Bangkok Art and Culture Centre

Rating: 3.1/5 (9 votes)

Operating day: Tuesday - Sunday

Operating time: 10.00 - 21.00

 

Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (styled "bacc") is a contemporary arts centre in Bangkok, Thailand. Art, music, theatre, film, design and cultural/educational events take place in its exhibition and performance spaces.

 

The centre includes cafes, commercial art galleries, bookshops, craft shops and an art library. It is intended as a venue for cultural exchange in terms of content, curatorial and cultural management, giving Bangkok an operational base on the international art scene.

 

The plans for a contemporary art museum in Bangkok were initiated by Bangkok governor Bhichit Rattakul. Construction started in 2000, but was later halted due to funding problems, the opposition of the next governor, a reactionary politician named Samak Sundaravej, and alleged corruption.

 

In 2005, the project was restarted and was completed after three years of construction. Located in the heart of downtown Bangkok, the centre has an interior with nine floors arranged around a circular atrium. Originally named Bangkok Metropolitan Museum of Contemporary Art (BMOCA), it was renamed Bangkok Art and Culture Centre before opening.

 

It opened in July 2008 with the inaugural exhibition "Always Roaming with a Hungry Heart" of photos by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, demonstrating the Thai attachment to royal connections rather than artistic excellence.

 

The bacc aims to create a meeting place for artists, to provide cultural programmes for the community giving importance to cultural continuity from past to contemporary. It aims to open new grounds for cultural dialogue, networking, and create new cultural resources from both the public and the private sectors.