Apinan Poshyananda


Apinan Poshyananda was born in Bangkok, Thailand in 1956. He is one of the most renowned curators and art writers in the Asian region.

Biography

Education

Poshyananda received an MFA degree from the University of Edinburgh, and a PhD in art history from Cornell University.

Career

Poshyananda is now Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Culture, Thailand. Before joining the Ministry of Culture, he acted as the chief curator of the Art Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University.

Contribution to contemporary art

Poshyananda eagerly promotes Thai contemporary artists by sending them overseas to participate in such major international art exhibitions. With his expertise in art and culture, as well as his great contribution to the art world, he then became an internationally recognized curator.
In 2001, Poshyananda was awarded the Outstanding National Research Award by the National Research Council of Thailand.

Selected works

His role of leading the Bangkok Art Biennale:
As chief executive and artistic director of Bangkok Art Biennale, Prof. Apinan Poshyananda led the inaugural edition of The Bangkok Art Biennale 2018. The first biennale in Bangkok was delighted to announce its 75 participating artists from 33 countries explored the theme ‘Beyond Bliss’ at a press conference in Hong Kong on March 26, 2018.
Dr.Prof. Apinan, along with other curators of the committee members, which comprised Guggenheim senior curator Alexandra Munroe; independent curator David Elliott; director of the National Gallery Singapore Eugene Tan; Mori Art Museum director Fumio Nanjo; Artsonje and Gwangju Biennale director Sunjung Kim; Saatchi gallery CEO Nigel Hurst; and Buenos Aires-born artist Rirkrit Tiravanija.
The list of the artists comprises well-known Thai artists Sakarin Krue-on and Chumpon Apisuk; famous figures from the Asia region, including Yoshitomo Nara, Ho Tzu Nyen, Heri Dono and Choi Jeong Hwa; as well as big names from Europe, such as performance artist Marina Abramović, and the artist duo Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset.
Other notable and important artists are AES+F, Firoz Mahmud, Gauri Gill, Huang Yong Ping, Yayoi Kusama, Jean Michel Basquiat, Montien Boonma, Lee Bul, Sherman Ong, Wisut Ponnimit, Angki Purbandono, Natee Utarit, Yan Pei Ming, Shigeyuki Kihara and Others.