Throughout an hour spent in the Traditional Thai Art room of the National Gallery, we saw only a few Western tourists walking in and around the stunning red Western-style room to admire several of Thailand’s masterpieces. Within 10 or 15 minutes, those visitors left, then it was very quiet at the “Louvre of Thailand”, the Kingdom’s only state-run museum of art with the largest collection of traditional and contemporary artworks.
The National Gallery's Traditional Thai Art room.
National Gallery director Ajara Kangsarikijja said: “Each day, around 100 people visit our National Gallery, or 3,000 per month. That is a very small number, but we hope to welcome more visitors. It is our duty as the national art gallery to promote art.’’
The lamenting about scarce visitors from the director herself confirms the long overdue need to upgrade or restore the National Gallery on Chao Fa Road, where the treasures of local artists are housed (see box on page 4) and where years of negligence have worn out its original aura. Plans are now under way, and while it would be too ambitious to match Paris’ Louvre, Madrid’s Museo Nacional Del Prado or New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the dire need to do justice to the official national art gallery should be an urgent task of the cultural agencies.
A man and a woman at the National Gallery.
According to Ajara, the National Gallery used to be full of visitors at a time when there were very few galleries in Thailand; no Queen’s Gallery or Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. Nowadays, more private art galleries have been established, including those in the provinces such as Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. What the museum must do right away is figure out how to attract more visitors and improve its status as more than just a place where paintings are hung. Given that the gallery is a stone’s throw from Khao San Road and just off Ratchadamnoen Avenue, the potential to draw visitors is vast.
The director says that the closure of parts of the museum for the mending of its roof in the past two years might have attributed to the steady decline in visitors.
For a long time, the number of visitors has been maintained at about 100 per day. The ratio of Thai and foreign visitors is about 50:50, though foreigners complain the admission fee of 200 baht is high, compared to the same admission fee at the Bangkok National Museum.
“By paying the same rate, they can tour the Bangkok National Museum for a half day, or they may spend only about 45 minutes here if they walk fast,” the director said, referring to the fewer exhibition rooms at the gallery.
Upgrading will be a lengthy and slow process, physically and curatorially, but the National Gallery is determined to get a move on.
“This year we will improve marketing and public relations and increase rotated exhibitions by bringing out more art objects from the storage rooms for display,” Ajara said, “We already have a master plan. Next year, we will expand spaces for exhibitions and renovate the permanent exhibition.”
Under international standards, main exhibitions must be changed every five years while the permanent exhibitions at the National Gallery were renewed in 2004 — 10 years ago.
One of King Rama VI’s paintings.
“We want to renovate it and change the theme. In the past, more art pieces were on view but some of them were removed to make way for foreign works. Our four big halls were once full of art pieces,” Ajara added.
According to her, the museum is considering several public relations approaches, such as improving its website, producing handbooks and outsourcing experienced marketing staff. It will also produce booklets and create more networks of artists.
“Another thing to do is to promote activities for youths so they will understand art and visit this museum. Art helps uplift the human spirit. Our museum emphasises the spirit of it. If fine art is passed on to children, they will be gentle and our country will be a place of good taste,” the director said.
The gallery is also faced with a personnel shortage. The number of staff has been reduced from 12 to seven. All the agencies under the Fine Arts Department are experiencing the same problem.
“Currently, we have no workshops or activities for visitors, although international museums must have such things. Curators should be trained under international standards,” she complained.
However, the Office of National Museums is trying hard to send its curators for overseas training. One of the National Gallery’s staff members is being trained at the National Gallery Singapore. Two of the office’s curators are about to study in China and England. However, development takes time.
What’s most unfortunate is that the museum compound itself is an elegant work of art, but years of neglect has left it in dire need of repair. The paint has peeled. The moisture level is high. It is estimated that the restoration will cost about 100 million baht, and that’s why the museum will have to fight for the budget.
“The first thing to do is to renovate the buildings within a year or two. For a start, the air-conditioning system must be fixed and turned on 24/7 to maintain temperature levels and allow us to show more international art pieces,” says Ajara. “The buildings must be painted after removing the old paint and filling the gaps and holes with traditional lime.
