Museum of Contemporary Art

Full and official English name for one of the largest contemporary art museums in Asia, located in Bangkok's Chatuchak district. It comprises an area of around ​​20,000 square meters and features works of art collected by its founder Boonchai Bencharongkul (บุญชัย เบญจรงคกุล), the founder and chairman of Dtac, Thailand's third-largest mobile phone operator. The museum is dedicated to the honour of Professor Silpa Bhirasri (fig.), an artist of Italian origin, who became a Thai national, founded the Silpakorn University (fig.) and is considered the Father of Contemporary Art in Thailand. Approximately half of the museum's area is allocated to the personal collection of its founder, exhibiting some +800 pieces of art which he gradually collected over three decades. It is usually referred to by its acronym MOCA (fig.) and is in Thai known as Phiphithaphan Silpa Thai Ruam Samai. There are several works of Chalermchai Kohsitphiphat (เฉลิมชัย โฆษิตพิพัฒน์), a renowned artist known for the use of Buddhist imagery (fig.), who also designed Wat Rong Khun (fig.) in Chiang Rai, where he has his own Hall of Masterwork (fig.). Besides the permanent collection on display the museum also organizes temporary exhibitions on a regular basis. See also EXPLORER'S MAP and DIRECTIONS. 回