The Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB) has announced the theme and an initial list of participating artists for its fifth edition, Angels and Mara, taking place in 2026. The artistic direction will be led by Apinan Poshyananda, chief executive and artistic director of BAB, alongside curators Adulaya Hoontrakul, Rémy Jarry, Melanie Pocock and Kulapat Yantrasast.
The theme explores opposites and the space between them, responding to today’s politically fractured world. Angels and Mara appear across religions and cosmologies, roughly aligned with ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Yet these lines are complicated by various iterations and interpretations of angels – including fallen angels – and Mara, sometimes understood as the inner darkness preventing humans from reaching peace and enlightenment.
The exhibition will unfold in multiple location across Bangkok, a city colloquially known as Krung Thep, meaning ‘city of angels’.
The list of participating artists, as of 30 September, is as follows:
Mel Chin, US; Mandy El-Sayegh, UK; Brennan Gerard & Ryan Kelly, US; Piero Golia, Italy; Sonia Hamza, France; Mahtab Hussain & Guy Gunaratne, UK; Htein Lin, Myanmar; Shin Min, Korea; Yasumasa Morimura, Japan; Mary Pakinee, Thailand; Ri, Myanmar; Kornkarn Rungsawang, Thailand; Teerapon Sisung, Thailand; Manit Sriwanichpoom, Thailand; Sun Yuan & Peng Yu, China.
The biennale is scheduled to take place from 29 October – 28 February, 2026.
