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The Thailand Phuket Biennale 2025 turns old sites, forgotten histories and global voices into one large, unusual and island-wide exhibition.

For travelers heading to Phuket who want more than sun, sea and sand, the Thailand Biennale Phuket 2025 shows a completely different side of the island. Exhibitions are staged in unexpected settings such as abandoned shophouses, former industrial sites and quiet corners – not your typical art venues, which is precisely the point. By placing contemporary art in spaces marked by history and change, the Biennale draws attention to areas many visitors might otherwise miss.

Now in its fourth edition, the Biennale features 65 artists and collectives from 25 countries. The event is organized by Thailand’s Office of Contemporary Art and Culture under the Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with Phuket Province, local cultural groups, and the Phuket Art Association. The event is part of a national program that rotates large-scale contemporary art exhibitions between provinces. Previous editions took place in Krabi, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Chiang Rai.

The Biennale takes place across a diverse array of venues across Phuket.

The Biennale is led by four curators. Thai artist Arin Rungjang serves as artistic director alongside art scholar David Teh, joined by project curator Marisa Phandharakrajadej and curator and writer Hera Chan. Together they have created a program that reflects Phuket’s rich history, including its lesser known past as a tin mining center. Their approach is research driven and site specific, encouraging artists to spend time on the island and work with local communities rather than simply install finished pieces.

The curators (from left to right): Marisa Phandharakrajadej, David Teh, Arin Rungjang and Hera Chan.

For this edition of the Biennale, the curators have chosen to explore the idea of deep time under the theme ‘Eternal Kalpa’. In Buddhist thought, a kalpa is an immense cycle of time. The concept highlights how Phuket exists across overlapping time scales – from its geological and environmental history to its mining era, migration and trade routes, tourism growth, and daily life today. The exhibition considers how communities, memory, and the natural environment influence one another, inviting visitors to see the island not only as a beach destination but as a place shaped by long histories and ongoing change.

Work on view at the Mellow Pillow Hotel.

This focus continues in the artist lineup, which includes Thai and international participants. Many conducted research on site, speaking with residents, historians, and environmental specialists. Some projects extend beyond art spaces to include coral studies, seagrass restoration, and efforts to attract birdlife back to unused structures. Workshops, student projects, and collaborations with neighborhood groups are also central to the program, reinforcing the connection between art and local context.

Within this international mix, artists from Japan play a strong role. Their works engage closely with questions of time, memory, and environmental change, each offering a distinct perspective.

Eiji Sumi, a multidisciplinary artist based in Bangkok, has created an installation called ‘Whisper of the Forest’. Using light, movement, and suspended synthetic blossoms, his installation occupies a once neglected urban space and draws attention to fragile mangrove ecosystems. The work encourages viewers to slow down and notice subtle shifts in light and air. Known for combining scientific ideas with a sense of play, Sumi offers a quiet reflection on renewal and care for threatened ecosystems.

Artist Eiji Sumi.

'Whisper of the Forest’ highlights the vulnerability of mangrove ecosystems.

A different perspective comes from the late Taeko Tomiyama, whose work was shaped by decades of political and historical engagement. Throughout her career, she examined the effects of war, colonialism, and gendered violence across Asia. In later years, especially after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, she turned toward environmental concerns. Her series ‘Hiruko and the Puppeteers’ blends myth with social critique, asking how societies respond to crisis and responsibility. At the Biennale in Phuket, the series is shown at the former Bangkok Bank Commercial building, a site repurposed for the exhibition, where it connects with the island’s own history of resource extraction and rapid change.

Artist and writer Taeko Tomiyama, known for her socially engaged work on war memory and women’s experiences in Asia.

Tomiyama Taeko’s ‘A Tale of Sea Wanderers’.

One of the most striking shows by a Japanese artist at the Biennale is by Shiro Takatani. Known for creating immersive environments that combine light, sound, space, and movement, he presents a collaboration with the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Shown in the 4,000-seat gymnasium at Saphan Hin Park in Phuket Town, the work transforms the large hall into a contemplative space. Instead of presenting a single object to look at, the installation invites visitors to slow down and become aware of time passing. It reflects on cycles of decay and renewal in line with the Biennale’s wider focus on memory, nature, and deep time. Takatani’s work almost feels like a quiet retreat within the exhibition, creating space for calm concentration and reflection, gently reinforcing the idea that inner awareness and the surrounding environment are closely connected.

Shiro Takatani presents an immersive installation created with the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.

The island-wide exhibitions runs until the end of April 2026, unfolding across historic buildings, natural landscapes, and public spaces throughout Phuket. Moving between these sites becomes part of the experience, echoing the Biennale’s focus on time, memory, and place. As one curator noted, “We wanted people to feel the island, not just look at it.” Another reflected, “Phuket carries so many stories at once. You only hear them if you take your time.” In that sense, the Biennale is less about viewing art and more about learning to see the island in a different way.

Thailand Biennale Phuket 2025
Website:www.thailandbiennale.org
Instagram: @thailand_biennale