[sabaijai]

Bangkok – The New International Artists’ Colony

30 April 2009

Lecture by Anette Pollner

This talk is based on my own experience as a writer and music theatre director in Bangkok and on my interviews with other artists who have come to live and work here. Although I would never have guessed it when I first arrived, during the last few years Bangkok has become an international hub for creative people, a kind of spontaneous artists’ colony in the way that British artists used to go to the South of France in the 19th century, or American artists to Paris. This includes painters, musicians, writers and performing artists of all kinds.

Of course, Bangkok already has an exciting media industry, known internationally for its cutting edge commercials which attract the best directors from all over the world. Thai movies have also made an impression at major festivals and Thai paintings can be found in many museums and galleries.

But in this talk I will mainly focus on those artists who choose to come and create their work here in Bangkok, although they could have gone to any other place on this planet. What is it that attracts us here, what is it that supports and ignites our creativity, and what gives us the living conditions we need? (Because we artists are a special breed, we need the right conditions to thrive. If not, we get blocked, or sad, or lazy, and lose the artistic impetus.)

Many of us come here to create, while the audience for our work tends to be both here and in other countries. But some of us have found artistic opportunities here that don’t exist in the places we come from.

So, what are the ingredients artists need to create, and why is Bangkok such a good place for us? In my interviews with contemporary artists from all over the world living and working in Bangkok today I asked them this question: What does an artist need? In my lecture I will share the answers with you.

This cover image of Bangkok Blondes is an apt symbol, the collection of stories by the Bangkok Women’s Writers Group, now a Thai English language best seller. It is one of the products of Bangkok as an artists’ colony. You, the audience, are also part of this exciting development, and I hope you will come to my talk, listen to our experience as artists and ask many questions.

Anette Pollner is a writer and theatre director from Europe, who is currently living and working in Bangkok. Her novel ‘The Company of Frogs’ was shortlisted for the “long barn first novel prize” in the UK in 2007 and she is working on her third novel right now. She is the editor and co-author of Bangkok Blondes by the Bangkok Women’s Writers Group. She has also directed operas, including Puccini’s ‘Turandot’ for the Bangkok Opera, and is exhaustively involved in the Bangkok performing arts scene.

All lectures are held in the auditorium of the National Museum Bangkok,

Na Phrathat Rd,

Phra Nakorn District, Bangkok 10200

Located between Thammasat University and The National Theatre, opposite Sanam Luang

Lectures begin at 10:00am.

Donation: Members 100 baht, guests 150 baht.

For further information:

http://www.museumvolunteersbkk.net/html/homes/12May09.html

[wasabi]

I love complaining about Bangkok but I could definitely see it being fertile ground for an art project of just about any kind.

[bangkapiboy]

What a great lecture topic.