Lab X | BANGKOK 1899
James performs at Bangkok Kunsthalle | Photo credit: Bangkok Kunsthalle
Title: Lab X
Artists: James Gallego Olivo, Tharinee “Palm” Ratanasatien, Nawarat “Nammon” Welployngam
Presenting Partner (gallery/institution/venue): Bangkok 1899 / Artsadmin
Category: International Artist ResidencyIntroduction
James performs for The Sati Series at Bangkok 1899 | Photo credit: Nick Hargun
Lab X is an international artist and producer exchange program hosted by Creative Migration and Artsadmin. Lab X is a nine-month artist development program that addresses the profound challenges for artists and producers to work internationally, brought on by politically shifting environments, the ongoing Climate Crisis, and the effects of COVID-19. Bangkok 1899 and Artsadmin have co-designed a holistic cultural and artistic exchange between Thailand and the UK to connect emerging artists, producers, and arts sectors across the two regions.
Bios of Artists:
James Gallego Olivo
James has worked across dance, theatre and film for choreographers and directors including Jasmin Vardimon, Akram Khan, Hannes Langolf, Joan Clevillé, James Cousins, Jess & Morgs Films, Alleyne Dance, Antler Theatre, Company Nil, Frauke Requardt/David Rosenberg, Jason Mabana and BULLYACHE. He is a lecturer at London Contemporary Dance School, has taught classes at Tripspace, The Hub Studios, Punchdrunk, and has taught improvisation to FKA Twigs. As well as dancing in music videos and shoots for Ikea, Lauren Auder, Beyonce, Mykki Blanco and Marvel, he has also performed throughout the UK, France and Belgium. James’ work and research are heavily influenced by Hip Hop and improvisation, blended with contemporary elements.
Instagram: @Jameywamey
Nawarat “Nammon” Welployngam
Nawarat “Nammon” Welployngam is an artist, activist, and the visionary founder of COMMUNITY LAB in Nang Loeng, Bangkok. With a passion for social change and cultural preservation, Nammon has dedicated her life to empowering her community through art and collective action. As an artist, Nammon’s work explores themes of identity, community, and the urban landscape, often using mixed media and public installations to provoke dialogue and inspire change. Through the establishment of COMMUNITY LAB, Nammon has created a vital space for collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and advocacy, enriching the cultural fabric of Nang Loeng and beyond.
Website: www.community-lab.co
Facebook: @บ้านนางเลิ้ง – Baan NangLerng | @Community lab
Instagram: @nammon_i_am
Tharinee “Palm” Ratanasatien
Tharinee “Palm” Ratanasatien is a dedicated community-based artist and activist. She is the founder of Studio UpCircle, an innovative organization that combines art and upcycling to address environmental issues and enhance living standards in marginalized communities. Palm’s work, exhibited in galleries and public spaces, focuses on community engagement and sustainable practices. Her projects provide economic opportunities and skills training, particularly for women and underprivileged individuals. Through her art, Palm promotes mindfulness, well-being, and environmental sustainability, striving to create a just and equitable future.
Personal Portfolio: taripalm-art.my.canva.site/artportfolio
Studio UpCircle Website: studioupcircle.com
Facebook: Studio Upcircle
Presenting Partners:
Bangkok 1899 is a cultural & civic hub representing the intersection of art, design, urbanism and social innovation established by Creative Migration, a women-of-color-led, international arts organization based in Los Angeles and Bangkok. Its Founder & Executive Director, Susannah Tantemsapya, developed Bangkok 1899 with the mission to bring together cultural and climate diplomacy with a special focus on collaborative community building through intersectional practices.
Our historic location, originally built in 1899, was designed by Italian architect Mario Tamagno. His most famous work includes Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, Neilson Hays Library and Bangkok Railway Station (Hua Lamphong). For the very first time, this landmark is open to the public. This is the former home of Sanan Devahastin na Ayudhya, who is also known by his noble title “Chao Phraya Thammasakmontri,” Thailand’s father of modern education. He is considered a Renaissance man, well-known for accomplishments such as serving as a former Minister of Education and as the first President of the National Assembly as the Kingdom of Siam transitioned to a constitutional monarchy.
In 2019, Bangkok 1899 officially opened its doors with support from Ford Philanthropy and The Rockefeller Foundation. Since then, this hub has curated vibrant exhibitions and performances through its signature International Artist Residency program. It has also made a significant social impact through its onsite cafe organized by Na Projects, which hosts vocational training for at-risk youth and workshops for urban refugees to facilitate their transition to living in Thailand.
