Latest news with #MOCA
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Surprise Guest Nancy Pelosi Honors Frank Gehry at MOCA Gala
Surprise Guest Nancy Pelosi Honors Frank Gehry at MOCA Gala originally appeared on L.A. Mag. "MOCA, thank you so much for the diversity that you brought to the legends that you honored tonight," said surprise guest Nancy Pelosi upon taking the stage at the Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Little Tokyo on May 2025 gala, presented by BVLGARI, introduced a new format — whereby which three MOCA Legends from different areas are honored annually. The first three honorees were artist Theaster Gates, recognized by Ava DuVernay; philanthropist Wendy Schmidt, praised by Jane Fonda; and finally, Frank Gehry, whom Pelosi came to honor."Listening to — even the presenters, Ava and Jane, and Wendy and Theaster — it reminded me of something that our founders said," Pelosi began. "John Adams wrote to Abigail Adams, and he said to her, 'I must study war and politics, so that our sons can study agriculture, science.' So that their children will have the freedom to study music and poetry and architecture, and he even said tapestry at the time."Pelosi went on, "But the connection of all of these disciplines through the eyes of art is so important, because what John Adams was talking about was the expansion of freedom, and that is what art is about — freedom.""So tonight, I'm here to talk about Frank Gehry," said Pelosi, who remarked how she left her grandson's high school graduation to be there because of how much she respects and loves him. "Frank Gehry — you think of him, I think of him, as a genius. But he's more than a genius. ... Frank Gehry is a magician. Because with his architecture, he enables people to see the art differently. To hear the music differently. To understand the education differently." Pelosi continued: "He has said, 'architecture speaks to its time and its place, but yearns for timelessness.' And that's what he has been about. ... The architecture is art for the community. He has always listened to the community about what this structure will be. He designs it around the community. So it's about culture, it's about community, it's about communication to everyone as to what the purpose is of the design, of the art, that he has created." She concluded, "The poet [Percy] Shelley once said, 'The greatest force for moral good is imagination.' And Frank Gehry is the personification of imagination."The 96-year-old MOCA culture legend Gehry — who renovated MOCA Geffen in 1983 prioritizing adaptive reuse — made remarks from his table after a standing ovation. "I owe a lot to this place," Gehry said. "When I graduated architecture, I met with the undergraduates and by luck, I designed a little building on Melrose and artists started to come to the construction site. And I couldn't understand why they were there!" Gehry continued, "They had brought me into their club, and it's where I wanted to be. And it opened my eyes to another world — which is more relevant than where I was coming from. So, MOCA means a lot to me. I was on the board a long time ago, but I didn't have the body to keep up with it! I've always been a supporter. I'm so honored to have Nancy here — she's so important in my life. I believe in her so much, Thank you. Let's go on and make this place really important — it is important, we got to build it, we've got to build on it. I'm here to help ... Let's do it!" The festive evening — attended by 600 art lovers, including Sarah Paulson and Mayor Karen Bass — featured a performance by Tierra Whack and raised over $3.1 million in support of the museum. Following a cocktail hour outdoors in the Aileen Getty Plaza, guests explored the immersive current exhibit Olafur Eliasson: OPEN en route to dinner, where this year's "legends" received toasts."This is my fourth gala, and what I had realized as I got to know the institution was how many people — from 50 years of history almost — we have to look back to, in order to look forward," Maurice Marciano Director Johanna Burton told Los Angeles. "And this idea of storytelling became very important because of the historical moment we're in, where we should really be reminding ourselves and each other of the kind of radical, really caring gestures that have happened in his space and lay ground for what comes ahead."This informed the gala's new format. "We came up with this three-part structure, where there are three visionaries each year: one is an artist; one is a cultural visionary, that could be a filmmaker or a fashion designer or a dancer; and the third is a philanthropist," Burton said. "So it became this really beautiful way of tapping in people who have helped write the history of this place — and the people who support them are also legends."MOCA Board Chair Maria Seferian and Burton began the program by addressing the room. "This past year has been one of extraordinary growth and meaningful momentum MOCA," Burton said, calling out Eliasson's exhibit (and presence in the room). She also cited the collaborative efforts to fundraise following the wildfires through the Los Angeles Arts Recovery Fund led by the