Colloquially known as the Black Temple, today we headed out to the Baan Dam (translates to “Dark House”) museum. This is another “temple” from the imagination of a Chang Rai artist, in this case, a private art museum comprising a mixture of traditional northern Thai buildings with unconventional and contemporary architecture, designed by Thawan Duchanee. The museum’s exhibits feature an eclectic mix of buffalo horn art, animal bones, tiger and snake skins, exquisite wood carvings, and ornate stucco work, each piece infused with deep philosophical meaning. Nearly everything inside the museum is constructed from animal remains, offering visitors a sense of intrigue and the opportunity to gain new perspectives through these extraordinary artworks. The Black House Museum is a hidden and mysterious place, with new discoveries waiting around every corner.
Many of the 40 buildings feature artworks and some are more mundane with coffee shops and workshops.
Ellen immediately picked up on how some of the works reminded her of the Austrian expressionist painter Egon Schiele in his darker moments.
