The Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB) is scheduled to run from October 29, 2026, to February 28, 2027.
Titled “Angels and Mara”—partly referencing the Thai meaning of Bangkok, “City of Angels”— the forthcoming exhibition will explore the tensions between the desirable and the abject, the virtuous and the corrupt, setting diverse cultural concepts of “divine messengers” against the demonic Mara, a Buddhist deity that symbolizes death, temptation, and fear. The curatorial team will be led by Apinan Poshyananda, chief executive and artistic director of BAB, alongside Adulaya Hoontrakul, director of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, and other curators and scholars.
Htein Lin (b. 1966) is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and writer from Myanmar. He trained in law and Anyeint (traditional Burmese theatre) before studying visual art in a refugee camp on the Indian border with artist Sitt Nyein Aye. Involved in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, he returned to Yangon after four years in exile, working as a comic actor and pioneering experimental performance art. In 1998, he was accused of opposition activity and detained as a political prisoner until 2004. Following his release, Htein Lin moved to the UK, creating works that reflected his travels abroad and diasporic experience. Living in Kalaw, Myanmar since 2020, his practice explores Buddhist philosophy, memory and identity in the country's traditions and cultures. He has participated in exhibitions at Singapore Art Museum, Mori Art Museum, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Gwangju Biennale, and Berlin Biennale, among others. A survey exhibition of Htein Lin’s work was held at Ikon Gallery in 2025.