Getty. Burton also spoke to future exhibits: Nadya Tolokonnikova (of Pussy Riot)'s Police State "staging a durational performance that highlights human resilience in the face of state power," from June 5-14; the third presentation of MOCA's relaunched Focus series with Takako Yamauchi at the end of June."And in October, the long-awaited Monuments exhibition, co-presented with The Brick,: Burton said. "Conceived nearly a decade ago, Monuments brings recently decommissioned Confederate statues to the museum, displayed alongside contemporary artworks — many created for the exhibition, by 15 of the most compelling artists working today. The show explores how public monuments have shaped national identity, historical memory and ideas about power and belonging."Fonda praised Schmidt, citing her environmental activism work (protesting oil drilling and promoting ocean conservation) and her newly-founded Eric and Wendy Schmidt Environment and Art Prize — which will present its first artist projects by Cecilia Vicuña and Julian Charrière at MOCA next year. "There are people in the world who do good things, and seek and receive a lot of attention, and there are people who have a profound impact and they do work quietly — without notice and fanfare, and Wendy Schmidt is the latter," Fonda said. "But the work she has done for two decades should be known by everyone in this room. ... She sees the big picture; she sees how the world can be, while the rest of us just see a mess.""There was a clear distinction between science and art," Schmidt said. However, she noted, "In a world of increasing convergence, science and art actually need each other. ... Where art meets science, great things happen."DuVernay took the stage to honor Chicago-based artist Gates, who held his first solo museum exhibition on the West Coast at MOCA in 2011. "I'm here to speak to you about sound," DuVernay began. "The sound of a man who walks into an open space and hears something that others cannot. ... I've been out on the town with Theaster ... and I've shared contemplative times with him, where the world slows down and we talk, not just about what we're making, but why. And in these exchanges, there's a beautiful truth I've come to realize: Theaster Gates is the whole band." "In growing up, this [idea] was important to me, that you enter the world, you enter a circumstance with something — or maybe with nothing," Gates said. "And that, life feels like it's about the attempt at making that nothing something. ... You take your talent, and you multiply it."He also made a plea: "I feel like I'm constantly looking at Black and brown talent in my neighborhood, and no one's invested in them — and in fact, they are burying Black talent all the fucking time! And is it possible that we would just take a moment to imagine that the talent around us has the capacity to do greater than it does?"Gates ended: "My job is to make talent. To be talented. To multiply talent." This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jun 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hypebeast
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
Nadya Tolokonnivo to Stage 10-Day Performance from Inside Prison Cell
Summary In 2012, punk rock bandPussy Riottook to Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour for a sub-minute performance of their song 'Punk Prayer.' While the piece has since beenheraldedas one of the best artworks of the 21st century, the event landedNadya Tolokonnikova, the group's co-founder, in a Russian prison for two years on the grounds of 'hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.' Now, over a decade later, Tolokonnikova is going back behind bars, but this time, it's on her own terms. For 10 days, the Russian conceptual artist will confine herself to a steel replica of a Russian jail cell as part ofPOLICE STATE, her debut durational performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles. The installation, which takes part in MOCA's Wonmi WAREHOUSE Program, will transform the space into a stark, immersive panopticon, where viewers will be able to watch her via security camera feed and peepholes throughout the museum. Inside the cell, Tolokonnikova will perform a range of audio works, from haunting lullabies to abrasive soundscapes. Drawing from her own time in the penal system, the piece merges personal history with larger themes of control, surveillance and psychological endurance. 'The cell becomes a paradox: a site of confinement and liberation, despair and creativity,' the museum described. 'Through this interplay, Tolokonnikova invites the audience to grapple with the mechanisms of oppression while seeking the sparks of hope that resist it.' The performance confronts the brutal realities of confinement, and in true Pussy Riot fashion, examines the relationship between structures of authority and their impacts on the human capacity for STATEwill be on view from June 4 through Jun 15 at MOCA. Head to the museum'swebsitefor more information. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles250 S Grand Ave,Los Angeles, CA 90012
New York Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Pussy Riot Artist Is Back in Prison (This Time, by Design)
