With Yokohama historically Japan’s first international port, the area has a strong foreign influence, which Navin Rawanchaikul responded to from the position of a foreigner living in Japan. A Thai sala, or open-sided pavilion, was imported to Yokohama to serve as an imaginative train station, the Yokohama Sala. A platform along an old disused railway track in a downtown public park was open 24-hours a day during the three-month long 2001, 1^st Yokohama Triennale. Inside the sala was a cinema style billboard painting pertaining to the history of foreign influence in Yokohama, beginning with the 19^th century American naval Commodore Perry. Navin and his band of collaborators, which ranged from art professionals to students and NGOs, interviewed foreigners living there today and published the stories alongside local history, sport, music, food, and comics, in a series of five custom-made free Yokohama Sala newspaper. Intended as a space for creativity but also a place to rest, the Yokohama Sala hosted special events including traditional music from a Yokohama-based Cambodian band and a samba drum performance by a local youth club.

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Yokohama Sala Newspaper