Artists Network for Free BACC lobbies PM over future of arts centre

The Artists Network for Free BACC group headed to Government House on Tuesday in order to deliver a letter to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Their letter proposed that the PM halt Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang’s initial plan to turn the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre into a learning centre staffed by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) bureaucrats.
Led by veteran artist Chumpol Apisuk, a group of 15 artists handed in the letter to the premier’s representative at Government House.
The letter contained two requests: that the BACC Foundation continue running the arts centre, and that funding the centre be made BMA policy.
Supported by more than 500 artists and other civil networks, it also mentioned the BMA’s 2005 declaration, signed by former Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayodhin, that it would support the BACC Foundation until 2021. 
The group also submitted a poem by national artist Naowarat Pongpaiboon. The poem reads:
“Art Centre is the national park of art where trees of morals grow.
“If you want the fruit, don’t collect the flowers.
“Open the space for the flowers to flourish.”
Meanwhile, at City Hall, the BMA Council – chaired by Aswin – was scheduled to hold a meeting today to try to find a solution to the matter.