Nadya Tolokonnikova, the founder of the feminist art collective Pussy Riot, has long experienced the threat — and reality — of government surveillance. After the group's anti-Putin, balaclava-wearing, punk-inspired performance at Moscow's main Orthodox Cathedral in 2012, she spent nearly two years in Russian prison. On her release, she was tracked by the police. Since 2021, the year when she was declared a 'foreign agent' by Russia's ministry of justice, she has lived in exile, bouncing from city to city in what she calls a state of 'geo-anonymity.' Next month, the outspoken Russian activist and artist will be subject to another kind of surveillance — in a jail of her own making. From June 5 to 14, Tolokonnikova, 35, will be spending her days in a corrugated-steel replica of a decrepit Russian prison cell, installed at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Los Angeles. She will eat, drink and use the toilet in her 'cell,' and will perform some of her aggressive noise-music rage-screeds there. Visitors can watch her through peep holes and a security camera feed. 'It's my first durational performance,' she said, using a term for the stamina-testing genre popularized by the artist Marina Abramovic, who is a close friend. Tolokonnikova was sipping tea at a long, pink-rimmed table in the shape of a Russian Orthodox cross — her own design — in a temporary studio in Los Angeles. 'I'm used to the intensity of short outbursts of energy.' The MOCA show, 'Police State,' is in one sense a reckoning with her incarceration, during which she went on three hunger strikes and published an open letter describing 'slavery-like conditions.' She recalls how women in her penal colony were forced to work 17-hour shifts in a sewing factory at risk of injuries and even death. She has since tried TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation), anti-depressants and psychotherapy to process the experience, with mixed results. 'For me personally talk therapy didn't work — I don't love to talk about my feelings. But I'm interested in renegotiating trauma, rewriting your own personal history to bring your creativity into the mix,' she said. 'This is art therapy, basically.' At another level, the museum show is a condemnation of carceral conditions and human rights violations in her homeland and beyond. The idea came, she said, after she saw a concrete-box replica of the brutal solitary cell used to confine her friend and mentor, the Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, who died in prison in 2024. Tolokonnikova called this installation, created by his younger brother, Oleg, 'one of the best works of public art and political art I've seen. 'The police state isn't a distant experience for me and those I care about,' she added in her soft-spoken cadences — the message more pointed than the delivery. 'Russia has more than a thousand political prisoners, whose only fault was to say that the emperor is naked. The best people of Russia are behind bars.' Since 'Police State' is debuting during a time of high-profile detentions and deportations by the Trump administration, it is bound to be read as a critique of this government's actions as well. 'I think she's really speaking to the current political moment,' said Alex Sloane, the associate curator of MOCA, who is developing the project. 'We can't see these things — the human rights abuses, government overreach and the targeting of specific communities — as being isolated to Russia any more.' Or as Tolokonnikova quipped at the studio: 'Authoritarianism is like a sexually transmitted disease — you have it before you know it.' She went on to describe the rise of a 'tech-bro oligarchy' in the United States and rapidly shifting international alliances, which she said could impact her safety. 'Travel has become increasingly dangerous for me, mostly because I was put on this international wanted list by Russia at the start of the year, but also because of Trump becoming more friendly with Putin.' She pulled out a bag of red foam clown noses, offered me one and popped one on herself. She broke out laughing and suddenly looked like a goofy teenager, her black plaid skirt giving strong schoolgirl vibes. 'Imagine being so serious and worrying about your safety all the time. Put the clown nose on and everything is just fine,' she said, noting that she originally used the noses to 'troll' her clown-fearing husband, John Caldwell. This tension between gravity and levity, and a razor-sharp sense of humor, infuses many of her artworks. While she continues to organize some collective street actions under the Pussy Riot rubric, she has recently been showing painting and sculpture, or more accurately objects akin to them, in gallery and museum settings under her own name. Her first solo museum show, 'RAGE,' opened at OK Linz in Austria last summer. This month, she has one exhibition at Nagel Draxler gallery in Berlin, 'Wanted,' and another at Honor Fraser in Los Angeles, 'Punk's Not Dead.' And surrounding the mock prison cell at MOCA, she is installing her artworks and sculptural elements, including a gumball machine she's filling with colorful balls marked with the names of poisons, like Polonium and Novichok, which have been used on Russian dissidents. The centerpiece of 'Punk's Not Dead' is a stainless steel slide that you might imagine on a playground if its surface did not resemble a supersized cheese grater. The show also contains several of her new 'Icons' paintings, embellished with medieval Cyrillic calligraphy, enigmatic crosses and other invented symbols of devotion. 