Silk Map of Russia, an exhibition of scarf-paintings by designer Nina Ruchkina, opens at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre on 17 November 2026 and continues through 29 November. The display occupies the Curved Wall on BACC’s fifth floor and is part of Russian Seasons in the Kingdom of Thailand, a cultural programme presented by the Russian Seasons organisation.

The exhibition approaches geography through textile design. Instead of presenting regions as boundaries on a conventional map, Ruchkina and her collaborators translate landscapes, architecture, spiritual sites and craft traditions into images made for silk scarves. Visitors can see how a wearable object becomes a surface for telling place-based stories.

A cultural map made in silk

The official BACC announcement describes the scarf as a national symbol capable of joining geography with the distinctive character of a place. Each design draws on a regional subject and is accompanied by explanatory text. The project involved professional artists, art historians and regional consultants, so the display is structured as more than a collection of decorative patterns.

Named examples include Gzhel, the blue-and-white ceramic tradition associated with communities southeast of Moscow; Saint Basil’s Cathedral, whose towers have become one of Russia’s most recognisable architectural images; and Ivolginsky Datsan, a major Buddhist monastic centre in Buryatia. Placing these references beside one another emphasises that the country represented by the project is multinational and multi-religious.

For visitors, the useful question is not whether a scarf reproduces a site literally. Look instead at what the designer selects: a silhouette, a colour system, a repeated ornament or a symbolic detail. Compare those choices with the descriptions provided beside the works. This reveals how design compresses a complex location into an image that can be read quickly while still carrying cultural references.

Nina Ruchkina and the exhibition format

Nina Ruchkina created the accessories brand Trendy Russians and is credited by BACC as the author and creative force behind the exhibition. Anastasia Astrakhantseva wrote the accompanying descriptions. The wider Trendy Russians exhibition project received support from Russia’s Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives.

Ruchkina has described exhibitions of these scarf-paintings as both a cultural map and a form of “silk diplomacy.” At BACC, that phrase can be tested through the works themselves: textile images communicate through colour, pattern and familiar forms before a visitor reads a long historical explanation. The accompanying labels then add the regional context needed to avoid treating the motifs as anonymous ornament.

The exhibition also includes The Legend of the Scarf, a short fantasy film rated 0+ and created using artificial intelligence. The official announcement presents it as an atmospheric addition intended to place the scarf imagery against panoramas of Russia. Visitors interested in digital image-making can compare the film’s synthetic visual language with the designed textile works, while remembering that the two media are credited separately.

How to visit

• Dates: 17–29 November 2026.
• Venue: Curved Wall, 5th Floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, 939 Rama I Road, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330.
• Opening hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 10:00–20:00. BACC is closed on Mondays, including 23 November.
• Admission: The specific BACC page does not state a ticket price or booking requirement. Check the official listing before travelling if access terms change.
• Transport: BACC is at Pathum Wan intersection, beside BTS National Stadium and opposite MBK Center.

The run is short and includes one Monday closure, so visitors effectively have eleven public opening days. The fifth-floor Curved Wall is a circulation space rather than a sealed gallery; allow time to read the labels without blocking other visitors.

What to look for

Begin with one design whose subject you already recognise, then choose one from a less familiar region. Note which visual elements remain understandable without the label and which depend on the written explanation. This comparison helps distinguish an attractive surface from the cultural research that underpins it.

The show may interest textile designers, illustrators and visitors studying how cultural symbols travel between media. It also offers a compact way to consider the limits of representing a region through a single designed object. The strongest visit will keep both aspects in view: the craft and visual appeal of the scarves, and the specific places and traditions named by the exhibition.

Information was checked on 9 November 2026 against the official BACC event page.