These two days just happens to be Thailand's annual Water festival, if you come to northern Thailand friends may wish to go to Chiang Rai, catch the last chance to visit the Thailand Biennale before the end of April!

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🔸 is very suitable for those who come to Chiang Rai for the first time. Follow the Biennale route to visit not only classic and niche attractions, but also beautiful works of art. Praise 👍🏻.
🔹 There are 10 places to place artworks in Chiang Rai, and you can basically see most of the artworks within 2 days. Of course, if you have 3 days, you can go further north to Chiang Saen, where there are also 7 places to place artworks.

📅 2023.12.9-2024.4.30

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1. The Old Chiang Rai City Hall

Lin Minghong's installation "Weekend Weekend" is a giant fabric tightly wrapped around the surface of the building. This building is the old City Hall of Chiang Rai, and it also marks the modernizing reforms of King Rama V of Thailand, which introduced the Western concept of state and territorial division. On the other hand, the textile brings together the totems and colors of several important hill tribes in the Golden Triangle region, and as a craft tradition, this kind of fabric is often used to commemorate the existence of some alliances and communities.

Under the framework of the Thai Biennale, the works "Fabric symbolizing tribe" and "Architecture symbolizing centralization and reform" combine the two opposing forces of centralization and lower class, and interrogate and explore the function of contemporary art and culture in the context of the controversial Golden Triangle region.

Upon arriving in Thailand, Lin Minghong became interested in the old Chiang Rai City Hall, built during the reign of King Rama V, with its typical Western architectural style. At the same time, there are 30 native ethnic groups in Chiang Rai. Therefore, the artist extracted the totems of each tribe in Chiang Rai and put them together to weave them into a large-scale art work. As a result, this site-specific installation covers the entire building of the old City Hall like a giant billboard.

Taiwanese artist Michael Lin's works based on local tribal totems are displayed on the exterior wall of the old City Hall. Convenient location in the city center. The main reason for the recommendation is because he is an artist represented by our gallery!

2. Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park, Queen Dowager Garden
This is far away, an hour and a half drive from Chiang Rai. Known as the "fairyland on earth", "secret garden" of the Empress Dowmother's garden, where the flowers, I just stepped into, then completely immersed in the fresh and charming sea of flowers there. The palace and garden of the Empress Dowager, like the Summer Palace, were once the place where the Thai royal family lived and lived. A park where people would hardly come if it wasn't for the Biennale. The works here are in the light of nature: the sound of the Mekong River, the surrounding feng shui, the sound of the water.

3. Black House Museum

The Black House Museum was originally the residence and studio of Thai artist Thawa Duchanne, and you can see a lot of his collection. He also built the "Baan Dam", or black house, in his native Nam Rai district. This architectural masterpiece became his home for the rest of his life, where he created many wonderful works of art until his death in 2014. Today, it is a famous local art museum, where people from all over the world come to admire the unique works of art, learn about what he left behind and get inspired by it. With art, his life and breath, Thawan continued to paint even when he was ill. He kept working during his hospital stay, and his last creation was a painting of a horse.

It is also a very famous local attraction. Most of the works in the biennale here are related to local legends and religions, and it is interesting that all the artists here are women.

4. Chiang Rai International Art Museum

This is a typical gallery exhibition, although there are some outdoor works but most of them are inside the museum. But the funny thing is that at a certain time there was a raffle for Tuguldur Yondonjamts' artwork (the prize was a roll to hand in 🎞) and lucky for me I got it.

5. Cherntawan International Meditation Center

According to reports, it is a place where Thai locals are accepted to practice. The whole area is very large and basically outdoor.

6. White Temple

The biennale art itself is not particularly interesting. But compared to the Blue Temple in the old town, the White Temple is obviously worth visiting. The temple has been under construction since 1997.