'Punk's Not Dead' began with a January residency at Honor Fraser, where Tolokonnikova gave an earsplitting performance as part of the group Pussy Riot Siberia. Her musical instruments were aluminum riot shields that she 'played' by scratching them with brass knuckles and other tools and carving them with hearts and anarchy signs. The riot shields now hang in the gallery like a vandalized series by Donald Judd. The gallery owner Jeffrey Deitch, who gave her a pop-up show in 2023, said he is not surprised that Tolokonnikova is increasingly using galleries and museums as a media platform. 'From the very beginning she's been an artist,' he said. 'When Pussy Riot did their famous performance at the Moscow cathedral, they were not a group of trained musicians but really performance artists.' Now, he added, 'you have this integration of performance, art, activism and this charismatic persona — she wraps it all together.' Still, it hasn't been easy for Tolokonnikova to find venues for her art. 'Someone told me the art world is harder to navigate than Russian jail,' she said, smiling at the thought. But so far, she said, 'having people tell me no or ghosting me is annoying' but nothing like having 'a squad of riot police invade your exhibit.' A more substantial challenge: bringing something of the live-wire intensity of street performance into the museum world. 'It's much more explosive and abrasive to perform something for 40 seconds, when you have to deliver a message before you're dragged by the feet by the police,' she acknowledged. 'But after I got out of jail it became almost impossible for me to make work in the same way because I was under police surveillance 24-7 and my phone was tapped. 'I didn't want to get killed,' she added, 'so I was pushed into the studio work.' She said she's learning from artists like Abramovic, Valie Export and Yoko Ono, who have made provocative work within safe spaces. She also speaks admiringly of the 'total installations' of the Russian artist Ilya Kabakov, who would go so far as to recreate grimy Soviet-era apartments in the name of art. Her first solo gallery show, at Deitch's gallery in 2023, featured the multipart project, 'Putin's Ashes.' Outraged by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, she invited women who shared her anger — Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian — to join her in the desert for a ritualistic burning of a portrait of the Russian president. At the end of the performance, documented in a short film, she deposited the ashes into glass vials. Deitch showed both the film and vials, which she had shrouded, using her prison-era sewing skills, in fake fur. The exhibition prompted the Russian government to file a new criminal charge against her for insulting religious believers; placement on a 'most wanted criminals' list and a warrant for her 'arrest in absentia' followed. 'My job for quite a while, the last 15 years of my activism, is to hurt Vladimir Putin as much as I humanly can,' she told MSNBC'S Lawrence O'Donnell, 'and the instrument of my war is my art. We know that he's incredibly superstitious, so he might actually be afraid.' When 'Putin's Ashes' traveled to a gallery in Santa Fe, she experimented with recreating some elements of a Russian prison cell and hung out there for a while on opening night, using a homemade shiv to carve some graffiti into a wooden table. As an introvert, albeit one with exhibitionist tendencies, she said she found it a convenient way to avoid small talk with the crowd. In her MOCA cell she will be installing some drawings made by Russian political prisoners, including Valeria Zotova, who is serving a six-year prison sentence after being accused of planning a terrorist attack. Tolokonnikova will also play a keyboard and other instruments, layered with audio tracks from actual prisons. 'The music is going to be at times very gentle and beautiful and reminiscent of my childhood,' she said, explaining that she will sing lullabies that remind her of her mother, who died last summer in Russia. At other times, 'there are going to be screams of pain, or screams of rage, screams of power.' She is rehearsing the music, but not training physically, for the project. 'It's not as strict as Marina's performance,' she said, referring to Abramovic's physically punishing 2010 durational work, 'The Artist Is Present,' at the Museum of Modern Art. 'It's not about putting physical constraints on my body — I've done that enough in an actual prison environment. Yes, I can go without food for 10 days,' she said. 'To repeat it in a museum environment to me would almost look like a gimmick. What's interesting to me is to be this living and breathing heart of the installation.'