Bangkok 1899’s International Artist Residency Program
This multidisciplinary residency is a place for experimentation, determined by each artist during their stay. The primary requirement is to create work with Thai artists and/or integrate themselves within the local community. This program is a point of connection for artists from abroad to create works informed by Thailand and to develop global awareness and opportunities in the spirit of cultural diplomacy.
Artsadmin is an arts organisation creating the conditions for art to explore the spaces in-between society, social justice and environmental justice; diversity, equity and equality; ableism, access and inclusion, and between the hyper-local and the international. We create art that changes people’s lives in the following areas:
Progression of equity
Climate justice
Social justice
Sustainable artist, producer and arts worker careers
Established in 1979 and based at Toynbee Studios in Aldgate East since 1994, Artsadmin’s post punk political context and roots have shaped 43 years of experience supporting artists and our legacy as world-renowned producers.
At the core of Artsadmin’s work is Artist Support. Artsadmin supports artists with a world-renowned unique producing methodology that is artist-centred, care-focused, nuanced, ethical and nurturing. As a company of producers with a curatorial eye and strong values, we partner with artists and around them draw together disparate communities to explore and make meaningful, high-impact connections. Even during the height of the pandemic in 2021-22, we supported 745 artists, worked with 30 partners, and our work reached over 160,000 audiences.
Nammon & Palm present their work to the Mayk Festival in Bristol | Photo credit: Creative Migration
PRESENTING PARTNER CLIMATE POLICY
Bangkok 1899 and Creative Migration recognize the gravity of the Climate Crisis and environmental degradation. In our Climate Policy, we establish standards and expectations for our operations and the conduct of our team, partners, and resident artists. Our climate policy examines the following areas concerning our artists, exhibitions, and events:
Travel and Accommodations; Transportation of Materials; Waste and Recycling of Materials; Circularity of Waste; Energy Use; Digital Use; Food Production, Sourcing, and Waste; and Future Actions.
Link to read full policy: https://creativemigration.org/Climate-Policy
Carbon Emissions
For this residency program, we calculated emissions across five main categories: Air Travel, Surface Travel, On-Site Energy, Accommodations, and Digital Activity. These categories reflect the key activities involved in the residency. Lab X did not require the artists to produce a final project, and the nature of their practices did not involve significant material use. As a result, material-related emissions were not included in the calculations.
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Travel 18.24 tCO2e |
International Travel: 18.09 tCO2e
Bangkok Residency
UK Residency
Surface Travel: 0.15 tCO2e
Bangkok Residency: 126.87 km
UK Residency: 811.2 km
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On Site Energy 1.27 tCO2e |
Bangkok Residency: On average, the Bangkok 1899 building hosting an event uses 50 KWh of electricity per day. James’ performance took a day, including practice time and the dinner event that James performed at; therefore, the total calculated electricity consumption accounts for 0.03 tCO2e.
On average, Bangkok Kunsthalle uses approximately 500 KWh of electricity per day. James used the space for a total 3 days for the performances and meetings, covering about 20% of the metered area. The total calculated electricity consumption accounts for 0.16 tCO2e.
UK Residency: Calculations of energy use of the Artsadmin building during the residency was calculated manually with over estimations. The building uses a mix of gas and electricity, which came to 3833.82 kWh and 1818.93 kWh respectively. These calculations were done by finding the kWh for the AA kitchen, office and Theatre for the two days the artists spent working here intensively. The total calculated energy consumption accounts for 1.09 tCO2e.
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Accommodation 0.52 tCO2e |
Bangkok Residency: James and Nene stayed at Bangkok 1899’s residency area for 16 days, including a couple nights before the residency officially began. The total calculated carbon emissions from staying at Bangkok 1899 accounts for 0.23 tCO2e.
UK Residency: Palm, Nammon and Susannah stayed at multiple accommodations across the residency period, but mainly stayed in houses. The total calculated carbon emissions from UK accommodations accounts for 0.29 tCO2e. |
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Digital 0.06 tCO2e |
Digital emissions were calculated from cloud storage, emails sent, online meeting sessions and website views.
Cloud storage: 11.39 gbs, >0.01 tCO2e Emails and Chats: approx. 900 emails and messages, >0.01 tCO2e Meetings: approx. 21 hours of meetings, >0.01 tCO2e Websites: bangkok1899.org and artsadmin.co.uk, 0.05 tCO2e |
Please note that the emissions data presented here does not fully capture the entire Lab X program. A major part of this residency involved the artists and producers traveling to and collaborating with various people and organizations outside of the main host venues (Bangkok 1899 and Toynbee Studios). While we included surface travel emissions in the calculations, we were unable to account for the electricity usage at all the external sites visited. Due to the high number of locations and the challenge of collecting accurate data for each one, this aspect could not be tracked in the final report.
