Hi awesome people in Hive! My Bangkok blogs continue and this time, it’s the day after the concert. Our itinerary for the day is going to Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and shopping at the Siam Paragon.
But first, here’s a little info about MOCA and why we specifically wanted to visit there.
According to their official website, MOCA “displays works of art inspired by traditional Thai modes of expression alongside art that has been influenced by the introduction of Western artistic styles and techniques.”
It is located at the northern end of Chatuchak Area in Bangkok. It’s easy to spot since it’s on the road running parallel to Don Mueang Tollway towards Don Mueang Airport.
The admission ticket costs 280 Thai Baht or $8 or ₱450. The entire building stands like a cube graphite with a gorgeous white fountain display by the entrance hall. They provided a brochure that tells you the various artworks of different Thai artists, exhibiting private collections inside the 20,000 square-meter museum.
Apart from getting a glimpse of Thai’s creativity, beliefs, and thought processes, my sister and I wanted to visit a museum for the same reason we went to Thailand – BTS.
The group’s leader, Kim Namjoon, is a visual art-enthusiast, studying paintings, drawings, sculptures, who travels the world to visit museums as well. We have an inside term derived from his name which we use when we go on artistic and natural ventures, “namjooning.” Hence, we were namjooning at MOCA as an ode to BTS’ love for art.
Meanwhile, my sister taught art history when she was a teacher, so she has a natural inkling to visit museums as well. I was happy to just go along for the ride. But in order to be hyped up to explore each floor, we needed sustenance, aka food and drinks. To our pleasant surprise, there was a café inside the museum.
For our drinks, we tried the Thai milk tea frappe and Sweet Yam iced drink and then we had a side of French fries and ham and cheese toast. Everything tasted so delicious! As expected in Thailand, their food are always on another level.
Let's go to the second floor!
We were greeted by the history of Southeast Asia and the way cultures emerge from the exchange of stories through our rich trading system via land or sea. Religion is a major influence to this and therefore, molding artists’ minds into crafting images of divine beings. I am no expert in Ramayana, so I think I should leave the explanation of the artworks here.
Maybe it was the concert yesterday that we haven’t fully processed yet, or the drastic change in scenery from our warm apartment in the Philippines to the well-lit and cold artistic space in MOCA, or the deep appreciation of witnessing captivating pieces of art, but as we each took a few seconds breathing in the paintings in front of us, my sister and I would glance at each other with tearful eyes.
Writing this now, I might have not yet formed the words to capture what we were feeling, but it was definitely awe and gratitude. It was probably an incredible amount of those two that our eyes were the only parts of our bodies capable of expressing them.
Soon, our feet grew tired of walking around and we didn’t reach the fifth floor. It was okay since I believe I got what I wanted from the museum. A moment of rest, a space for creative thoughts, and an exploration of artworks.
What stood out to me the most were the larger paintings and sculptures about life. There were frames almost the size of the entire wall. Then there was a boat, a depiction of our travel to the underworld. I can’t help but wonder what inspired the artists to pick a specific object, theme, palette, medium, etc.
We took the elevator from the fourth floor to the ground floor and bid our goodbye to MOCA. Overall, our post-concert bodies may have given up on us at the end of the tour, but it was certainly unforgettable and deeply moving.
MOCA was the perfect glimpse to Thai’s rich art and culture. I would return to finish the whole adventure with a better body condition.
Until the next Bangkok trip blog! Thank you for reading and supporting this 💜
ᴬˡˡ ᵖʰᵒᵗᵒˢ ᵃʳᵉ ᵐⁱⁿᵉ ᵘⁿˡᵉˢˢ ᵒᵗʰᵉʳʷⁱˢᵉ ˢᵗᵃᵗᵉᵈ.