For world travelers looking for an incredibly luscious beach resort, Thailand is an absolute gold mine. The tropical climate is always inviting, fluctuating between dramatic or dreamy, and there is much to see here that will make for memories in the years to come. The food is absolutely heavenly, and the culture is warm and friendly. There are traditions of old-world hospitality and grace, and there are centers of profoundly lively urban activity.
Bangkok is one of the largest cities in the world, and is a kind of gateway to all of Asia. It is multicultural and vibrant, with a fascinating mix of languages and customs. There are iconoclastic artists here as well, looking at custom and culture with a critical eye in the face of modernity. One group of bold and innovative artists can be found at Project 304 . This is a not-for-profit artspace in Bangkok, with around 90 square meters of exhibition space, that was started in 1996. Keeping the work small-scale and local, they have managed to make some important headway into asking very important questions about the way art is made locally and in relation to the international art marketplace.
The lofty intention here is to help bridge the gap between art and society, and Project 304 has been persistent in its mission. They work with artists on many levels in their career paths, but take special care to nurture new voices and visions. There is no preferred discipline, instead they honor the impulse to integrate art into the community over formal concerns. They have participated in the Bangkok Experimental Film Festival (BEFF), one of very few of its kind in the world. Shifting the focus from art as a commodity to art as an instrument of change, their conceptual approach is very interesting, and offers a unique and vital window on the evolution of contemporary Thai culture.