Waste Report
Using a material afterlife checklist, we categorized the destination of material used in the exhibition.
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Waste Category |
Items |
Remarks |
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Reuse: to be reused for the same purpose as the original use |
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Repurpose: to be kept, sold, or donated and used for a different purpose in the future |
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Storage: items sent to storage, but without a clear plan for immediate reuse or repurpose |
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Refuse: item was not used at all and therefore potential waste was avoided |
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Recycle: items placed in the recycling bin |
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Landfill items sent to a landfill |
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Consumable: “consumed” during the exhibition |
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Supporting people
Lab X prioritizes cross-collaboration between artists, disciplines, and contexts. During each part of the residency, the producers and artists had meetings with local artists, arts organizations and nonprofits to engage in potential collaborations or mutual learning.
During James’ residency at Bangkok 1899, he collaborated with Na Projects and Sati Foundation to hold a performance and a dance workshop. Na Projects is a social impact platform that uses food and beverage as a medium to foster inclusivity, sustainability, and community empowerment. Sati Foundation is a grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to improving the mental health and overall well-being of at-risk and underserved youth in Thailand. James held a performance at Na Projects’ Sati Series dinner event. The dinner was cooked by their Urban Refugee Kitchen and all proceeds went towards funding Sati Foundation’s initiatives and projects. The dance workshop organized by Sati Foundation was held at Na Café in Bangkok 1899. It was designed for at-risk and underserved youth to explore movement with James leading the session. The workshop promoted mutual learning and exchanges between different cultures through movement. Additionally, James had a meeting with the Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (BIPAM), a hub for performing arts in the Southeast Asian region. Lastly, he performed and filmed a short film at Bangkok Kunsthalle. Bangkok Kunsthalle is a dynamic, rigorous and accessible cultural institution devoted to art, cinema, music, dance, literature, architecture and other creative languages. Bangkok Kunsthalle represents a new model of art museum. This alternative institution occupies the abandoned Thai Wattana Panich building, a leading printing house that was razed by fire in 2001. The raw, industrial space presents a novel and pioneering platform which mirrors the quality of artworks chosen to be exhibited there.
During Nammon and Palm’s residency in the UK, they connected with many artists and arts organizations. Artsadmin, supported by Arts Council England, is connected to other arts organizations in the Arts Council network.This opportunity opened doors for Nammon and Palm to engage with various institutions. Afri-Co-Lab, located in East Sussex is an arts organization and hub that gives space and voice to the POC community in the local St Leonards Seafront. Nammon and Palm met the co-founder Anna Maria Nabirye and gained a lot of knowledge and experience from their interactions. At Home Live Art, an artist-led and queer-led arts organization, they met with the team and the organization’s Artistic Director, Katy Baird. Nammon and Palm participated in the activities the team prepared and were particularly interested in the team’s work with printed materials. The two artists visited some theaters during their residency, a notable one being Bristol Old Vic. They have a year-round program that highlights new voices and diversity. With their own learning and engagement program, they are able to activate community productions. As Nammon and Palm’s practice revolves around community building, it was interesting for them to see different ways of bringing art and community together in another region of the world.
Palm & Nammon visiting artists Sitraka Rakotoniaina & Andrew Friend at Bow Studios | Photo credit: Creative Migration
Collective Action
Here are some of the ways the team contributed to collective action:
Share a Climate Impact Report at artistscommit.com.
Share what was learned in the Report to audiences.
Ask project partners and collaborators about their climate policies, commitments, or priorities.
Learn from what other projects have done, connect with other institutions or artists to ask for advice, acknowledge them in your report.
Reach out to other organizations or local networks doing this kind of work:
Gallery Climate Coalition
Propose others do a Report at the same time.
Be available to advise or support other artists or presenting partners who want to do a climate impact report for the first time.
Make sure all artists you work with know that the Climate Impact Reports is an available tool.
Use the report to refine future practices. Share those new practices internally, with your artists, or with your audiences.
