The Tang Chang Private Museum is featured in "Conversation with Nawapooh Sae-tang, Director of Tang Chang Private Museum" by Ian Tee in Art & Market.
I spoke with Nawapooh in person a month after the opening of the Tang Chang Private Museum, where he curated its inaugural exhibition Poet Tang Chang's Institute of Modern Art (2026). In this conversation, he offers insight on Chang’s story, managing the artist’s estate, how they are engaging in the art market and the institution’s future plans.
You curated the inaugural exhibition at the Tang Chang Private Museum titled Poet Tang Chang's Institute of Modern Art (2026). Could you say more about the title?
The exhibition is developed from my PhD thesis on my grandfather’s life and work. Poet Tang Chang Institute of Modern Art is the name of the exhibition space that he opened in his house in 1970 to show his artworks as well as those by his students and children. It was started earlier in 1970 but only formalised in 1985. Our house is next to the museum and in a way, this title reactivates the spirit of the space. I wanted to re-interpret it as a concept that speaks about his life and legacy. The exhibition shows the development of my grandfather’s artistic practice from his early life into his prime years in the 1960s, and how it continued to unfold until his death in 1990.
“I wanted to re-interpret it as a concept that speaks about his life and legacy.”
What are the narratives or aspects of Tang Chang’s practice you aim to highlight with this show?
The exhibition tries to show that his path as an artist is non-linear. Many artists may begin with realism and end with abstraction. But for my grandfather, he started out as a self-taught artist making photorealist portraits before going into pure abstraction in the 1960s, and returning to representation again later in life. He was deeply influenced by Theravada Buddhism, Chan Buddhism and Taoism, and even translated the Tao Te Ching into Thai in 1973. I think his understanding of their philosophies changed his perception of the world. He saw the relationship between all things in the world, including himself being part of nature. At some point, he went back to painting landscapes and self-portraits as a way to reflect on these conditions.
Text courtesy of Art & Market.
Images:
- Opening of Tang Chang Private Museum on 1 May 2026. Photo by Preecha Pattara-ampornchai
- Poet Tang Chang's Institute of Modern Art, 2026, exhibition installation view. Image courtesy of Tang Chang Private Museum. Photo by Preecha Pattara-ampornchai
- Poet Tang Chang's Institute of Modern Art, 2026, exhibition installation view. Image courtesy of Tang Chang Private Museum. Photo by Preecha Pattara-ampornchai
- Nawapooh Sae-tang and the in-house conservation team at Tang Chang Private Museum. Image courtesy of Tang Chang Private Museum.
- The team at Tang Chang Private Museum. Image courtesy of Tang Chang Private Museum.
- International Academic Symposium “Tang Chang: Reading / Reading: Tang Chang”, Panel Discussion 1, at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), on 2 May 2026. Image courtesy of BACC.
Learn more --
Art & Market | The Tang Chang Private Museum
