Main Exhibition
OFF THE RADAR, We Rise
Organised by Bangkok Art and Culture Centre and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
Principal Corporate: Thai Beverage Public Company Limited Supporter
Media Partners: ONCE, KiNdconnext
Advisory Curator: Penwadee Nophaket Manont
Artists
Artists in the Art Exhibition Project
Praichayon Punda
Anurak Khotchomphu
Akkarawin Krairiksh
Artists in the Mini-Festival Project
Natnaran Bualoy
Kachain Bodinittidej
Mariya Chetam
Wittaya Chaimongkol
Sunsanee Rungrueangsakorn
OFF THE RADAR, We Rise
In a contemporary art landscape shaped by competition, selection processes, and institutionally mediated visibility, many artists continue to operate under conditions of profound precarity. Economic instability, social vulnerability, and the absence of sustained professional recognition are not merely individual experiences, but symptoms of a structural system that regulates access, produces uneven forms of validation, and repeatedly excludes those who remain outside its sanctioned frameworks. Within such conditions, silence can no longer be sustained as a viable position. Indeed, some of the most vital artistic practices emerge precisely from spaces beyond the reach of institutional spotlight. This exhibition and project arise from the conviction that artistic practice should not be monopolised by mechanisms of selection or institutional endorsement, but recognised as a fundamental right and necessity for those who persist in creating, despite enduring rejection, marginalisation, and prolonged invisibility.
OFF THE RADAR, We Rise is not merely an exhibition, but an attempt to challenge, interrogate, and unsettle the structures, mechanisms, and logics that have long governed the contemporary art system. It seeks to open space and extend an invitation to those whose voices, ideas, and lived experiences have been absorbed, erased, or rendered inaudible within systems that prioritise visibility and recognition over an engagement with the complex realities of artistic labour. The project questions prevailing norms that bind artistic value to processes of selection and institutional approval, while foregrounding the potential of art as a means of disclosure, self-affirmation, and the reclamation of space for those who have been persistently silenced, overlooked, or excluded from public perception.
This project invites artists who continue to struggle within the contemporary art field, including those who have faced rejection, been overlooked, denied support, or never granted a platform for expression, to participate in a space not structured by competition or scarcity. Instead, it offers a site for reflection, for asserting one’s presence, and for articulating artistic practice on one’s own terms.
The Exhibition Department of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre proudly presents OFF THE RADAR, We Rise, a contemporary art exhibition and workshop programme addressing issues of security and precarity within the field of contemporary art. The project focuses particularly on artists and creative practitioners who continue to struggle for survival within the art industry, yet have never received institutional recognition, have been excluded by existing systems, or have not been selected by any organisation. This includes artists who have withdrawn from the art world due to necessity, but who continue to practise consistently, as well as those able to reflect critically and candidly on their own artistic trajectories. Participants must be Thai nationals aged forty and above, who regard artistic practice as a right and a necessity rather than a privilege.
Ultimately, OFF THE RADAR, We Rise extends beyond the production of an exhibition or symbolic gestures. It seeks to cultivate a gradual process of learning and structural change. The project aspires to enable participating artists and practitioners to reclaim confidence in their own value, and to affirm artistic practice as both a profession and a way of life, rather than a temporary status awaiting institutional approval. It also opens space for the honest exchange of experiences, failures, and struggles that are frequently silenced within dominant art discourses.
Image Gallery
