(In)visible Presence

Dib Bangkok—Thailand's largest international contemporary art museum—opens its inaugural exhibition, titled (In)visible Presence, on view through August 3, 2026. Conceived by the late Petch Osathanugrah and brought to reality by his son Purat (Chang) Osathanugrah, Dib Bangkok is set within a 1980s adaptive-reuse warehouse redesigned by Kulapat Yantrasast of WHY Architecture in collaboration with Thailand-based international architectural design firm Architects 49 (A49). (In)visible Presence brings together key works from the museum’s collection of significant Thai and international contemporary artworks for a multisensory exploration of memory and the unseen, curated by Ariana Chaivaranon under the artistic direction of inaugural Director, Dr. Miwako Tezuka.  

Dib Bangkok’s grand opening exhibition spans the museum’s eleven gallery spaces totaling 7,000 square meters (75,000 square feet). The three floors of exhibition space follow a minimal yet nuanced design inspired by the Buddhist concept of enlightenment as visitors journey upwards. (In)visible Presence forms a narrative journey that reflects the idea of the past guiding us into the future. Through its unifying theme, the exhibition poses a vital question: how do we remember what is dear to us, yet invisible? Through sound, scent, light, and unconventional materials, the exhibition artworks activate awareness of what cannot be seen.

The exhibition moves in tandem with the museum’s ascending architecture: from grounded, sensory works on the first floor; intimate, memory-driven pieces on the second; to expansive, light-infused works on the third. Inside the galleries, visitors encounter major installations by Montien Boonma and Somboon Hormtientong, large-scale sculptures by Lee Bul and Anselm Kiefer, and paintings by a diverse range of artists such as Alex Katz, Yuree Kensaku, and Jessie Homer French. These are shown alongside mixed media and new media works by critically acclaimed artists from Thailand and beyond.  

Extending beyond the museum walls, outdoor installations transform the landscape into an integral part of the experience. Alicja Kwade’s Pars pro Toto (2020), an installation of 11 monumental stone globes, anchors the courtyard with a poetic meditation on planetary systems and materiality. On the upper terrace overlooking the courtyard, Pinaree Sanpitak’s Breast Stupa Topiary (2013), a series of stainless-steel forms shaped as breast-like stupas, invites reflection on femininity, spirituality, and the body, softening the hard lines of the city with a presence both tender and profound. James Turrell’s Straight Up, 1988 (realized in 2025) marks the artist’s only Skyspace in the region and one of his only camera obscura sites in the world.

For many featured artists, including Sho Shibuya, Finnegan Shannon, and Hugh Hayden, (In)visible Presence marks their first presentation in Thailand, expanding a global dialogue with local artists through a shared inquiry into the conditions of human existence: ephemerality, memory, and identity.

(In)visible Presence artists: Alex Katz / Alicja Kwade / Anselm Kiefer / Apichatpong Weerasethakul / Be Takerng Pattanopas / Cerith Wyn Evans / Finnegan Shannon / Hiroshi Sugimoto / Hugh Hayden / Jakapan Vilasineekul / James Turrell / Jannis Kounellis / Jean-luc Moulène / Jessie Homer French / Jinjoon Lee / Laurent Grasso / Lee Bul / Louise Bourgeois / Manit Sriwanichpoom / Marco Fusinato / Miya Ando / Montien Boonma / Navin Rawanchaikul / Nobuyoshi Araki / Pae White / Paloma Varga Weisz / Per Inge Bjørlo / Pinaree Sanpitak / Prae Pupityastaporn / Rebecca Horn / Richard Deacon / Sho Shibuya / Somboon Hormtientong / Subodh Gupta / Surasi Kusolwong / Surat Osathanugrah / Thaiwijit Puengkasemsomboon / Tim Rollins & K.O.S. / Ugo Rondinone / Yuree Kensaku