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Federal cuts hit Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art as lost grant sparks lasting worries
Federal funding cuts to arts and humanities institutions are hitting home in Hampton Roads. A federal grant awarded to the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art last year to fund a two-year educational project for Virginia Beach public school students was unexpectedly terminated in April, only months away from the project's conclusion. Museum Deputy Director Truly Matthews said the money was already spent and now MOCA will end its fiscal year $32,399 in debt. The termination was a direct result of a presidential executive order, and if the White House continues to slash arts funding, the MOCA may not be the last Hampton Roads institution to feel the sting. 'There are many museums in Virginia, many museums across the nation, whose grants have been terminated — hundreds of thousands of dollars,' Matthews said. 'So, we're chump change compared to how this affects other organizations.' In 2023, the MOCA embarked on a two-year, peer-to-peer learning project, Nature's Witness, with three fourth-grade classrooms at An Achievable Dream Academy at Seatack Elementary in Virginia Beach, located in one of the oldest historic Black neighborhoods in the nation. The program took elementary students out of the classroom, on field trips into nature, and had them work with their teachers, museum staff, two artists and high school students from the school district's environmental studies program to create a series of nature journals. The students observed the natural world, took field notes and made drawings for their books. The museum contracted filmmakers to document the children's work and their growing self esteem and knowledge of the environment. Nature's Witness culminated in their creation of a statue built from materials found in nature that presently is displayed on the museum's front lawn, close to its main doors. The MOCA had received a grant in August from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services to help fund the project. Based on the terms, the museum was to be reimbursed a predetermined sum — in this case, $32,399 — for the cost of the project upon its completion. The grant defined its completion date as August this year. On March 14, President Donald Trump signed an executive order mandating IMLS eliminate all non-statutorily required activities and functions. In April, MOCA received two written notices that its grant had been terminated. The second notice, dated April 28, said: 'Upon further review, IMLS has determined that your grant is unfortunately no longer consistent with the agency's priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States and the IMLS Program. IMLS is repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President's agenda.' The news comes amid the museum's big move. The MOCA is scheduled to relocate from its longtime home at 2200 Parks Ave. near the Virginia Beach Convention Center to a new custom facility at the Virginia Wesleyan University campus by early 2026. Matthews said she and other museum administrators do not expect the recent grant loss to affect the move or result in staff layoffs. However, the future of some planned exhibits could be affected due to the budget shortfall. The museum announced its loss of the grant over the weekend via social media hoping to garner financial support and raise awareness about the larger issue. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is not the only arts funding source targeted by the administration. The National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities have also been hit with executive orders limiting their ability to distribute grants. And all three agencies have helped fund major art institutions in Hampton Roads, such as the Chrysler Museum of Art. Erik Neil, director and president at the Chrysler, in an interview expressed concern about decreased federal funding, noting such cuts won't ever cause the museum to close its doors but said they could affect programming. As will arts and related organizations, Neil said he suspects other industries will also have to retool and find new resources to replace federal dollars. Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8139,
National Geographic
12-05-2025
- National Geographic
8 ways to find calm in Thailand's larger-than-life capital city
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). Bangkok may have a reputation as one of the world's biggest concrete jungles, but in between the neon-lit streets, rooftop bars and crowded markets there are some glorious pockets of calm. The city's network of canals help create breathing space among the tuk-tuk packed neighbourhoods, and there's a surprising amount of green space in the city's environs — accessible by boat, bike or on foot. Here are eight of our favourite hideaways. 1. Above Riva One of several plush hotels lining the Chao Phraya River, the Riva Arun is noteworthy for its peaceful, top-floor terrace restaurant, Above Riva. You can ease into the day with breakfast or settle in for sunset cocktails, watching boats crisscross the river. The dinner menu goes big on both Thai and European dishes with a twist — such as duck confit green curry or fettuccine with a tom yum goong (hot and sour Thai soup) sauce. 