There's a free art experience running in central Bangkok right now that asks you to do more than look — it wants you to wander, scan and talk to spirits. "Fortune Teller", the new exhibition by French artist and designer Julie Stéphane Cheng, is on at One Bangkok until November 15, presented in collaboration with Alliance Française Bangkok.
The show is built around the eight elemental life forces — fire, water, earth, light and others — expressed across a mix of formats. Visitors move through dreamlike landscapes dotted with interactive projections, and an augmented reality layer adds a second, hidden world: point your phone across the grounds and you can hunt for concealed characters and their buried meanings, guided by the philosophy of the I Ching (Book of Changes), the ancient Chinese divination text that inspired the whole concept.
The hands-on elements go further than most city art pop-ups. Participants can bring home souvenir cards featuring the eight spirits and use AR technology to read inspirational messages whenever they like, then share photos on social media to unlock exclusive gifts. There are also workshops, a special book corner and an overall setup designed to be explored at your own pace — the venue frames it as an invitation to reconnect with nature rather than simply consume it, with a nod to the Thai idea of a fellow being living in harmony.
Cheng has an interesting background for this kind of work. She's a graduate of the Faculty of Decorative Arts in Paris, and her career sits at the junction of publishing, design and cutting-edge technology — she's the author of several books and applications. Her two current projects, "Fortune Teller" and "Landscapes In Construction", both blend traditional and digital practices, and her wider body of work revolves around immersive encounters with tangible and virtual universes.
For travellers, this is an easy, zero-cost add-on to a Bangkok itinerary — the kind of thing you can slot between a temple visit and dinner, especially if you're already in the Rama IV/Lumpini side of town. It's family-friendly, interactive and photo-friendly, and it offers something genuinely different from the usual mall-and-market circuit. If you enjoy contemporary art, wellness-flavoured experiences or just want an excuse to wander somewhere green in the middle of the city, it fits. And unlike most big-ticket attractions, the only investment required is your phone battery.