“We want to upgrade our museum to world-class level. At present, many art galleries have mushroomed in the city, so we must become an art institute which is a role model or example for other galleries,” the director said.
According to her, the National Gallery must improve its exhibitions by selecting the works of professionals only and focusing on premium quality. It will upgrade its temporary exhibitions. “The improvement efforts should bear fruit within three years. We may need to organise a new event every month, and also contemporary art nights.
Despite budget limitations, we are confident in our ability to organise good exhibitions because we have our own art pieces here and networks abroad. This task is challenging,” Ajara said.
Her idea is in accordance with one of the Fine Art Department’s strategic plans. Director-general Anek Sihamart stated that the Fine Arts Department has this year come up with a strategic plan to improve all 42 national museums nationwide to become outstanding learning sources.
According to him, this move must be concrete and productive. All the national museums must live up to acceptable standards and become modern in order to attract foreign tourists to come and learn about Thai people and the country.
He added that the permanent exhibitions must be improved and expanded, the quality of temporary exhibitions must be strictly screened and elevated, and there must be activities to encourage children and youths’ interest in art.
“The National Gallery should be improved to become a famous attraction and widely acceptable place for artists and art lovers, both Thai and international. The goal is to become a real national art institution,” he said. That sounds like hard work, but at least the conviction means the work should start right now.
HIDDEN TREASURE IN THE HEART OF THE CITY
The National Gallery is the sole governmental museum of art in Thailand, under the Office of National Museums, the Fine Arts Department. It is devoted to the collection, preservation, study, interpretation and display of art — both traditional and contemporary — and is the leading art organisation in the country.
The exhibitions at the National Gallery can be divided into two main categories — permanent and temporary. The permanent collection on the ground floor and the one-storey wings aim to display the development of contemporary art in Thailand. On the first floor are Thai paintings of the 16th-20th centuries and traditional Thai art influenced by the Western world. On the ground floor are works of art from 1856 to 2002 in the Western-style Paintings Room, the King’s Room, Modern Art Room and Contemporary Art Room.
Must-sees are pha phra bot (murals on cloth), especially the country’s oldest, which is about 500 years old and was unearthed from a jar in the ruins of a pagoda at Wat Dok Ngoen, Hot district of Chiang Mai, and a number of traditional paintings by famous monk artist Khrua In Khong and Prince Narisaranuvattiwongse, the Great Craftsman of Siam. Other highlights include 17 of the country’s 90 paintings of historical incidents from the Royal Chronicle, King Rama VI’s watercolour paintings depicting Hindu mythology’s Sakuntala and two paintings by His Majesty the King. Other interesting pieces are the paintings and sculptures by the students of the Father of Modern Art in Thailand, Corrado Feroci — or Prof Silpa Bhirasri — as well as famed artist Fua Haripitak’s reproductions of now-faded murals at Wat Chedi Jed Thaew in Sukhothai and Wat Phutthaisawan, Wat Ratchaburana and Wat Mahathat in Ayutthaya.
The museum itself holds historical and artistic significance as it is located in the former Front Palace of Krom Phra Rajawang Bovorn Sathan Mongkol (viceroys in the early Rattanakosin period). This historic building on Chao Fa Road, which once housed the Royal Mint Factory, or Rong Kasab Sitthikan, is a good example of neoclassical architecture. Its main Palladian facade was designed by Italian architect Carlo Allegri and constructed in 1902. It is influenced by architecture in Birmingham, England. The building has two storeys with a gable roof, as well as two one-storey wings, forming a square with space in the centre. The facade is a bas-relief decorated with the coat of arms of King Rama V. The roof is paved with kite-shaped tiles and the outer part and horizontal lines of the roof are adorned with finely carved wood ornaments resembling lace. The windows are curved and their interior parts are topped by Roman arches. The building was registered as a national monument on Aug 22, 1978, and opened by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on Aug 8, 1977.
The National Gallery is open 9am-4pm, Wed-Sun. Admission fees are 30 baht for Thais and 200 baht for foreigners. Call 02-281-2224 or 02-282-2639 ext 14 or 17.
The National Gallery.