2. Bang Kachao You'll need to dedicate a little more time — either a half or full day — to visit this artificial island known as Bangkok's 'green lung'. Book a bike tour from the city, which starts with a boat ride before you pedal through 6.2sq miles of mangroves. Tours typically pass through Sri Nakhon Khuean Khan Park and Botanical Garden and past the small villages and markets that dot the canals. At the rooftop bar of the Above Riva hotel, you can ease into the day with breakfast or settle in for sunset cocktails, watching boats crisscross the river. Photograph by Mark Parren Taylor 3. Jim Thompson House Museum With its tranquil gardens and canalside setting, the elegant former home of American Jim Thompson, who helped to transform the Thai silk industry, is about as peaceful as it gets. Take a walk through the Thai teakwood buildings to learn about the artefacts, fabrics and art inside, before wandering through the gardens. Leave time for an iced coffee at the cafe afterwards. 4. Bang Prathun coconut community Local farmers still practise traditional coconut harvesting at Bang Prathun in southwest Bangkok, one of the city's last remaining coconut orchards. You can visit independently, but booking a trip with a local guide or as part of a community tour will give you a better understanding of the local way of life and the traditional methods used in the orchards. You'll also have the chance to try fresh coconut products and family recipes. 5. Baan Silapin Also known as Ban Silapin, this centuries-old, traditional Thai-style wooden house and gallery is located in the Thonburi area, right on the canal. It's a fascinating escape from the more contemporary side of the city, where traditional shows are performed using intricate puppets, with plotlines from Thai folklore. Paintings, masks and puppets line the walls and there's a small cafe selling iced coffee and tea to help you cool off. 6. MOCA Bangkok Galleries often offer respite in frantic cities, and MOCA (the Museum of Contemporary Art) Bangkok is a perfect example. It's calm, quiet and cool — quite literally, as the aircon will provide some relief from the sticky city. You're not just here for the atmosphere, of course, but for the five floors of permanent and rotating exhibitions of Thai modern art. While weekday mornings are the quietest, you could combine your trip here with frenetic Chatuchak market, a 10-minute drive away, which is at its liveliest on Saturdays and Sundays. At Suan Somdet Ya (Princess Mother Memorial Park), visitors can learn about Princess Srinagarindra, the mother of Thailand's ninth and longest-serving king, Bhumibol Adulyadej (1946-2016). Photograph by Mark Parren Taylor 7. Suan Somdet Ya Hop on an express boat on the Chao Phraya River and get off at Memorial Bridge Pier. From there it's a short walk to Suan Somdet Ya (Princess Mother Memorial Park), where you can learn about where Princess Srinagarindra grew up. She was the mother of Thailand's ninth and longest-serving king, Bhumibol Adulyadej (1946-2016). Take a wander through the large garden, pause at her statue and then head for lunch at My Grandparent's House, a cafe on the water. 8. Talad Phlu market You'll have your fill of markets and street food in Bangkok, but if you find the noise and chaos a little overstimulating, Talad Phlu in Thonburi is one of the most popular with locals and least hectic (although don't expect silence). There's a big Chinese community and it feels untouched by tourism, with stalls selling cheap dishes made roadside. Seek out crispy pork with rice and khanom buang (Thai crispy pancakes). It's easy to reach on the BTS Skytrain, and great for lunch or dinner. Getting there & around British Airways flies direct from Heathrow to Bangkok several times a week. Thai Airways flies direct from Heathrow to Bangkok twice daily. Other carriers, including Qatar, Emirates and Finnair, offer one-stop flights via their hubs. Average flight time: 11.5h. It's possible to explore certain neighbourhoods in Bangkok on foot, but to get around you'll want to hop in a Grab (similar to Uber), tuk-tuk, the MRT train or the BTS Skytrain. Both train systems are efficient and simple to navigate. You can buy tickets at the station or put money on a prepaid card. There are also commuter boats across the Chao Phraya. When to go Bangkok is a hot and humid city year-round, with temperatures in the high 20Cs up to the high 30Cs. Much of the rain is during September and October and the most humid months are April, May, September and October, but you'll feel the heat no matter when you go. You're best off planning your trip to Bangkok around the rest of your Thailand itinerary. The beach regions of Phuket, Krabi and Koh Lanta, for example, are best from November to March when rain is minimal; for Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, travel March to October. Where to stay 137 Pillars & Suites. Thonglor neighbourhood. From 5,515 THB (£127). More info: Rough Guide to Thailand. £16.99 How to do it: Inside Asia has a five-night Bangkok cultural adventure from £437 per person, including three-star accommodation with breakfast, airport transfers, some private guiding and a full-day solar boat tour of the city's khlongs. Excludes flights. Bangkok can also be included on longer itineraries incorporating Thailand's islands. This story was created with the support of InsideAsia. Published in the May 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK). To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
