Perspectives from Gallerists. Interview with Atinuj Tantivit from ATTA

Founded in Bangkok in 2010, ATTA has played a pioneering role in introducing contemporary jewellery to Thailand and Southeast Asia. Over the years, under the direction of Atinuj Tantivit, the gallery has expanded its programme beyond jewellery to embrace a wider range of material-based contemporary art practices, fostering dialogues between disciplines while remaining deeply committed to the relationship between art, the body and everyday life.

In this interview, Atinuj Tantivit reflects on the evolving perception of contemporary jewellery and the importance of creating meaningful encounters between artworks, audiences and future collectors.


In 2015, you explained that you did not want to use the word jewellery alone as the main description for the works you were presenting at the time. Wearable art felt more accurate, as it allowed audiences to approach the works with more openness. Ten years later, do you feel this perception has evolved? Does the Thai audience understand this approach to jewellery differently today? And what about the international audience?
Atinuj Tantivit: When I first opened ATTA Gallery in 2010, I felt that the word jewellery carried many assumptions, especially in Thailand. As a country with a strong tradition of gold jewellery and a major fine jewellery industry, jewellery was often associated with luxury, fashion, decoration, craftsmanship, or precious materials. Yet many of the works I was presenting operated conceptually, emotionally, materially, or politically in ways that were much closer to contemporary art. They were driven by ideas rather than functioning alone.

At the time, using the term wearable art created a small but important shift in perception. It encouraged audiences to approach the works with curiosity rather than expectation, allowing them to engage with the ideas behind the work before categorising it as jewellery.

Ten years later, I do think perceptions have evolved. When we began, contemporary jewellery was almost entirely unknown in Thailand. Today, audiences are much more familiar with interdisciplinary practices and more willing to question traditional distinctions between art, craft, design, fashion, and performance. Younger generations, in particular, tend to move comfortably between these categories.

At the same time, contemporary jewellery still requires contextualization. Unlike painting or sculpture, most people do not yet have an established framework for how to look at it or engage with it. The challenge today is therefore not only visibility, but cultivating deeper understanding and connection.

We also continue to face questions around value. When an artwork has a functional relationship to the body, people often unconsciously assign it a lower cultural or economic value. A work priced at 200,000 THB (approx 5 258€) may be considered expensive for wearable art, while the same price for a painting might feel entirely reasonable.

Internationally, the field has also become increasingly fluid. Many artists working with jewellery today no longer identify solely as jewellers. They move between sculpture, installation, performance, social practice, and body-based work. In that sense, the term wearable art still feels relevant to me—not as a category, but as an invitation to remain open. It is less about defining an object and more about exploring the relationship between art, the body, and everyday life.

Poetics of Place II by Australian artists curated by Melinda Young at ATTA. May - July 2025. 



Intersection by Bepper Kessler and Kanya Charoensupkul at ATTA. November 2024 - January 2025.



In 2022, ATTA expanded its program towards broader contemporary visual art practices, while still keeping a strong focus on materiality. Why this evolution? Did this shift also come from the economic and structural limitations of the contemporary jewellery market?
Partly, yes. Contemporary jewellery remains a relatively small field, particularly in Southeast Asia, and the collector base is still limited. If I wanted to continue supporting material-based practices in a meaningful and sustainable way, I felt it was necessary to think beyond disciplinary boundaries.

At the same time, the shift reflected my own evolving curatorial interests. What connected many of the works I was drawn to was not their medium, but their engagement with materiality—the way artists think through material, process, tactility, presence, and relationships to the body and everyday life.

Covid also accelerated this transition. Most of the jewellery artists we worked with were based overseas, and when international mobility came to a halt, we had to rethink how the gallery could continue operating meaningfully. With only a small number of active contemporary jewellery artists in Thailand, expanding our scope became both a practical necessity and a creative opportunity.

Broadening the programme allowed jewellery to enter into dialogue with sculpture, installation, paper, wood, textile, and other material-based practices. These conversations became richer precisely because they moved beyond disciplinary categories. I also think this shift changed how audiences relate to contemporary jewellery. When jewellery is presented alongside other contemporary art forms, visitors often stop asking, Is this jewellery? and begin asking, What is this work trying to communicate? That shift is very important to me. It allows people to encounter jewellery first as art, before worrying about how to categorise it.



I like it. What is it? exhibition in January - March 2026​.



The last exhibition I Like It. What Is It?, co-curated with Chalisa Viravan and showing your personal collection, was part of your Collector / Curator / Conversation series, with the aim of supporting the transition from art appreciator to buyer, and from buyer to collector, through conversations around the works. For you personally, what parameters make an exhibition truly successful?
For me, success is no longer measured primarily through sales figures or visitor numbers. An exhibition becomes successful when it creates meaningful engagement—when people spend time with the works, return to look again, begin conversations, ask unexpected questions, or leave thinking differently from when they entered.

I am increasingly interested in the conditions of encounter. Who enters the space? How long do they stay? What kinds of conversations emerge? Do people feel intimidated, or do they feel invited? Does the exhibition create permission for curiosity?

Some of the most meaningful moments are often the quietest ones: a visitor spending an unusually long time with a work, someone returning multiple times, or a conversation that continues long after the exhibition has ended.

I also think intimacy has become increasingly important. We live in a time of constant stimulation and accelerated image consumption. Creating spaces where people can slow down, observe carefully, and develop personal relationships with artworks feels more necessary than ever.

It is equally important to me that people understand collecting as a journey rather than an identity reserved for a select few. I did not begin by thinking, I want to become a collector, when I bought a pair of plastic earrings at the age of ten. My relationship with objects evolved gradually—from pieces that were easy to wear to works that became increasingly sculptural and difficult to wear. Somewhere along the way, other people began referring to me as a collector long before I considered myself one.

I think many people imagine collecting as something intimidating or exclusive. In reality, it often begins very simply—with attraction, curiosity, emotional connection, or the desire to live alongside certain objects. In that sense, collecting can become a process of self-discovery.

Ultimately, I believe exhibitions succeed when they do more than present objects. They succeed when they transform relationships between people and artworks, between audiences and artists, and sometimes even between people and themselves. If even one person leaves the exhibition recognising that they, too, have been on a collecting journey and realising that becoming a collector is not reserved for a select few but is something they could one day become, then I feel the exhibition has succeeded.



I like it. What is it? Collector Curator Conversation Series by Atinuj Tantivit at ATTA.



Why Perspectives from Gallerists?
In the realm of artistic creation within art jewellery and contemporary crafts, Klimt02 aims to serve as a hub for promotion, discussion, and—most importantly—connection, highlighting the interconnectedness among all key players. Beyond showcasing work, we strive to amplify the voices committed to building this discipline as a recognised market within the art scene. That’s why gallerists’ perspectives matter: their day-to-day experience offers an essential, informed view of how the market actually works, its realities, and what the field needs to grow with integrity.