Khao Yai Art Forest is a new paradigm of institution whose name "Art Forest" reflects the institution's ambition: advancing, supporting, and realizing visionary proposals of artists in the natural environment.
Khao Yai Art Forest enables artists to realize visionary projects within nature that may be unattainable due to scale or scope. It achieves this through commissioning single-artist projects, organizing exhibitions, creating site-specific installations, and collecting the work of Thai and international artists focusing on healing nature.
From its inception, Khao Yai Art Forest has shown a commitment to following and supporting artists' ideas that contribute to challenging and enriching the relationship with Nature. Through the Research and Public Activities such as gastronomies, workshops, and symposiums, we share values, alter perspectives, and learn and unlearn together.
Since its establishment, Art Forest has been transforming the Khao Yai area into a vibrant arts destination for visitors from the region and internationally.
Khao Yai Art Forest spans 36 hectares, bordering the Khao Yai National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima, a land notable for its reddish soil. Within this quiet, mountainous landscape remain traces of a twenty-year-old mango orchard and vacant plots once used for corn cultivation.
In 2022, Khao Yai Art Forest was established with a core mission focused on ecological restoration and the healing of nature. The site, which had been degraded by monoculture agriculture, is currently in a process of recovery through collaboration with PLandscape (PLA), a landscape architecture studio based in Bangkok.
After nearly two years of restoration, the former cassava field is now covered in lush greenery. Butterflies emerge during the summer months, while birds and cicadas enliven the forest with sound. The establishment of Khao Yai Art Forest not only provides visitors with an opportunity to reconnect with nature but also actively involves the on-site team—members of the local community—in the shared practice of restoring and nurturing the land.