During the UK residency, Susannah Tantemsapya and Samuel Skoog arranged a meeting with Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) team to introduce Artsadmin to GCC’s Carbon Calculator and platform. This was an opportunity to further our community building through the CIR framework that can help Artadmin’s Green Team with the reporting process. The meeting with Samuel, Susannah and Aoife was heartening. Sam found it enlightening to discuss how challenges to sustainable practice differed between countries and the visual and performance art spheres. They agreed that there was a lot of potential for shared tools and learning, and that it was important different arts organisations avoid becoming siloed in their efforts. Samuel sincerely hopes that opportunities for future collaboration with GCC present themselves and Artsadmin is interested in formally becoming part of their network.
Nammon & Palm at the Round House | Photo credit: Creative Migration
Additional Notes / Closing Thoughts
“I rarely travel this far to the other side of the world, so organising at least another trip/country for opportunities/networking/connecting made sense, if I had the organisation and network to tour more adjacent to this programme; would’ve been a more efficient use of the opportunity.
In transport I prefer to take the metro, but in Bangkok it's just hard to get around without taxis.
I noticed a lot of one-time-use non-recyclable (I think?) plastics for food. Also thinking about how a lot of water/beverages are needed because of the hot weather, in combination that the tap water is not drinkable - meaning that the general public will use a lot of plastic bottles, but maybe the society is really good at recycling most plastic bottles?
I wonder if people use water filters for the tap? or is the tap water that bad?
With the Sati kids, I hope I gave a good amount of positive impact and inspiration. I think my social justice impact in general is indirect, towards asking for reflection in ourselves, getting in tune with our current emotions, vulnerabilities and honesty. I try to positively impact the people I cross paths with, and it ranges from hip-hop dancers to a DJ/bartender at the local bar, as they mention that our performance is something that is often to come by in the Bangkok scene.
This opportunity has meant so much to me, I need time to reflect deeper on it.
But because I’ve never had the opportunity and support to travel across the world to develop my work and network/connect to communities, this has been a huge stepping stone in experience and exposure to further worlds.
The chance to also visit, teach, judge battle events, exchange, dance with communities that know and want to connect/learn together, means a lot to me.
To build relationships and friendships, and share our energy, company, thoughts, work, and practices - this is what I want to do more of.
I rarely have had support like this - I’ve always practised at home or in free spaces, finding as much efficiency to work on my craft, as being a dance artist is sometimes (or often) financially difficult, with creative/general burnout.
So thank you all for choosing me for this opportunity, and helping me live my dreams.”
– James Gallego Olivo
“As producers, artists, and arts workers, we often seek to collaborate across contexts, countries, and cultures. It's vital to consider how we can do this in ways that are sustainable — not only for ourselves but also for our environment, our colleagues, and our planet.
Through my experiences in both Thailand and England, I've gained a deeper understanding of how societal infrastructure and individual activism significantly shape our ability and willingness to engage with sustainability and climate concerns.
In Lab X, we have sought to document and reflect on the resources and costs involved in our working patterns. By doing so, we aim to better understand how teams, organisations, and individuals can collaborate and connect more sustainably and meaningfully.”
– Nene Camara
“I've always lived an environmentally conscious life. Back home in Thailand, I sort all types of waste, compost, recycle, and upcycle. I always carry my own food containers and water bottle. But despite all this, it often feels like I’m doing it alone—Thai society doesn’t provide the fundamental infrastructure for proper waste management.
Here in the UK, however, sustainability feels integrated into everyday life. People naturally compost, sort their waste, and the government ensures the system works efficiently. It made me question whether I’ve been living in the wrong place my whole life. I wish Thailand would take environmental policies more seriously and implement proper education on these matters from an early age. By building this foundation, future generations—regardless of their career paths—would naturally develop a mindset that prioritizes sustainability. This applies to the art world as well!”
– Tharinee “Palm” Ratanasatien
“This program has been an incredible opportunity for me. Artsadmin is truly one of the best in its field, offering us access to the "real deal"—top galleries, leading artists, and industry professionals who align with our artistic interests. Beyond the art scene, living in the UK has been an eye-opening experience in terms of sustainability. The winter is brutally cold, and the cost of electricity during that season is staggering. However, at Nicky’s house, they rent out the ground floor to another family, who naturally heat their space, creating a floor heating effect for Nicky upstairs. Such a clever and resourceful way to stay warm while saving energy—what a genius!”
– Nawarat “Nammon” Welployngam
Credits
Project Contact: Susannah Tantemsapya, Creative Migration / Nene Camara, Artsadmin
Other people contributing to this report: Korakot “Anji” Bartley / Samuel Skoog
Link to image/s to post on website and social: British Council - Lab X Project Story Images
Link to Project: https://www.artsadmin.co.uk/project/lab-x/