Apinan Poshyananda
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Thailand
A renowned curator and writer in Asia, Prof. Apinan Poshyananda is the author of Modern Art in Thailand (Oxford University Press, 1992), Contemporary Art in Asia: Traditions/Tensions (The Asia Society, 1996), Traces of Siamese Smile: Art + Faith + Politics + Love (Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, 2008), and Thai Trends from Localism to Internationalism (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, 2012). He received a MFA degree from Edinburgh University and PhD in art history from Cornell University and taught art history at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.
Professor Apinan Poshyananda has held positions, including Director General, Office of Contemporary Art and Culture; Director General, Department of Cultural Promotion, Ministry of Culture; and Acting Director, Office of Knowledge Management and Development, Prime Minister’s Office. He has curated numerous shows including Contemporary Art in Asia: Traditions/Tensions, the Asia Society, New York; Zhang Peili in Bangkok; Unveiled Reality, Nobuyoshi Araki: Story Portrait, Yasumasa Morimura, Art Center, Chulalongkorn University; Heri Dono: Dancing Demons, Drunken Deities, Japan Foundation, Tokyo; Floating Chimera, Edsvik Art and Culture; Beyond Paradise: Nordic Artists Travel East, Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Thai-tanic: Thai Art in the Age of Constraint and Coercion; Death Before Dying: the Return of Montien Boonma, the National Gallery, Bangkok; Show Me Thai, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Thai Transience, Singapore Art Museum; and Thai selections at Venice Biennale, Art-Asia Pacific Triennial, Sydney Biennale, Johannesburg Biennale, Havana Biennale, Liverpool Biennale, Istanbul Biennale, Sao Paulo Biennale, Yokohama Triennale, Echigo-Tsumari Triennale. He was guest curator, Thai Charisma: Heritage + Creative Power, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, 2014.
Poshyananda has lectured extensively on contemporary art in Asia, Europe, Australia and USA. He was awarded Residencies by the Asian Cultural Council, New York and the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in 2000 and received the Outstanding National Researcher Award from the National Research Council of Thailand in 2002.
