BUKRUK II – An Artistic Sashimi Experience
Art transcends all boundaries, be it cultural, language, or even time. Everyone who has been fortunate to experience Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling up close will somehow find something to appreciate regardless of who they are. We are constantly given the chance by art to travel through time, just like a working time-machine would, and experience things that no longer exist. This powerful experience should be available to all, and the constant struggle is to somehow find a balance between accessibility and security.
Often times, art is confined. Rare pieces of art are inaccessible to the public and when it is, it may only be visible from several meters away. The notion that something this rewarding to the public needs to be controlled begs the question, why is it not made more available? The good news is that attempts to change this status quo began since 2013 in Bangkok.
Usher in BUKRUK. Strong from the first edition of the event, the main organizers and artistic directors, Myrtille Tibayrenc (Toot Yung Art Center) and Nicolas Dali (Kuoz) have decided to join forces again for the second edition of street art, illustration, and music festival – BUKRUK II. The name, BUKRUK in Thai translates roughly to “an invasion”, and from the format of the event, the event certainly lives up to its name. BUKRUK 2013 successfully gathered 30 artists from Thailand and Europe in an explosive art festival that gave visibility to an underground culture often time frowned upon.
The event presented the opportunity for street artists from over ten countries to exhibit their talents amidst a wide range of activities and events. Today, the 2013 installation of the event still claims to be the widest street art festival proposed in Thailand with over 400m2 of indoor exhibition space in the Bangkok Art and Cultural Center (BACC) and another 1000m2 of exterior wall space around Bangkok used as an urban canvas for the artists.
This may not be a collection of paintings of the same caliber as the Mona Lisa being painted or the Sistine Chapel ceiling being recreated, but this is art in its rawest form being made readily accessible to all who have the desire to be present. For starters, BUKRUK 2013 gave a home to Thailand’s very own late-great street artist MAMAFAKA’s (RIP) MR. HELLYEAH! wall mural.
With him gone, his piece still stands tall and timeless for the future generations to enjoy. And with over 30 different cultural, institutional, and private sponsors joining forces to sponsor the first BUKRUK, the positive feedback has elevated the event into a globally known platform for displaying different art forms which is set to continue in 2016. The street celebrations which attracted hundreds of viewers and participants is now expected to only grow stronger in number with age, making BUKRUK II a promising event that will surely surpass the accomplishments of its predecessor.
The first noticeable change is that BUKRUK II will extend from a week-long event to a 10-day event. It will no longer only encompass public wall paintings, but also art exhibitions, artist talks, animation nights, visual happenings, mapping projections, workshops, and an open-air art-music festival – which will bring you 3 stages to kick-off the art party with. Known as the “The Bukruk Music & Arts Festival”, the one-day music festival that would set the tone for BUKRUK II will be bringing together an eclectic array of musicians and artists hand-picked from across Europe and Asia on Saturday, January 23rd to a one-of-a-kind venue alongside Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River.
Unlike many other events that have to satisfy a genre checklist, the vast array of musical acts that will be appearing at BUKRUK II have been handpicked to fit with the event’s mission of “cultural and cool from cities East and West”. All the sights and sounds of BUKRUK II’s opening party will be housed at an authentic and historical naval drydock facility with the Chao Phraya River as a backdrop, complete with a warehouse, two docks, and riverside grounds just a short walk from BTS Saphan Taksin for all revelers to explore.
Join the BUKRUK team and allow yourself you wander around the different areas of the event to catch a glimpse of all the international and local musicians and DJs on shows while you munch on the gourmet food on offer and take a sip of all the craft cold ones on offer. Be sure to spare some time to check out the dazzling light installations and watch a mural come to life. This is the closest thing to art heaven that you will find in Bangkok.
With so much on offer walking into BUKRUK II, you would think you were walking into a Japanese restaurant and ordered sashimi. Everything is so amazingly raw and fresh. Especially now that the scale of the event has long evolved from being simply a Thai-European connection to an Asian-European connection event, there is a lot to look forward to.
A friendly suggestion from Siam2nite would be for you to get your tickets fast and head down to the docks as soon as the event kicks-off. The organizers encourage you to let loose and get a little weird, as you celebrate the best of international culture at an event designed to be a fun and engaging triumph of place, art, culture, community, and friends.
Trying to describe what BUKRUK II would be like would do the event a great injustice. We would encourage you to check it out for yourself why an art event like BUKRUK went viral in 2013 and attracted the attention of local and international press alike – garnering over 7,000 followers on the event’s Facebook page, 34,000 views on YouTube of the event video, and become subject to numerous web, paper magazines, and daily newspaper articles.