Thailand - Understand & Survival (Chapter)

THE PEOPLE & CULTURE

ARTS

moved towards a stark functionalism – the average building looked like
a giant egg carton turned on its side. When Thai architects began ex-
perimenting with form over function during the building boom of the
mid-1980s, the result was high-tech designs such as ML Sumet Jum-
sai's famous ‘Robot Building’ on Th Sathon Tai in Bangkok. Rangsan
Torsuwan, a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
introduced the neoclassic (or neo-Thai) style.

Traditional Painting & Sculpture
Thailand’sartistic repository remains mainly in the temples where
Buddha sculptures and murals communicate a visual language of the
religion. These Buddha images trace Thailand’s historical and artistic
evolution from a conquered backwater to a sovereign nation. The period
when the country fi rst defi ned its own artistic style was during the Su-
khothai era, famous for its graceful and serene Buddha fi gures.
Te mple murals are the main form of ancient Thai art. Always instruc-
tional in intent, murals often depict the jatakaa(stories of the Buddha’s past
lives) and the Thai version of the Hindu epic Ramayana. Lacking the du-
rability of other art forms, pre-20th-century religious painting is limited to
very few surviving examples. The earliest examples are found at Ayuthaya’s
Wat Ratburana but Bangkok has some of the best surviving examples.
The development of Thai religious art and architecture is broken into
diff erent periods or schools defi ned by the patronage of the ruling capi-
tal. The best examples of a period’s characteristics are seen in the vari-
ations of the chediishape and in the features of the Buddha sculptures.
The works from the various artistic periods diff er in the depiction of
Buddha’s facial features, the top fl ourish on the head, the dress and the
position of the feet in meditation.

Contemporary Art
Adapting traditional themes to the secular canvas began around the turn
of the 20th century as Western infl uence surged in the region. In general,
Thai painting favours abstraction over realism and continues to preserve
the one-dimensional perspective of traditional mural paintings. There
are two major trends in Thai art: the updating of religious themes and
tongue-in-cheek social commentary. Some artists overlap the two.
Italian Corrado Feroci is often credited as the father of modern Thai
art. He was fi rst invited to Thailand by Rama VI in 1923 and built Bang-
kok’s Democracy Monument and other monuments in Bangkok.
In the 1 9 70s Thai artists tackled the modernisation of Buddhist themes
through abstract expressionism. Leading works in this genre include
the colourful surrealism of Pichai Nirand and the mystical pen-and-ink
drawings of Thawan Duchanee. Receiving more exposure overseas than

HANDMADE ART

Thailand has a long tradition of handicrafts, often regionally and even village specifi c.

Ceramics include the greenish celadon products, red-earth clay pots of Dan Kwian, and

central Thailand’s ben·jà·rong or ‘fi ve-colour’ style. Ben·jà·rong is based on Chinese pat-

terns while celadon is of Thai origin.

Northern Thailand has long produced regionally distinctive lacquerware thanks to the

infl uence of Burmese artisans.

Each region in Thailand has its own silk-weaving style. In ancient times woven textiles

might have functioned much like business cards do today – demarcating tribal identity

and sometimes even marriage status. Today, village weaving traditions continue but have

become less geographically specifi c.

Recom-

mended

Arts

Reading

» (^) The Thai House:
History and
Evolution (2002;
Ruethai Chai-
chongrak)
» (^) The Arts of
Thailand (1998;
Steve Van Beek)
» (^) Flavours: Thai
Contemporary Art
(2005; Steven
Pettifor)
» (^) Bangkok
Design: Thai
Ideas in Textiles &
Furniture (2006;
Brian Mertens)
» (^) Buddhist
Temples of
Thailand: A Visual
Journey Through
Thailand’s 40
Most Historic
Wats (2010; Joe
Cummings)