The influential Thai gallery Nova Contemporary is expanding this month, opening a 412 sq. m location in Bangkok’s Bang Rak neighbourhood. The inaugural show, Affinities (26 April to 5 July), is a survey of 28 mostly Thai contemporary artists organised in co-operation with Bangkok CityCity Gallery. The relaunch comes at a time when the Thai art market is “definitely expanding”, albeit gradually, says the gallery’s founder, Sutima Sucharitakul.
The past few years have brought “a noticeable growth in local collectors and international interest”, Sucharitakul says, even amid “a whole slowing down and collectors being more cautious with their spending, despite us being a smaller, emerging scene”. Although Thailand boasts a long and rich art history, local collectors have been slow to warm up to contemporary art. She describes a “cross-generational pool” of collectors becoming more receptive to diversifying across region and medium, with collectors of blue-chip and Western artists also “open to exploring what they are not accustomed to. We have more mature collectors who will buy Modern art but also video work, and many young collectors who are just growing their collections and are now looking towards local practices.”